Photo by Angela Woodford
The Tyners, a gospel group from North Carolina, showcase their tight harmony for 250 people at the Gospel Chicken House last Saturday night. From left are Beverly, Brooke (who turned 11 two weeks ago) and Ricky Tiner.

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Long before refurbishing old buildings became trendy, Ray and Mary Pollard turned a former chicken house into one of the country’s longest-running venues for Southern gospel music.
This June, the Gospel Chicken House in Montpelier will celebrate 35 years of offering live music, Christian messages, and affordable family-style dining.
Jane Williams, the Pollards’ daughter, said the Gospel Chicken House owes its popularity to the fact that “everybody is welcome, no matter who you are.” Visitors hail from all ages, all incomes and all walks of life, she said, and many are regulars who come for fellowship.
Every Saturday night at 7 p.m., about 250 visitors drop in for a free concert at what one performer termed a “Christian night club.” The Gospel Chicken House band – complete with washboard, drums and brass – starts the show with energetic Dixieland-style gospel.
The house band is followed by devotional music, prayer, a love offering for guest musicians, and a Bible reading led by emcee Vicki Bruce. Then, two guest gospel groups take the stage, wrapping up the night at 9:30 or 10 p.m.
Bruce, who is in charge of booking, said she has such a long list of groups wanting to perform that this year’s roster was full by last September. Nationally renowned groups have appeared at the Gospel Chicken House, but most guest musicians have a state or regional following.
As evidenced by the myriad newspaper and magazine clips adorning restaurant walls, the media has taken a fancy to the Gospel Chicken House as well. Williams noted that a film crew from London visited the Gospel Chicken House three times to film for a documentary on religion in America.

Began as practice space

Ray and Mary Pollard still live in the house in front of the renovated chicken house at 14709 Greenwood Church Road. The home was built in 1946 and the chicken house in the ‘50s. Ray, 86, said he occasionally sings on Saturday nights, though Parkinson’s disease has left him hoarse.
Mary, 85, now has Alzheimer’s disease, but also joins in the praise when she’s able, her daughter said. Williams said her mother has always been the “spiritual force” behind the operation.
Three years ago, Jane and her husband Bob moved from North Carolina to help the Pollards. They’re joined by a bevy of longtime volunteers who do everything from cut the grass to donate homemade desserts to sell at the restaurant.
Williams explained that her mother raised and sold chickens and eggs until Holly Farms (now Tyson) opened a nearby plant, ending demand for fryers from small producers. The Pollards’ 40-by-100-foot chicken house sat vacant for a few years until Ray Pollard need a practice space for his gospel group, the Firetower Quartet.
Pollard said community members began stopping by to hear the band practice. Other bands joined in and the audience kept growing. Before long, the Saturday evening jam sessions were such a hit that Pollard built a stage and borrowed chairs from a funeral home near the Ford dealership where he worked.
Over the years, Pollard and volunteers have spruced the place up in stages, pouring cement over the dirt floor, installing new windows, expanding the kitchen and building a new roof.
Williams said her father requested two things never change about the Gospel Chicken House. No. 1, no admission is charged. No. 2, the price of food remains low so that a family on a tight budget can afford a meal out. Most menu items are under $2.
The Gospel Chicken House will hold its 35th-anniversary celebration on June 28. For more information, visit http://www.gospelchickenhouse.org or call 883-6487.