Looking southward along Dixon Street from the downtown square one may notice the Morton Museum, a few legal offices, cars parked parallel and an unusual sight for a town of 16,000 — the headquarters of an international television network.

Gospel Music Television (GMT) recently moved to downtown Gainesville after years of being based in Tennessee.

Mary Fay Jackson, one of the nine children of performers Jimmy and Dorothy Jones and a performer in the award-winning Christian Country/Southern Gospel group 1 A Chord, may be found at the new office answering the phone, shuffling papers, taking orders for CDs, counseling callers, overseeing programming — any of a myriad of jobs that an up-and-coming network must tackle to stay on the air.

Jackson said her job is hard to explain. Her parents purchased the network on New Year’s Eve of 2003 and have been hoping to move the head offices to Gainesville.

“We’re excited about having GMT in Gainesville,” Jackson said in an interview Wednesday morning.

The 15-year-old network features video concerts of many varieties of Christian music — Southern Gospel, Black Gospel, Bluegrass Gospel, Christian Country, some Contemporary Christian or just harmonizing singers belting out classic hymns — on a cable and satellite network reaching an unknown number of viewers in various countries.

Programming is also played via streaming video through the station’s Web site.

“Here’s the unique thing about GMT — it was the first, 24-hour-a-day gospel music channel of its kind,” Jackson said.

Familiar faces on the network may include nationally known singers such as Bill and Gloria Gaither of “Gaither Homecoming” fame, and local players on episodes of “Texas Country Gospel” featuring the Jones family, Mike Culpepper and others.

Jackson explained viewers with cable satellite systems may “pull down GMT from the air” with the right equipment. She said for this reason it’s hard to gage just how many viewers they have.

GMT programming is carried via Olympusat, which provides service on a geosynchronous satellite transmitting signals many miles above the earth’s surface.

During the interview at around 11 a.m. Wednesday an episode of “Texas Country Gospel,” aired. Almost immediately, the phone rang with questions about the broadcast.

Jackson said phoned-in inquiries range from orders for DVDs of the concerts played on the air or simply requests for prayer. Calls come in from many countries, she said. Having willing volunteers to answer the phone can sometimes be a matter of life and death.

In one instance, she said, a man was on the verge of suicide before viewing a gospel music program on GMT.

“He had recently lost his job, he was in his 50s, and was thinking about suicide,” Jackson said of caller Joe Baker of Tennessee. “Then he saw a performance of the song ‘God’s Got a Better Plan.’”

Jackson said the caller, with the direction of GMT, sought spiritual help for his suicidal tendencies and began a new chapter in life. Now, she said, Baker has a Southern Gospel group of his own and sings as his full-time career.

In her life she has seen many lives touched by the messages carried through the medium of gospel music. Growing up, her family sung for many churches, including the church they helped to plant, Church of Jesus Christ on Broadway.

She joked about how in most families the children play house.

“In our home, we played church!” Jackson said, with a grin. “Of course, I was the preacher.”

In those days the Jones family, billed as the Jones Playboys, also had a regular, live country program on KGAF-AM, 1580, in Gainesville each week. Jack, Tommy, Billy and Bob Jones comprised the band, Jackson recalled. She said the men would dress up even for a radio show where the only people watching were the band and station workers. She hailed their devotion to detail and showmanship.

The Jones family’s work continued through the decades, culminating in what Jackson called the “highlight of their career” — an appearance at the Grand Ole Opry program with Jimmy Snow in 1995.

“Mom and dad sacrificed a lot to get this going,” Jackson said.

After 1995, much of the Jones family’s work continued through “Texas Country Gospel,” a weekly gospel music show featuring the Jones family, Jackson and their guests.

For a few years the family operated the Jones Family Theater in Farmer’s Branch, the site of the former Word of Faith Church off Interstate Highway 35, which housed regular performances of music similar to that aired on GMT.

Most recently, “Texas Country Gospel” aired locally on Daystar Network’s Dallas broadcast channel, KMPX-TV, 29, where it remained seven years.

Moving the main offices to Gainesville, Jackson said, would allow the family to devote more time to growing the network.

Along with the new office came Connie Jones (no immediate relation to the Jones family singers) who moved to Gainesville last week. She and her husband previously operated the Unity Network, which offered religious programming on nine stations throughout the South, including GMT programming.

Connie Jones said she and her husband began their television ministry with volunteer work at the local station which aired her husband’s sermons at an independent Church of God.

“It continually grew to the point to where I was doing a great bit of their programming,” she said, with a smile. “It’s been a journey all the way.”

She became familiar with GMT through Crawford Communications, the company which handled much of Unity’s and GMT’s satellite broadcasts.

Her forte is in managing the programming, she said, and not so much in producing live broadcasts, studio shows, etc.

“That’s not something we’re going to do here,” Jones said.

“Maybe eventually!” Jackson interjected.

Jackson added most episodes of “Texas Country Gospel” were filmed on location. She has bigger plans for GMT than its current line-up of recorded concerts. One of the more immediate plans is “Jammin’ for Jesus,” a Gospel music showcase scheduled for April 17 and 18 in Branson, Mo.

Jackson said Gainesville-based music shows are not out-of-the-question for the near future.

“We have a lot of talent here in the Gainesville area,” she said.

Jackson said the television station is still a family affair, and she hopes the larger family of Christ will pull together their talents and gifts to help bolster the effort.

Prospective volunteers, advertisers or those curious about the network may visit the office during normal business hours at 208 S. Dixon St. in downtown Gainesville.

“We need lots of help — there’s a lot of hurting people that need help. So if any of the local churches would like to come and help, they’re certainly welcome,” she said. “Ministry takes lots of time and money ... And when you get down to it, we’re just country folks trying to spread the gospel.”

The Gainesville GMT office may be reached at 1(800)665-2334 or by e-mail at 1achord@ntin.net.

On the Net:

Gospel Music Television programming airs in streaming video format at www.gmtn.info

Reporter Andy Hogue may be contacted at andyhoguegdr@ntin.net