THE CHURCH HORSES BUILT

Or, perhaps more accurately, it is the church built almost entirely with significant monetary contributions from horsemen and the horse industry across the country.⁵⁰

The church is the Church of the Good Shepherd, an Episcopal congregation in Lexington, Kentucky.

The year was 1923. Various state legislatures across the country had been outlawing pari-mutuel wagering on horse racing as a means to drive tracks out of business and thus end the evil of gambling.⁵¹ A bill to do the same in Kentucky was being debated in the legislature and, of course, in public meetings across the state.

The church began as a mission outreach of Christ Church Episcopal in downtown Lexington, first on South Broadway in 1888, then at a larger frame church on Maxwell. However, in 1918, a fire destroyed the structure. A new lot was purchased at the entrance to Bell Court, and work began on building a parish house.⁵²

About this time, the Reverend Thomas Lever Settle, an Englishman who had come to Lexington after World War I, was appointed to Good Shepherd. While the parish house was dedicated on February 1, 1921, there were as yet no plans or funds to build a sanctuary. Even without that, at the request of the congregation, the status of the small church was changed from a mission to an independent congregation.

Enter the world of politics and the movement to outlaw pari-mutual wagering. As discussed in another chapter, pari-mutual wagering machines, a kind of primitive early computer or calculating machine, had replaced the systems of on-track bookmakers that had dominated betting in the United States for several decades. A track relied for its income on a percentage of the amount of money wagered. Bookmaking had been prohibited when the Kentucky state racing commission adopted pari-mutual wagering. If that were now banned, the tracks would have no source of income and would have to close, as in fact had been the case in other states. The number of working tracks had fallen from 314 in 1897 to a mere 23 by 1910.⁵³ At least four of the remaining tracks were in Kentucky, two of those in Lexington.

Church of the Good Shepherd. Photograph by author.

A large crowd assembled in the courtroom of the county courthouse to hear speakers on each side of the issue. The only minister to speak was Reverend Settle. He told the people that he knew firsthand the evils of bookmaking, having experienced bookies in England before entering the ministry. “With the bookmaker, the crooked owner can bet that his horse will lose,” he said, “You can’t do that with the pari-mutuels.” He continued: “Before I went into the ministry, being an Englishman, I used to go occasionally to the races, and also being an Englishman, I occasionally bet on them. The greatest fun I found in doing it was catching the bookmaker out of line. You can’t do that with the pari-mutuel.” Reverend Settle was given a standing ovation by the crowd, which included many horsemen. He was asked to repeat his speech to the Kentucky General Assembly, which he did. The measure was ultimately defeated by only one vote.

The grateful horsemen offered $50,000 and a new car, which he declined. They continued to seek some way to express their thanks, and Settle decided to ask for funds for a new church. The fund drive became a project of the Thoroughbred Horse Association of Kentucky, and many donations were made from the horse industry, even small donations from the stable help, whose jobs were now preserved. One person even gave a horse, which was then auctioned. Between $200,000⁵⁴ and $300,000⁵⁵ was raised to build the stone church and sanctuary, which was completed by 1926.

In the narthex, or entryway of the church, is a plaque with the following dedication:

To the glory of God this Church is given

to Him by the lovers of the horse from all

over the country as a token of appreciation

of their Father’s goodness to His children-man