Midland Gospel Singing Center started as a vision that came to Earl Outlaw as a result of his lifelong involvement in gospel singing.  He originally started having monthly singings in the Family Ministries Building at his church – Pond Branch United Methodist Church.  As these singings started growing in popularity, it became evident that there was a need for a building solely dedicated for this purpose.  In August of 1990, Earl was successful in recruiting a group of friends and fellow church members that shared his enthusiasm for gospel music and they filed for a Certificate of Incorporation for Midland Gospel Singing Center.  After accumulating donations of land and other resources, a loan was secured from the bank and construction of the building began on Pond Branch Road.  In the fall of 1996, a dispute arose among the trustees over how the singing center should be run and it was agreed that the opposing parties would split.  The resulting agreement allowed Earl and his group to retain the name of Midland Gospel Singing Center and they started looking for a new place to hold the singings.  After receiving a donation of two acres of land on Martin Smith Road from one of the trustees, Mr. Herman Taylor, the board started making plans to construct a new 7000 SF building with full kitchen facilities and seating for 400 people.  While the building was under construction, several singings were held at Earl’s house on Black Creek.  These singings were called “The Singing on The Creek”.   
Construction of the new building was completed in the summer of 1997 and the first singing was held in August of that year.  Since that time, the center has continued to have singings on the first Saturday of each month with Earl serving as Chairman of the Board and the MC for the singings.  At the beginning of 2015, Earl decided that he had served his tenure as emcee and informed the board that a search should begin for a replacement.  The board decided to ask Steven Craps if he would take over the duties.  Although very young, Steven had proven himself to be a very talented singer and he had experience with organizing and acting as MC for his own monthly singings at his church.  The board was pleased when Steven agreed to take on the responsibility of scheduling the singing groups and serving as emcee.
In February of 2017 Steven resigned from being the emcee, after joining the Pine Ridge Boys Quartet. At this point there was a search being made to find just the right person.
After an extensive search with a few possible candidates, Kenny Clark of West Columbia was naned the new emcee for Midland Gospel Singing Center in 2018. Kenny is no stranger to Gospel Music or the Midland Gosoel Singing Center. He has sang with various groups, including his family, Upward Bound, the Blievers Quartet, just to name a few. Kenny also has a solo ministry and currently sings with his sister and brother-in-law, The Shireys.

Earl Outlaw

The Original Midland Gospel Singing Center

The New/Current Midland Gospel Singing Center