debt was paid. President Benjamin Harrison and inventor Alexander Graham Bell were among the new congregation’s worshipers. The Church of the Covenant flourished with strong lay leadership and a succession of pastors whose reputations extended throughout the denomination and, indeed, the nation. Teunis S. Hamlin, a strong preacher, helped secure a site for the George Washington University. He also served as President of the Board of Trustees of Howard University for many years. Members of Covenant Church were active on many fronts. In 1885, its women founded the Society of the Covenant, which became the Women’s Association. One of Covenant’s early missions (in 1908) was to establish a tuberculosis clinic in Beirut, Lebanon. In the early 1900s, the congregation established in Georgetown the Peck Memorial Chapel, which provided, in addition to Sunday services, a vocational education program for minorities and disadvantaged youth. Under Charles Wood, pastor from 1908 to 1928, Covenant’s membership grew to 1,800. Wood, an outstanding preacher, organized and became the first president of the Washington Federation of Churches. It was with this ample Covenant congregation that First Presbyterian Church chose to merge. That it chose Covenant rather than another Presbyterian congregation in Washington was due in large measure to the movement for a national Presbyterian church in the nation’s capital. Throughout the 19th century, the General Assembly received numerous proposals for a national church and in 1923 established a commission to explore formally and officially create such a church in Washington. In 1930, the Church of the Covenant was selected to “furnish the congregational nucleus about which this National Church should be organized.” It was considered appropriate that the congregation of the now-demolished First Presbyterian church, with so rich a history, should move across the city and merge with Covenant in June 1930. Covenant-First Presbyterian Church The pastor of the combined Covenant-First Presbyterian congregation from 1930 to 1946 was Albert Joseph McCartney. He won admiration for his leadership through the difficult years of depression and war. Undaunted by the setbacks of the times, McCarthy never ceased advocating a great national church. His efforts were rewarded when the General Assembly took official steps to designate Covenant-First as “The National Presbyterian Church.” The designation became effective at services held on October 19, 1947, when President Harry S. Truman unveiled the bronze tablet bearing the church’s new name. Today, that bronze tablet is displayed outside the Chapel of the Presidents.