In 1900, a group of Free Methodist women answered God’s call to come to Oklahoma and minister to unmarried, pregnant girls and other women outcast by society.  These women of the church, known also as deaconesses, solicited help in developing a plan and soon, leaders such as Oklahoma’s territorial governor William M. Jenkins and his wife recognized the need and joined the work.

Their plan began with the establishment of the Oklahoma Rescue Mission in Guthrie on December 31, 1900.  Later, the agency moved to Oklahoma City, changing its name to the Home of Redeeming Love.  Providing maternity services to unwed mothers and adoption services for their babies soon became a large part of the Home’s mission and a maternity hospital was established.

Named after the women who started the work, Deaconess Hospital opened to the general public in the 1940’s and operated as a Christian nonprofit hospital until its sale in 2005.  The Butterfield Memorial Foundation, named for longtime hospital administrator Ralph Butterfield and his wife, Gladys, was created with proceeds from the hospital sale.