Inside the Museum of Christian and Gospel Music
When visitors step into the new Museum of Christian and Gospel Music, executive director Steve Gilreath hopes they see something they recognize.
Perhaps the backdrop from a Third Day concert tour, Amy Grant’s leopard-print tour jacket from the ’80s, or posters from festivals of the ’90s heyday of contemporary Christian music will spark a memory. Positioned front and center since the museum opened in October is artist Brandon Lake’s very own coat of many colors that he wears on the cover of his 2023 album of that name. Even if a person doesn’t identify as a Christian, or doesn’t follow Christian music anymore, they might connect with the tuba used to record the Veggie Tales theme, which is part of a sculpture in the lobby.
Gilreath — who reports to Jackie Patillo, president of the Gospel Music Association — collected many of the artifacts through his own connections with artists. He has produced 10 Dove Award ceremonies — the Grammys of Christian music, which the museum is centered around — and previously served as an executive director at Christian music radio giant K-LOVE.
There is a Gospel Music Hall of Fame in St. Louis, and a Southern Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame that’s part of the Biblical Times Dinner Theater in Sevierville, Tennessee. But until Nashville’s museum opened, there was not a space honoring all types of Christian music. The Museum of Christian and Gospel Music encompasses contemporary Christian, traditional and Southern Gospel, praise and worship and hymns, as well as Christian hip-hop and rock music. It also allowed the 197 honorees of the Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame to see the light of day for the first time, Gilreath tells the Scene.
The museum’s historical narrative starts, like many Nashville stories do, with the Fisk Jubilee Singers. Throughout the museum, inclusion is not necessarily based on numbers, but on impact. At least 1,000 artists and others in the business would qualify to appear in the museum, but around 400-500 are mentioned, Gilreath says.
“It's so hard to put together a new museum,” he tells the Scene. “What are you building around? Where do you start? … We want to talk about the platforms that these artists decided to pursue and the stories that come with it. Telling stories is always the most interesting thing out there, and so we pursue stories of lives changed.”
Outside the Museum of Christian and Gospel Music
Life-size touch screens throughout the museum feature 18 of the top artists across Christian music including Matthew West, CeCe Winans, Michael W. Smith, Toby Mac, aforementioned Belmont University alum Amy Grant and winningest Dove Award recipient Steven Curtis Chapman. There’s also a prayer wall and recording booth to share a message with an impactful artist, which will be forwarded on to their team.
With United Methodist Publishing House and Lifeway based in Nashville, the city has been a hub of religious music for more than 100 years, Gilreath points out. The museum honors behind-the-scenes folks like producer Chris Christian, who discovered Grant and produced her first record. If you expected some figures with well-known conservative social and political stances to be represented, you’d be right: Pat Boone is featured, with the documentation pointing out that he was the first Christian artist on the cover of Rolling Stone. The museum also features a rock section with artifacts from ’80s Christian metal group Stryper, as well as current heavyweights like pop duo For King + Country, who drew inspiration from the former. Trailblazing Christian rap artist Lecrae is featured alongside 20-time Grammy-winning gospel artist Kirk Franklin.
The museum features Christian music’s intersection with the Civil Rights Movement and points out when Christian artists broke through at secular events, like gospel artist CeCe Winans singing the national anthem at the NFL Draft in Nashville. On the flip side, it also spotlights moments when mainstream artists participated in explicitly Christian events, like when Whitney Houston performed at the Dove Awards. Alan Jackson donated a family Bible and the jacket he wore in a music video for his album of hymns Precious Memories.
The 2025 Dove Awards, which took place Oct. 7, featured Jelly Roll, Lady A, Jon Batiste, Carrie Underwood and Vince Gill. Museum founders argue this range of high-profile talent shows the significance of the Christian music industry today. There are three artists represented in the museum who are also honored at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Country Music Hall of Fame and the GMA Hall of Fame: Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and two-time Dove winner Dolly Parton. The museum also features a room where visitors can stream their favorite moments from past Dove Awards broadcasts as well as a cafe with live music and an 80-seat performance area. There are plans to use this space for Bible studies led by artists, lunch-and-learns with industry titans and songwriter workshops.
“There are so many songs that talk about ‘through the storms,’ ‘during the storms’ and life's struggles. That theme is often a very popular theme for successful songs because people struggle so much. It doesn't offer answers or secrets to success. It just commiserates with people that are having a tough time and [says to] know that God loves you through it. Hearing that message gives people hope. That makes us different than every other genre.”
