Wayman Chapel A.M.E. Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Wayman Chapel A.M.E. Church in Bell County. Now, some stories begin with a single person walking into a place and deciding something is going to exist that didn't exist before.

This is one of those stories. George Connor, a missionary elder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, was assigned to the Temple area, and in 1883 he organized a congregation. Just like that, a community of faith took root.

Two years later, a frame sanctuary went up at this very site, and two men, Dock Lacy and Green McGrew, served as church trustees. Two names worth saying out loud, because somebody has to hold the thing together while it's still new. The early years of the twentieth century brought a growing membership, and a growing membership has a way of making a frame building feel smaller than it used to.

So the congregation built larger. The present brick sanctuary was completed in 1927, and it has been standing ever since. The marker calls Wayman Chapel A.M.E.

Church an important institution in Temple's black community, a long source of leadership and service. That's not decoration. That's the whole point.

One missionary elder, one congregation, one frame building, one brick sanctuary, and more than a century of people showing up for each other. That's how you build something that lasts.

What the marker says

George Connor, a missionary elder of the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) church assigned to the Temple area, organized this congregation in 1883. A frame sanctuary was built at this site two years later, with Dock Lacy and Green McGrew as church trustees. A growing membership during the early years of the 20th century required a larger house of worship, and the present brick sancturary was completed in 1927. An important institution in Temple's black community, Wayman Chapel A.M.E. church has long been a source of leadership and service. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1985