When Joseph Hudson was called as minister of music at First Baptist Church Cleveland, South Carolina, in 2010, he wanted to get to know the members of his new congregation.
“Some of my mentors in ministry had advised me that to be successful in ministry, you need to love your people,” he recalled. Before you love them, you have to know them, Hudson added.
Little did he know that desire to know his new congregation would lead him to becoming an authority on a western theme park that was only open in the community for four seasons in the mid-1960s.
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Shortly after arriving at the church, Hudson and then pastor Hal Parris went to a local restaurant owned by one of the church members.
While there, Hudson, who is an avid railroad enthusiast and collector, noted a display on Echo Valley, a former western theme park that was located on the current site of the restaurant in the mid-1960s.
Restaurant owner Margaret Austill shared the story of Echo Valley which was an amusement park with a western theme and featured the Swamp Rabbit Railroad.
A story to be told
Hudson recalled that though he was a native of northern Greenville County and had done extensive research on the railroad that ran through that part of the county, he did not know the story of Echo Valley which closed at the of the 1967 season due to financial losses.
“I knew that was a story that needed to be told,” Hudson said.
“Getting to know my church people was the whole catalyst for telling the Echo Valley story,” he said. “It has opened many doors to get to know people who worked in the theme park and other members of the community.”
Hudson said the “floodgates opened” after people realized he had no agenda other than to tell the story of something that is still remembered throughout the area. “People bring me stuff all the time from tickets and pictures to documents and other artifacts. They also share their memories. It’s been interesting to find out how big a deal Echo Valley was.
“Hearing the recollections of people you would think they were talking about Disneyland. In some ways, it was for this part of the county, but it only lasted for four years.”
Hudson, an active member of the Travelers Rest (South Carolina) Historical Society and its board of directors, presented a program on Echo Valley at the Society’s June meeting, approximately 15 years after learning the park existed.
Approximately 150 people crowded into a building on the former Echo Valley property to hear the presentation which also featured past staff members of the amusement park.
Hudson acknowledged he was surprised by the large crowd because the park has been closed for nearly 60 years. The roots of Echo Valley still run deep in the Cleveland community, he noted. Those in attendance at the meeting included family of the original investors and staff or family of former staff members, he added.
“People remember the happiness that Echo Valley brought them and they want to relive it,” he continued. “They want to remember those happy times.”
Getting outside the church
Lujean Bailey of Travelers Rest worked at Echo Valley the year it opened in 1964 and would meet her future husband, David, who was a cowboy at the theme park. They were married in 1965. “Echo Valley has a lot of memories for me,” she affirmed.
Hudson said the presentations he has made on Echo Valley and the Greenville and Northern Railroad are an affirmation of why it is important for ministers to get outside the walls of the church and to be immersed in the communities they serve. “It opens doors to get inside places I normally would not get into.”
He noted that he normally wears a branded church or other Christian-themed shirt and, when given the opportunity, opens every meeting with prayer. “They know I am a minister.”
Hudson observed that there are typically non-Christians at the presentations and some of them will engage with him following the meeting and that leads to gospel conversations. “I’m always trying to promote not only this church (Cleveland First Baptist) but the church in general and what it means to be a Christian and being part of a body of believers.”
Hudson also uses social media to get outside church walls. Due to his interests in collecting railroad memorabilia and history and church friends and family, he has a Facebook following of nearly 2,000 people. “God spoke to me and told me to use that platform to invite people to church.”
For the past 10 years Hudson has posted the following message every Saturday night: “Where will you be going to church tomorrow? If you can’t answer that question, come on up to Cleveland First Baptist and worship with us! Our morning service starts at 11:00. There’s no expectation of a certain way for you to dress. We’re more concerned with what’s on the inside. We hope you can join us, but if not, go to church SOMEWHERE tomorrow, the Lord has something for YOU in the message or a song.”
While it is important to go out into the community and invite people to church, not everyone is comfortable in approaching strangers and initiating gospel conversations, he said. “But if you are on a social media platform (such as Facebook), that is an easy way to invite people to church,” he said.
Hudson said that while he would like to see people come to Cleveland First Baptist his ultimate goal is about “getting people to go to church so they can have a relationship with the Lord and walk with Him every day of their lives.”
