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Littleton woman first in New England
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September, 2003
By Douglas Showalter
Amelia Adelaide Frost was the first woman to be ordained by a Congregational council in New England.
She was ordained on February 14, 1894 to serve as assistant pastor at the Congregational church in Littleton, where her husband, George B. Frost, was the pastor.
It was reported that years before, Amelia had attended two years of lectures at Andover Theological Seminary, taking notes for her husband when his health broke down.
Before Amelia’s ordination in Littleton, she often substituted for her husband when he was physically unable to preach. When Amelia was ordained, he was given a year’s leave of absence in the hope his health would be restored. It was not, so he resigned his position and Amelia was installed on October 31, 1895 as the Littleton church’s minister with full responsibilities. Upon receiving Amelia’s resignation five years later, the Littleton church passed the following resolution of appreciation:
...we heartily bear record to the fidelity with which the work
of her ministry in this parish has been done, and to the one
purpose of her
life, to build up the church and to broaden the life and character
of all with whom she came in contact.
... Her influence has been of the highest nature and we feel
will remain with us and bear fruitage worthy of her example,
as such
lives cannot
fail to leave an impress upon those with whom they have been
associated.
Two women are known to have served Congregational churches in Massachusetts prior to Amelia, though neither woman was ordained by a Congregational council. Louise Baker was ordained by the Congregational church in Nantucket in 1884 to serve their local needs, and a Methodist minister, Anna Howard Shaw, served the Dennis Union church beginning in 1879.