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This is From the Archives, where we present something from our extensive collection of archival photos, records and all manner of materials dating back to when the church was First Methodist Episcopal, to First Methodist, to Church of the Savior, to St. Paul's to Crossroads.
The church that has stood on this corner since 1864 has long had an interesting and unique relationship with women.
Sometime after 1833, when the church was on a different downtown Canton property, the congregation at that time decided to start something called the Canton Female Seminary, an unprecedented attempt to apparently train women for officially recognized ministry.
And later on, as the 20th century got rolling along, this church founded many groups for religious study and service for women, and a look through the photo archives shows that many of the Sunday School classes during the 1910s, 20s and 30s were made up entirely of or at least in the majority by women.
We will touch more on that seminary in a future From the Archives feature. But this week, we present these photo collages that our own church historian Virginia Gingrich decided to make at some point when she was perhaps herself thinking about women in the church. Virginia made these collages to highlight just some of the women who have worked for the church in various support roles over several decades.
In continuity with those women, our church in 2026 is still a place for women to both support and lead. Our own Pastor Mary Jo, Lilly Brunoni, Julie Smith, Beth Polen and Kristina Belliveau serve in key leadership roles, and it is not an exaggeration to say that entire aspects of the church's very existence depend upon these capable women. But then there's also Nancy Davis who is here nearly every Sunday handing out bulletins, or Jane Fleischer who does a little bit of everything (whatever we need her to do), or Karen Zotta directing our handbell choir, or Megan Smith and the Community Action group, Erin Ackerman and The Village, Betty Kennedy and our diaper ministry, Amy Rivers and Women's Coffee Talk, the women on our Leadership Council, Stephanie, Renee, Lisa (and of course Jane).
Like the women in these photos, these names represent just a few of the women supporting and leading our congregation today, in the finest tradition of the church we now call Crossroads.
(Click to open as PDFs in new windows.)
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