The Museum of Christian & Gospel Music is marking its first anniversary this week with a run of concerts, podcast tapings and panel discussions, timed to coincide with the Dove Awards season that has turned downtown Nashville into a hub of gospel music activity. The museum opened in October 2025 and sits at 402 Commerce Street, steps from the Ryman Auditorium, and has used its first year to more than double its exhibits while landing a spot on a national historic trail.
According to the Akron Beacon Journal, the museum has hosted multiple sold-out events in its first year, including a Petra premiere and behind-the-scenes screening for Beyond Belief: The Movie, a pop-up exhibit of Petra artifacts, a Jason Crabb stories-and-songs night, and an immersive Stryper album release experience that included a pre-release listening session, dinner with the band, a Q&A, photos and documentary filming. The museum also hosted a sold-out Gaither Homecoming release event and has featured artists including Brandon Heath, Jason Gray, Ginny Owens and Buddy Greene, per the same report.
Beyond concerts, the museum runs resident podcasts recorded on-site. Got It From My Momma has welcomed Amy Grant and CeCe Winans alongside her daughter, while I Love to Tell the Story has featured Jason Crabb, Point of Grace, Jackie Patillo and Reba Rambo, the Beacon Journal reports. The Christian Music Guys podcast and the Jesus Taxi Show are set to join the museum's programming lineup this month.
Exhibits Double, New Artifacts Added
The museum says it has more than doubled its exhibits since opening, adding displays representing Carrie Underwood, Amy Grant, Jonathan McReynolds, Stryper, Petra, We the Kingdom, Richard Smallwood, for King + Country and Donald Lawrence, according to the same report. A newly added instrument from for King + Country joins the collection, and Randy Stonehill has been added to the museum's pioneers area.
The collection also includes original first-edition lyrics to MercyMe's I Can Only Imagine and Michael W. Smith's Friends, along with artifacts representing Jars of Clay, per the Beacon Journal's account. The museum describes itself as combining innovative technology with live experiences, and visitors can use interactive audio-video recording booths and custom artifact displays built by 1220 Exhibits, which fabricated the exhibit spaces through a partnership between the Gospel Music Association and the GMA Foundation.
Executive Director Steve Gilreath leads the museum, which also houses the Cantinas Arts Cafe, a coffee shop with weekly live performances by emerging Christian artists, according to footage shared by the Museum of Christian & Gospel Music. The Gospel Music Association, which was founded in 1964, describes its mission as exposing, promoting and celebrating the gospel through music while serving creatives and professionals across the Christian and gospel music industry, per the Beacon Journal.
A Civil Rights Trail Designation
In February, the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development officially designated the museum as a site on the U.S. Civil Rights Trail, making it one of 17 official trail sites in the state. The designation recognizes the museum's exhibits on gospel figures connected to the civil rights movement, including the Fisk Jubilee Singers, Mahalia Jackson and Mattie Moss Clark.
That historical weight sits alongside a genre riding real commercial momentum. Luminate's 2025 midyear music industry report found that Christian and gospel music saw notable streaming growth driven largely by younger, streaming-first listeners, even as overall streaming for new music releases declined industry-wide, with the genre's fan base now skewing 60% female and 30% millennial.
Anniversary Week Lines Up With Gospel Music Week
The museum's anniversary programming begins with a Christian Rock & Alternative Night on Thursday, featuring Grace Graber, Audiophile and Pomegranate, according to the Beacon Journal. Glenn Kaiser joins John Thompson for a Brown Bag Lunch & Learn on Friday, and the museum marks its official anniversary on Saturday with a Kickoff to Gospel Music Week featuring live performances and conversations with Jenn Johnson, Josh Baldwin and Bay Turner, plus a live recording of the Christian Music Guys podcast and a Christian influencer panel.
The anniversary week dovetails with the 57th Annual GMA Dove Awards, set for Tuesday at Bridgestone Arena, hosted for the fourth consecutive year by eight-time Dove Award winner Tauren Wells. Phil Wickham leads all nominees with nine nods, while CeCe Winans leads female artists with seven nominations. The ceremony will also introduce a new Community Impact Award for Peace & Purpose presented by Jesus Calling, with the inaugural honor going to prison ministry nonprofit God Behind Bars, as reported by the Detroit Praise Network.
Following the Dove Awards, the museum will host After Doves at the C&G on Tuesday night, an after-party hosted by DJ Parks featuring Mike Teezy, Dante' Pride, Justin Radford, I AM ABLE, Taylented and Pat Murphy, in partnership with The Believers Social, per the Beacon Journal. The event caps a broader Dove Awards Music City Fan Experience running October 4 through 7, which includes a Night of Worship at the Ryman Auditorium with Elevation Worship and a songwriters cruise aboard the General Jackson Showboat, according to the Gospel Music Association.
Visiting the Museum
Standard adult general admission runs $19.95, with senior and youth tickets priced at $14.95, and 10% discounts available for military, educators, clergy and first responders, according to the museum. Located at 402 Commerce Street at the corner of 4th Avenue, the museum sits within the downtown music tourism corridor anchored by the Nashville Downtown Partnership near the Ryman Auditorium, giving visitors an easy pairing with other Gospel Music Week activities happening across the city this month.
Press materials for the anniversary announcement list Lori Mahon of Merge Public Relations as a contact and note the release was distributed via EIN Presswire, underscoring the scale of coordination behind a week that blends the museum's first birthday with Nashville's biggest annual gathering for Christian music professionals and fans alike.
