Artifacts from The Tide® Global Radio Ministry Will Soon Have a Home at Museum of the Bible
Washington, D.C., Museum Will Exhibit Historic Microphone and Songbook from 73-Year-Old Ministry Still Sharing the Gospel of Christ
CHAMBERSBURG, Pa.—In the very near future, artifacts from the history of The Tide® (www.thetide.org) global radio ministry will be part of a permanent display at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C.
In the coming months, the popular museum will add two artifacts from The Tide ministry for its millions of visitors to see. Included in an exhibit will be a 1939 songbook and a microphone used to broadcast Gospel programming to listeners around the world so more could hear Jesus Christ’s salvation message.
The process began in October 2018 when The Tide Director of Development Mark Story visited the Museum of the Bible and was pleased to see that, in additional to biblical texts and artifacts, the museum carefully included organizations that have based their existence and mission on sharing the truth and hope that comes from the Bible.
“With 73 years of history, I knew The Tide ministry merited inclusion at the museum as a way to help visitors gain a broader picture of the impact of the Bible in America and across the globe through radio and song,” Story said. “In our archives, we retained a stunning microphone that was used to record our Gospel messages and songs. We also secured an original printing of our namesake hymn in a 1939 songbook and believed these items were worthy of public conservation.
“After discourse with the curation staff at the Museum of the Bible, I was delighted to learn that The Tide ministry will be included as part of the permanent exhibit later this year,” Story added. “Our last communication is that the museum exhibit is nearing completion and will be ready for public viewing soon. It is wonderful and exciting that a Smithsonian-style museum in Washington, D.C., would deem our organization as worthy of public exhibition. The Tide ministry certainly has an interesting story to tell.”
The microphone from The Tide ministry is the actual microphone used by Tide staff to record in-studio. It is an RCA ribbon type 77DX supplied from Atlas Sound in Brooklyn, first purchased and put into use in 1963. Still in working order, the microphone is mounted on a stand. The first song in the songbook is “Let the Gospel Tide Roll In,” copyrighted in 1939 by Stamps-Baxter Music and Printing Co., Inc. The Tide staff purchased the songbook from an online book retailer; and three academic libraries also hold copies, but they are not available for purchase or lending. No additional copies of the book have been located.
The Tide radio ministry began on Aug. 11, 1946, when the Rev. Charlie B. Byers broadcast live on WCHA in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. His goal was to teach the Bible using the radio and to include choir music on the broadcasts. He named the ministry “The Gospel Tide,” after the title song in the book. Since that time, The Tide radio broadcasts have expanded to reach eight countries on three continents in 25 languages, with more than 870 million people within listening range.
“Truly, the spread of the Gospel has been a tide,” said The Tide Director Don Shenk.
Story and Shenk hope the microphone and the songbook will be on display by this fall, when The Tide ministry takes its second annual bus trip to the Museum of the Bible on Oct. 17. Read more about the trip here.
For the trip, travelers will again engage in a self-guided walking tour of the Museum of the Bible and enjoy an evening meal together on the way home. Transportation will begin from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and further details will be shared in the coming months.
Six floors of exciting biblical exhibits await visitors to the Museum of the Bible. Marking its grand opening to the public in November 2017, Museum of the Bible’s 430,000-square-foot building is located just three blocks from the U.S. Capitol and aims to be among the most technologically advanced and engaging museums in the world. The grand entrance welcomes visitors with two 40-foot high bronze panels flanked by an architectural re-creation of the printing bed of the first page of Genesis from the Gutenberg Bible. Showcasing rare and fascinating artifacts spanning 3,500 years of history, the museum offers visitors an immersive and personalized experience with the Bible, and its ongoing impact on the world.
The Tide ministry currently offers audio programming in 25 heart languages spoken by millions of people in multiple regions of Albania, Bhutan, India, Kosovo, Nepal, Nigeria, Thailand and Zimbabwe, making it possible for multiple people groups to hear the Gospel in the languages they were born to speak.
For more information about The Tide broadcast projects, history, radio programs around the world, the “Every Knee, Every Tongue” campaign, the “Have You Heard?” initiative, the weekly Global Update radio features or other news, visit its web site at www.thetide.org or its Facebook page. Read more about The Tide ministry and Don Shenk here.
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