Events at this location

Shorter Community AME Church: A Legacy of Faith and Resilience Founded in 1868 by Bishop Thomas M.D. Ward, Shorter Community AME Church is Colorado’s first African American church. It began as a log cabin at 19th and Holladay (now Market) Street, built on land donated by Major Fillmore, a Union officer, and started with 18 members. By 1878, a larger brick structure was erected at 19th and Stout Streets and later renamed Shorter Chapel in 1880 to honor Bishop James A. Shorter. Facing racial opposition, the church relocated multiple times before settling at 23rd and Cleveland Place in 1889. In 1925, the Ku Klux Klan allegedly burned it down, but the congregation rebuilt on the same site, reopening on Easter morning, 1926. In the 1970s, under Rev. Carter’s leadership, Shorter began planning its move to Freedom Crossroads at Martin Luther King Blvd. and Richard Allen Court. The Shorter Education Center opened in 1981, and the permanent sanctuary was completed in 1990. Today, Shorter AME continues to be a pillar of faith and community leadership, owning and operating the Bishop Richard Allen Corporation and Richard Allen Gardens-Senior Housing Facilities, serving Denver and beyond.