The Historical Jacob's Chapel Needs Our Help

Jacob’s Chapel AME Church is a place of historical significance, religious worship, and community pride that is facing a dire financial crisis, threatening its survival in the immediate future.

With roots dating back to 1828, the Chapel and the adjourning building on the property, the Colemantown House, served as a stop on the Underground Railroad. The grounds were once an antebellum African American settlement, home to freed and soon to be freed slaves, and its existence continued well into the 20th century. Both buildings are listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places.

Accompanying the buildings is a 125 headstone cemetery where freed slaves, civil war veterans, and generations of church members lay at rest.

Throughout the 20th century and into the 21st, Jacob’s Chapel flourished as the religious community grew, and word of its historical significance spread.

Now, the future of the Church is up in the air. The Chapel, home to roughly 85 parishioners, can no longer rely on internal donations to stay afloat. The COVID19 Pandemic had a catastrophic effect, as expenses continued to mount during the last 18 months while funding failed to amass at the same rate. Leadership has made efforts to combat the crisis; Options are running out.

Today, Jacob’s Chapel finds itself short roughly $12,000 in funds essential to sustain itself, a significant sum for a small, ten-pew chapel. These expenses include regular building and property maintenance, insurance premiums, normal bills to be paid, and other basic costs.

If you have an appreciation for our local and national history, I ask you to consider donating.

If you support religious worship of all kinds, I ask you to consider donating.

If you desire to see longstanding, significant traditions continue in our community, I ask you to consider donating.

Even if you were once a visitor to Jacob’s Chapel on a field trip in Elementary School, I ask you to please consider donating, so that other children can enjoy the same experience.

Please understand that your assistance today will be what ensures a tomorrow for a gracious community of people to which it means so much.

Thank you.

https://www.jacobschapelame.org/