About Us

The Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross is composed of approximately seven hundred women, members of the Anglican Communion called to live their individual lives under a Rule of Intercessory Prayer, Thanksgiving and Simplicity of Life; and who pray with intentional concern for three themes: the Unity of all God’s People, God’s Mission in the world, and Social Justice.

In the winter of 1884, Emily Morgan, with the help of Harriet Hastings, drew up rules and aims for daily use by a group of women envisioned as companions of the Holy Cross. She was profoundly inspired by her invalid friend, Adelyn Howard, who expressed a need for spiritual companionship, and who, in her confinement, desired to intercede through prayer for a wider circle of people. Later that year seven women under the leadership of Miss Morgan organized themselves as the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross.

In the next ten years, the Society’s membership grew, by word of mouth, to a hundred women. Companion Chapters formed in Hartford, Boston, Philadelphia and New York City. Many Companions helped Miss Morgan in running summer vacation homes that she had established for working women.

A new era for the Society began in the summer of 1901 when a farmhouse on the grounds of Governor Dummer Academy in Byfield, Massachusetts was rented so that Companions might live a corporate life. This was the first. In 1903, the old Dummer schoolhouse next door was transformed into a chapel where retreats and conferences for Companions and their guests were held every summer until 1914 when the new Adelynrood was built just one quarter of a mile beyond.

Beginning in 1915, with the completion of Adelynrood (Adelyn Howard’s name combined with the word “rood,” meaning “cross”) the buildings and grounds have offered a variety of silent retreats, quiet days and study programs on religious, educational and social justice topics set in the context of our Holy Routine. In June 2000, the new St. Clare wing opened and has enabled Companions to extend their ministry at Adelynrood beyond the summer season.

Companions carry on their individual ministries primarily in their local churches and communities. The Chapters support each local project with prayer and interest while all Companions support the corporate ministry at Adelynrood financially and by volunteering. Through intercessory prayer, the Society currently is bound together through some thirty-one Chapters with Companions and Probationers in England, India, South Africa, Japan, Wales and the United States.

The Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross, includes both lay and ordained women, and is well into its second century. Emily Morgan’s vision was a religious association focused on the centrality of the Cross and intercessory prayer in a troubled and hurting world. It continues to offer women a shared spiritual Companionship and “the sacrament of coming together” in prayer and in person through local chapters and at Adelynrood.

Here are links to short biographies on our founder Emily M. Morgan and another influential early member was Vida Dutton Scudder.

For more information about the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross, please contact us.