Christopher Beckham cites Frank Masters' account of a white pastor leading a newly formed congregation for Black Christians.
Christopher Beckham. "The paradox of religious segregation: White and Black Baptists in western Kentucky, 1855–1900." The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society 97, no. 3 (Summer 1999): 307, accessed February 26, 2022
In 1855, First Baptist Church of Paducah formed a separate congregation for its African American members. This Second Baptist Church, Colored, had its own building. . . .
The impetus for the black church's formation stemmed from a dispute among whites at First Baptist, according to Baptist historian Frank Masters. Concern about the growing numbers of African American members resulted in the African Americans' obtaining letters of dismissal, and a separate congregation formed. however, the church's first pastor, the Reverend George Brent, was white. (Later, Brent was forced to leave Paducah because of his close association and friendship with African American church members.)