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Wednesday, December 25, 2013

MISS NINA McCOSH (1937)

In September of 1937, a small article ran in a local newspaper informing the public of a staff change at Wesley Methodist Church.  Miss Nina McCash, lately of Colorado Springs, Colorado, had been named as the new assistant to the minister by pastor Rev. Hugh B. Fouke.
 
She would be replacing Rev. S. Lewis Stockwell, assistant pastor, who was moving on to Trinity Methodist in Hutchinson, Kansas. 
 
It was noted Miss McCash - actually Miss Nina McCosh - was a graduate of the "Kansas City Methodist Training School"  and had formerly been a "helper" at Guthrie for five years.
 
This is an interesting item due to the period of the 1930's and women's struggles to achieve ordination in Methodism.  In 1933 a proposal for the ordination of women in the M.E., South had been denied.  An order specific to women had been in place for many decades: the Order of Deaconess.  The K.C. school had originally been the " Kansas City National Training School for Deaconesses and Missionaries."  In 1933, it went under the briefer name noted in the news piece.

Here we see a tiny glimpse of the presence of women leader's in early 20th Century Oklahoma Methodism and hints as to the attitudes of women in leadership roles at Wesley Methodist Church.
 

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A special "Friends of Wesley" group is made of individuals, organizations, and businesses who wish to support the historic preservation of the century old and historically significant Wesley Methodist Church (Wesley United Methodist Church) founded in 1910.

The inspiring windows dating to 1928 honored people significant to local Oklahoma City history but also to the history of Oklahoma Methodism.

The church founding and development was guided by lay people who were leaders in Oklahoma City development in real estate, banking, business, and education.

It stands as a rare remaining example of Methodist Churches in the English Gothic style and as work by a significant early architectural firm.

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Wesley United Methodist Church
1401 NW 25th
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma