By Ada L. Groff, 5th Episcopal District
Mary Randolph and Mary Smith were founders of the AME Church in Denver. Randolph was born in 1826 to free parents in New York while Smith was born into slavery in January 1833 in Independence, Missouri. Smith traveled with her three children to Denver in 1863. Shortly after that, Randolph relocated to Colorado and settled in Denver 1864. Together, the two formed the first “Colored Methodist Church” in Denver, Colorado, in 1866 in a log cabin on land along the Platte River.
The land was donated by Major Fillmore, a Union officer in the Civil War. This served as the Church’s first structure from 1868 to 1878 while a larger brick structure was being built. The resulting church was re-named St. John AME Church when Bishop Thomas M. D. Ward brought it into the Connectional AME Church in 1868 but was changed to Shorter Chapel in 1880 to honor the presiding bishop, James A. Shorter. Shorter Chapel experienced considerable opposition from their Denver neighbors who were against a Black church in their community. Due to this, the church had to move to three different locations during the first years of its operation.
When the congregation erected a church on the site at 23rd and Washington, the Ku Klux Klan set fire to the structure, completely destroying the building on April 9, 1925. Not deterred, the congregation rebuilt and opened their new building on Easter morning, April 4, 1926, the fifth building in the Church’s history. The beautiful edifice still stands and remains a historical landmark in Denver to this day. The building at 23rd and Washington remained the location of Shorter for 74 years until the congregation finally outgrew the location.
When faced with the challenge of the physical constraints of their location, Bishop H. Hartford Brookins assigned the Rev. Jesse Langston Boyd, Jr. to guide the congregation in the task of relocating and rebuilding. In February 1980, Shorter joined with Macedonia Baptist Church to rename 32nd Avenue “Martin Luther King Blvd.” This effort was successful. Then, with the canvassing efforts of Shorterite Ira E. Slack, the city was convinced to change the name of Jackson Street to Richard Allen Court. It was here, at Freedom Crossroads—Martin Luther King Boulevard and Richard Allen Court—that the Church would continue her legacy of
Initially, the fellowship hall was completed through the hard work of Pastor Boyd and co-chairs Omar D. Blair, Winifred S. Johnson, and State Senator Regis F. Groff. The building was dedicated by Bishop Brookins in July 1981 and was used for worship while the main sanctuary was being constructed. The fellowship hall was re-named the Omar D. Blair Fellowship Hall to acknowledge the instrumental work of the late Tuskegee Airman in overcoming several hurdles in the relocation and building process. Brother Blair and Sister Johnson continued as co-chairs of the building effort until the main sanctuary was finished and dedicated by Bishop Vinton R. Anderson in June 1990.
Pastor Boyd served as pastor for 26 years, the longest tenure of any of the 41 pastors. The current pastor, the Rev. Dr. Timothy E. Tyler, has the second longest tenure of 11 years. Pastor Tyler has guided the congregation in paying off the mortgage, the second time in the Church’s history. Pastor Tyler also worked to get the park adjacent to the building re-named the Rev. J. Langston Boyd, Jr. Community Park.
Throughout its storied history, Shorter has been church home to many notable and famous Denverites. Some include the 100th elected and consecrated bishop, James H. Mayo (pastor 1971-1972); the Rev. Cecil W. Howard (pastor 1964-1971) General Secretary of the AME Church (1992-2000); the Rev. Dr. Teresa Fry Brown, first female Historiographer of the AME Church (2012); President Obama appointee, the Honorable Peter C. Groff, the first and only African American president of the Colorado Senate and only the fourth in the United States history to hold the office of State Senate president (2008); Grammy Winner Dianne Reeves; Award-winning actor Don Cheadle; and the second female African American astronaut Stephanie Wilson.
