Wathetta Buford remembers when Taylor Chapel Community African Methodist Episcopal Church had a congregation of more than 200 people.

“It was in my early teenage years,” said Buford, a member for 44 years and church administrator. “There used to be five AME churches in the Bowling Green area. I remember three of them.”

Now Taylor Chapel is the only one in Bowling Green, and while the number of people in the congregation has dwindled to about 100, the church has kept strong ties in the community.

“We’re not a large congregation, but we’re active,” said church historiographer John Hardin, a member since 1993. “It’s a community endeavor. It’s not just a church of the members. It’s a church that welcomes everyone in the community.”

History

The AME church was organized and founded in 1787 in Philadelphia by Richard Allen and Absalom Jones after a group of free blacks left St. Georges Methodist Church in Philadelphia.

“Black people helped build it. The free blacks left the church because they weren’t allowed to pray at the altar,” said the Rev. William H. Hardy, Taylor Chapel’s pastor. “All blacks had to sit in the balcony.”

Allen became the first official of the AME church in 1816.

“It was the first church owned and operated by black people. The church began to grow in the Baltimore and Washington area and expanded into the Midwest,” said Hardy, who has been pastor at Taylor Chapel for three years. “Then those churches found those in the middle South.”

Around 1866, Taylor Chapel AME Church began as a workshop, moving from house to house before a small group purchased property at 314 Seventh Ave. for $220 from Harry and Evelyn Hampton in 1871. Two pieces of adjoining properties were later purchased.

“It’s the oldest black church in Bowling Green,” Hardy said. “Taylor Chapel comes from a church out in Louisville.”

Taylor Chapel was formally organized in 1872 under the leadership of the Rev. Bartlett Taylor. The first church parsonage was on donated land on 11th Avenue until the 1920s, when the Bowling Green Board of Education acquired the property. The parsonage was at Fifth Avenue and Chestnut Street until 2003, when The Medical Center procured the property.

Taylor Chapel was the largest of five AME churches – which included Salters Chapel, Blue Level, Wesley Chapel and Jackson Chapel AME churches – in Warren County, Hardin said. Prominent members of the community who attended the church include Ora Porter, the first registered nurse in Warren County; F.O. Moxley, the first black person to receive a graduate degree from Western Kentucky University; and nationally known ragtime performer Reuben Crowdus, better known as Ernest Hogan.

“At one time, Taylor Chapel had upwards of 300 members. They were very active in the community,” he said. “There were doctors, lawyers, business people. Taylor Chapel has a rich history of outreach, working with the civil rights movement and working with other denominations.”

The Seventh Avenue building went through a few renovations over time, including one to accommodate the attendees of the 1995 Midyear Convocation of the AME West Kentucky Annual Conference. The church bought the property at its current location at 503 Clay St. in 2001.

“It’s closer to an area where we have more parking and a better facility,” Hardin said. “It’s at a point where we can grow and react to all the different demographics.”

Taylor Chapel has had 40 ministers – AME ministers are only guaranteed one year at a church, Hardin said.

“At the end of that year, you’re either reappointed or you’re not,” he said. “Each one brings a unique perspective of ministry to the church.”

Hardy said he hopes to be at Taylor Chapel for a fourth year.

“I’m one in a long line of preachers. God has really been good to me,” he said. “I have enjoyed being there, and I hope my bishop will send me back.”

Community

Although historically black, the AME church has always welcomed people of all races, Hardin said; there are also male and female ministers and bishops in AME churches.

“Taylor Chapel is no different,” he said.

Hardy, who was born and raised in the AME faith and has been a minister since 1985, agreed.

“The church is integrated. It’s a multicultural church,” he said. “Some of the pastors have been white.”

Taylor Chapel’s congregation wants to continue to be a positive contributor to Bowling Green and Warren County, Hardin said. Some of the ways include Breakfast With Jesus (a free breakfast with fellowship and no pressure) and the AIDS Outreach Ministry.

“We wanted to encourage people to get tested. If you know, knowledge is power,” he said. “The church is a community of believers. There’s a sense that we have to raise the quality of life with your religious experience.”

The church is also connected to other churches – AME as well as other denominations.

“Bowling Green has a rich religious history. Our role is influenced by growth of other churches,” Hardin said. “We want to welcome the community, to welcome anyone to services.”

Buford, whose great-grandfather was once presiding elder for AME churches in this district, said she is “truly an AME person.”

“I like the organization, the discipline, everything about the church,” she said. “It’s embedded in my roots.”

Upcoming

Taylor Chapel Community AME Pastor’s Appreciation, a celebration in honor of the Rev. William H. Hardy, will be from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at State Street Baptist Church’s King Fellowship Hall.