Rev. Frank R. Hatcher

In early 1924, the Rev. Frank Roy Hatcher, a young associate minister of New Bethel Baptist Church in Indianapolis, Indiana came to visit his sister, Mrs. Luella Tyler. While visiting here he found that a lot of baptist believers were not attending church in the neighborhood, known as the Plate Glass Addition.

He organized a Sunday School at the home of Mr. Horace and Mrs. Birdie Johnson. Those attending were: Rev. Hatcher, Bernice (Johnson) Waddell, John Talley and Gertrude (Talley) Tinder. They continued to meet in different homes in the community and in the spring of 1924, Rev. Hatcher, Brothers Charlie Johnson, and Green Woods set out to buy a tent. They were not able to make the purchase price of the tent, but Rev. Hatcher took out a loan from his place of employment, the Eli Lilly Company. When he was to make a payment on the loan, the company told him it was a gift.

Rev. Hatcher served sixteen years as the founder and pastor of Mt. Pisgah, commuting from Indianapolis. He started with only three (3) members and upon leaving there were 300 on the roll. After leaving Mt. Pisgah, he pastored Emmanuel Baptist Church in Indianapolis until his death. Other Pastor's included: Rev. McBride, Rev. Ray, Rev. Burns, and Dr. F.S. Kemper.

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