In 1866, African Methodist Episcopal Church missionaries arrived in Bowling Green to share the “good news” brought by Jesus Christ. In 1872, Taylor Chapel AM.E. Church was formally organized under the leadership of Rev. Bartlett Taylor and located on a site at 314 Seventh Street. Two additional pieces of property adjoining this were purchased in 1873. By 1888, these properties were owned by the congregation. In later years, the church owned a parsonage on Eleventh Street and then on Chestnut Street.
When it was located on Seventh Street, Taylor Chapel served as the mother church of four Black Methodist churches in Warren County including Salters Chapel A.M.E., Blue Level AME, Wesley Chapel AME Church, Jackson Chapel AME Church in Plum Springs. In addition to its efforts to share the African Methodist traditions, Taylor Chapel provided many religious and pleasurable activities for the Black communities in Bowling Green and Warren County.
The church building on Seventh Street was renovated several times with lowered ceilings and other needed internal and external repairs. In 1995, the fellowship area in the lower level of the church underwent substantial renovation. Following the county-wide hailstorm of 1998, the church family decided after much prayer to move to a newer building. On January 25, 2001, Taylor Chapel purchased its current location at 503 Clay Street on the corner of Ida and Clay Streets.
Throughout its history, the Taylor Chapel church family members participated in every aspect of life in Bowling Green and Warren County. Its members comprised an impressive cross section of business, education and social professions. Among those affiliated with Taylor Chapel were the first registered nurse in Warren County of any race (Ora Porter), the first African American to receive a graduate degree from Western Kentucky University (Dr. F. O. Moxley), nationally recognized ragtime performer Reuben Crowdus (also known as Ernest Hogan) and a pastor (Rt. Rev. Evans Tyree) who was elected and consecrated the 26th bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1900. Other Taylor Chapel members of note included physician Dr. Walter F. Beckett, Dan Taylor who operated a sanitation company and E.T. Buford who was an educator and pastor. More recently, the church family welcomed business leaders, law enforcement officers, medical professionals and educators in public schools and colleges as well as many others from every walk of life. However, one fact remains constant today: members of the Taylor Chapel Church family have, since its founding in 1872, contributed their skills, intelligence, hard labor and prayers to Bowling Green and Warren County’s spiritual growth and temporal advancement.
