Cleveland, TN–November 5, 2015–The Museum Center at 5ive Points, a regional history museum located in Cleveland, Tennessee, formally unveiled a permanent exhibit on the history of the iconic Church Hymnal, commonly known as the “Red Back” hymnal.
More than 100 leaders, volunteers, and Hymnal aficionados gathered on November 5 to help cut the ribbon. A specially-formed, “Red Back Quartet” entertained the guests while they perused the new display, which is part of the newly-inaugurated Music Trail now under development by the State of Tennessee Department of Tourism.
[1]General Overseer Mark Williams, fourth from left, and Cleveland Mayor Tom Rowland, fifth from right, were joined by a host of community, museum, and church leaders to cut the ribbon on the new Red Back Hymnal exhibit (click photo to enlarge)
Under an initial request and guidance of the Cleveland/Bradley County Chamber of Commerce, a committee was formed last year to explore the possibility of a museum exhibit that would address the Gospel music heritage of the area with a particular emphasis on the popular hymnal, which has been produced at the Church of God’s Pathway Press for the past 64 years. Melissa Woody, vice president of the Chamber’s tourism development division, spearheaded the effort and called upon the resources of several local Southern gospel artists, conductors, historians, community, and Church of God leaders.
“The Red Back Hymnal has touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of people around the world and we want to share the story of this heritage which exists right here in our community,” Woody stated. “We have visitors that inquire with the Chamber about Cleveland and Bradley County for many things, and the history of this very popular hymnal has been a regular point of interest, particularly as it relates to the religious and Pentecostal heritage trails that pass through this region.”
Woody was referencing two brochures produced several years ago by the Southeast Tennessee Tourism Association, “On the Glory Land Road” and “The Pentecostal Heritage Trail.” Both include several points of interest with historic ties to the Church of God.
The 410 pages of the Church Hymnal contain 429 songs. It was first published in 1951 by Tennessee Music & Printing Company, now Pathway Press, the publishing arm of the Church of God based in Cleveland. It contains standard hymns, traditional gospel songs, as well as Christmas and patriotic numbers.
The exhibit opened to local fanfare and was attended by donors and contributors to the one-of-a-kind display. It contains a floor-to-ceiling enlargement of the song, “Just a Little Talk With Jesus,” and is filled with interactive listening areas, stories, oral histories, shaped-note history, and classic hymnals. The display also contains a working linotype, a massive printing device used in the early days of printing the Hymnal.
Major funding for the exhibit was shared by several organizations, led by the Cleveland/Bradley County Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Church of God International Offices, North Cleveland Church of God, Pathway Press and the First Baptist Church of Cleveland.
“This is an exciting day, not only for Cleveland and Bradley County, but for the Church of God as well,” noted Church of God General Overseer Mark Williams, who attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “Like tens of thousands of worshipers, my theology was shaped and affirmed by the words we sang from this book. What we believe about the love of God, the power of the blood of Christ, the influence of the Holy Spirit, the value of the fellowship of the church—all these and more were fortified in our thinking by the compelling hymns and gospel songs of the ‘Red back Hymnal.”
For more information, or if you have historical knowledge and/or contributions concerning the Church Hymnal that could benefit the exhibit, please contact Melissa Woody at mwoody@clevelandchamber.com.