Women in Ministry at Wesley

In 2007 Wesley had appointed the first female senior minister. Rev. Diana Cox Crawford served from 2007-2012.  She had previously pastored   across Oklahoma and served in various capacities in the conference as an elder.

 

She was not, however,  the first woman to serve in ministry roles at the church.  Changing times, terms and denominational ministry classifications have meant that often these women were overlooked and their significant contributions - and history - unknown.

 

Women such as :

 

Miss Eureath White (1932-1933), Listed under "Pastoral Assistants" in the 1975 'History of a Dynamic Church' she is in a list which includes many recognized clergy indicating the importance and value of the role in the life of the church.  She may be the woman who later taught sociology at Southern Methodist Univ.

 

Nina B. McCosh - (1937-1945?). Born ca. 1893 in Kansas, Nina attended the "Kansas City Methodist Training Institute", now part of St. Paul's Seminary,  a special school for 'Deaconess and Missionaries' in the years before women were recognized by the Methodist denominations for ordination. Such schools allowed women to be specially trained to serve in specific pastoral and social justice arenas.  These women organized missions, ministered to families, communities, and saw to the spiritual formation of people in the parish. The role answered the need for more qualified, trained, and committed people to serve as leaders within the church but did not grant them clergy role or status.  Yet, they did minister in real and powerful ways within congregations. A local news article illustrates the potential scope of her work at Wesley when it says she was replacing the "assistant pastor" Rev. S. Lewis Stockwell who was taking a church in Kansas.  She was from Colorado Springs and had worked just previously in Guthrie for five years as a "helper" (Oklahoman, Sept.20, 1937:6).

 

In an undated list in the 1975 "History of a Dynamic Church" (pg.3) are included the names of  some female "Wesley Resident Ministers":

Mrs. Mabel Crabtree - She is mentioned in a 1932 article about five city church leaders to serve on the faculty of the state Epworth League at Guthrie. From Wesley she joined other instructors from various other Methodist Churches.  Epworth League was the youth organization of the Methodist Church.

Alice M. David - In her 1942 obituary she is noted to have been ordained in the 1929 in the M.E. Church . She led a long and active fight against drink being a local and state leader of the Women's Christian Temperance Union.  She was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. She died at 82 on Jan.17, 1942 and her funeral was held at Wesley in Oklahoma City.

Joyce Webster - She was listed in the 1968 book, Oklahoma Methodism in the Twentieth Center" by Clegg and Oden as being a current  clergy member of the conference who had entered it in 1927.

 

In an undated list in the same source are included some female "Local Preachers Whose Names are found on the Several Records of Wesley":

Mrs. Mabel Crabtree- She is mentioned in a 1932 article about five city church leaders to serve on the faculty of the state Epworth League at Guthrie. From Wesley she joined other instructors from various other Methodist Churches.  Epworth League was the youth organization of the Methodist Church.

Mrs. Alice M. David nee Harris- In her 1942 obituary she is noted to have been ordained in the 1929 in the M.E. Church . She led a long and active fight against drink being a local and state leader of the Women's Christian Temperance Union.  She was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. She died at 82 on Jan.17, 1942 and her funeral was held at Wesley in Oklahoma City.
Neva Davidson - In 1934 she was pastoring at Capitol Hill and removed to Wichita Falls, Texas.

Harriette Davis - No information found

Nina B. McCash (should read McCosh)

Joyce B. Webster - She was listed in the 1968 book, Oklahoma Methodism in the Twentieth Center" by Clegg and Oden as being a current  clergy member of the conference who had entered in 1927.