Approaching its 50th season this spring, the Gospel Barn continues to combine family, faith, and tradition. 

Located on Bankers Road in Hillsdale, the barn hosts a guest group weekly and a house band of its own.

Artists range in genre from traditional gospel and quartets to family groups and bluegrass music.

“The atmosphere just attracts people,” former Michigan State representative Ken Kurtz said. “These acts [touring music groups] want to come to the gospel barn.”

The Christian concert venue is closed for the remainder of the year but will open its doors again in April.

The Gospel Barn took four years to build and first opened its doors in 1974 under the direction of Everett Wirick and his wife Margaret Frager.

“My grandfather was a builder and he built this facility for the purpose of holding gospel concerts,” current owner Scott Wiley said.

Visiting the venue today, one will find a display area with a carpenter square that Wiley found when the roof was being redone. This carpenter square, according to Wiley, was from the early 1970s when his grandfather first constructed the roof.

From building to management, the Gospel Barn has been a family affair, and Wiley knew that he wanted to be involved in it.

Wiley sent his grandparents a letter detailing his plan to move to Michigan, learn how to run the venue, and eventually lead the Gospel Barn. 

After graduating from high school in 1987, that dream became a reality and Wirick added Wiley’s name to the deed. 

A family crisis, however, put Wiley in charge of the barn sooner rather than later.

“In February 1988, he and my grandma were in a car accident and were killed suddenly,” Wiley said.

In the midst of this tragedy, Wiley continued the Gospel Barn’s operations.

“We carried on, and we have carried on all these years,” he said.

Kurtz said that the venue has been successful under the leadership of Wiley.

“The community goes quite a ways beyond Hillsdale down to Indiana, Ohio, and further up in Michigan,” Kurtz said. “Sometimes people come in buses.”

Norm Keesler, a member of the house band who has been involved in the Gospel Barn since Wiley’s grandparents ran it, echoed similar sentiments about how special the Wiricks, the Wileys, and the barn truly were and continue to be to him. 

“The Wirecks and the Wileys have been very supportive of me and very encouraging to me and they are to other folks as well,” said Keesler.

Despite COVID-19 lockdowns and regulations, the venue continued to perform its mission. Although concerts could not be held in the auditorium, Wiley said the crew set up an area outside to host weekly concerts.

The Gospel Barn hosted Saturday concerts from June to September 2020, where people could bring lawn chairs or sit in their cars and enjoy music. 

Wiley said the weather cooperated and made the outdoor concerts possible.

“One of the real blessings of that entire time was that we never got rained out in that 15 to 16 week span,” said Wiley.

Since the pandemic, Wiley said crowds are coming back.

“The Gospel Barn just has a place in Hillsdale County,” Kurtz said.