“The place is really built on a subtle conveying of Christian messages,” he said.
David Ott and his wife, Carol, a retired couple from Minneapolis, have visited — more than 60 times since 1980 — Silver Dollar City, a theme park owned by Herschend Family Entertainment, whose businesses include the Dolly Parton Stampede, and which operates “in a manner consistent with Christian values and ethics.”
“I could be a tour guide,” said David Ott while riding the tram back to the parking lot on a sunny day in late August.
The Otts, who are Baptists, had just spent the day at a major Southern gospel music festival that takes over the park in late August. Ott said the family and faith-friendly atmosphere — and the music — keep them coming back.
“Everything there is a spiritual-based atmosphere,” Ott said.
Ott said he and his wife often go to shows while visiting Branson. Among their favorites was the Andy Williams show at the Moon River Theater, which Williams opened in 1992 and where he performed until his death in 2012. They are also fans of the Sight and Sound Theater, where they’ve seen every show, including original productions about Moses, Noah and Jesus, as well as the Christmas show.
Billboards for “Jesus” were everywhere in Branson in late August. The show, which debuted at the Sight and Sound Theater in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 2018 and opened in Branson in March of 2021, has been seen by more than 4 million people.
Ott raved about a scene in the show, which ended its run in early October, depicting the Apostle Peter walking out on the water to meet Jesus.
“I don’t know how they do their special effects, but they are fantastic,” he said.
The theater’s original productions, based on biblical texts, feature singing, dancing, live animals, massive sets that move by remote-controlled robots, and dazzling special effects — the Branson theater boasts a 12-ton LED video screen that cost more than a million dollars to install.
A more modest Branson attraction can be found at the Freedom Encounter, which runs a patriotic-themed show called “Freedom Journey” three times a week in a theater built for ’70s singer Tony Orlando, whose “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree” hit has become a Veteran’s Day anthem.
A genial former pastor and church musician, Darren Myers emcees the show, which weaves together faith-based quotes from the Founding Fathers, video interviews with modern immigrants and patriotic anthems. He’s also the founder of the Freedom Encounter — a nonprofit that plans to transform the theater into a faith-based museum, which will include a space for “Freedom Journey,” as well as interactive exhibits, a bookstore and a kids’ play area modeled after a colonial village.
Myers left his church in 2015 to found an evangelistic ministry devoted to traveling the country and “spreading the truth of God’s word and the truth of our country’s founding,” to help save the country from “a spiritual crisis,” according to the promotional video for the ministry. After several years of performing the “Freedom Journey” show during the week of Veteran’s Day in Branson, Myers decided to found the museum.
“My angle has always been, we’re in a spiritual war and we have the truth,” he told RNS during an interview at Freedom Encounter. “And we’ve got to tell the truth because the truth is what makes us free, and freedom isn’t going to happen, you know, separate from the truth.”
Myers said he’s not a Christian nationalist and doesn’t think the nation only belongs to Christians. But he does argue Christian ideas are essential to America.
Building an audience has been slow but steady work, Myers told RNS. Most audiences are small, but a few times the show has drawn as many as 200 people.
“That’s pretty typical for a new Branson show,” he said. “We’re right on track.”
While more hardcore Christian nationalism can be found in Branson, that message has its limits. Gary Emas, the 71-year-old owner of the Faith, Family and Freedom store on highway 76 in Branson, said that more MAGA-friendly businesses aren’t welcome in Branson.
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“They are all RINOS in Branson,” said Emas from the porch of his store, using a derisive nickname for Trump critics known as “Republicans in Name Only.” His porch was lined with pro-Trump flags, with slogans like “Let’s Go, Brandon,” “Trump 2024,” and “Jesus Is My Savior, Trump Is My President.”
