October 21, 2024
CLEVELAND, Ga. – A beautifully crafted and exceedingly impressive gateway to the campus of Truett McConnell University was dedicated in memory of Richard Headrick, a valiant solder of the Cross, on Thursday, March 24, 2022. The archway is 25 ½ feet tall and 64-feet wide at the base and constructed of ½ inch thick steel letters welded together by Headrick Signs and Graphics, a company based in Laurel, Mississippi.
The gateway arching over the main entrance of the campus provides a “primacy effect” for Truett McConnell. The “primacy effect” creates a first impression which means that when someone encounters something before other things in a sequence, they remember that first thing more. However, once a prospective student or a visitor to TMU enters the campus and begins to meet the University staff and students, they soon discover that the “primacy effect” is simply a foretaste of the excellence to be found in almost any campus experience.
The gateway at TMU was dedicated in an inspiring ceremony on a warm, sunny, spring afternoon with a host of dignitaries present for the occasion, including John and Melissa Rebry, who created the design of the gate, and Robert Lowery who managed the project. The honored guest was Gina Headrick, wife of the late Richard Headrick, who died on October 5, 2020, a day short of his 78th birthday.
In the mind of this writer this extraordinary gateway/arch should have as much significance to Truett McConnell students and alumni and Georgia Baptists as the Arc de Triomphe has to the citizens of France and the Gateway Arch to the West has to citizens of St Louis and those who travel up and down the great Mississippi River.
Richard Headrick was an iconic businessman from Laurel, Mississippi who transformed the outdoor advertising and signage industry. He found a niche for his sign company in 1999 when he was commissioned by Dr. Adrian Rogers, then pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, TN, to construct what was then the three tallest trio of crosses in North America. Truckers driving by the church on I-40 often saw the crosses and referred to the church as “Fort God”.
Richard was an eccentric individualist with his ponytail, love of motorcycles and unique style of ministry, but an unquestionably devoted follower of Christ with a passionate desire to win the lost at any cost. Richard and Gina Headrick founded significant Christian organizations like Hellfighters and Mission at the Cross and became extremely generous benefactors of multiple Christian causes to undergird kingdom work until Christ returns.
Truett McConnell President Emir Caner welcomed the guest by saying, “If you knew Richard Headrick, you knew a soul winner, a man who came to Christ in 1989 and spent the rest of his life sharing Jesus.”
On September 20, 2012, The Christian Index published an editorial highlighting the movie, Last Ounce of Courage. The movie was written and produced by the Headricks and was described as “a film that will thrill and inspire every committed Christian, every red-blooded patriot and freedom-loving American – a movie that will elicit crocodile tears and real conviction.”
One student recalled the time when Richard and Gina came to TMU dressed as a homeless couple to see how the students would react, and then surprised them all by stepping up to the pulpit in chapel to preach a sermon about Christian kindness.
Prior to the dedication Caner commented, “Few people in this world exemplified the life of Christ as much as Richard Headrick. While he was a man of means and entrepreneurship, he recognized that the Lord gave him so many resources in order to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those especially forgotten by the world. From loving the homeless to engaging bikers, everyone mattered to Richard because he knew that Christ died for all of them. I have rarely run into a Christian who shared Christ so faithfully and boldly.”
Paige Patterson, a close friend of the Headricks, spoke at the dedication ceremony, and indicated that Richard himself was a gateway to salvation for many. For years Patterson has heralded Richard for his selfless acts of grace and mercy and evangelistic zeal. He once explained that “his sterling confidence that Jesus died for the sins of all was the mantel he wore like a parka on an icy day.”
At the end of the ceremony Gina Headrick, who traveled from Laurel, MS, to attend the ceremony, was presented a plaque that will be inlaid into the brick under the gate. The plaque bears the following inscription: “The Headrick Gate, dedicated to remembering Richard Headrick, a man who faithfully shared the gospel of Jesus Christ. Richard devoted his life to loving the Lord and loving people, helping thousands of men struggling with addiction find hope in Jesus.”
Gina was obviously moved by the presentation and explained, “Richard did really use everything as an opportunity to share the Gospel. He himself was a gateway. People were drawn to him. He was so unique and so special and so charismatic. But his main goal in life was to make sure that everybody knew Jesus and came to a saving knowledge of Jesus.”
With gratitude, Gina Headrick thanked the university for dedicating the gate to her husband, saying, “This is so symbolic of his life.”
The gateway is positioned at the entrance of Alumni Drive which leads in the direction of the cross and bell at the top of the hill. The bell was given by a mission station in Japan that rang the bell each time someone was saved. Dr. Caner observed at the dedication ceremony that the gateway provides the entrance to what could likely be the “path to salvation” for many and the bell at the top of the hill could represent the “peal of salvation” for those who trust Christ as Savior and Lord.
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Jenny D. Gregory, Director of Marketing and Communications at TMU, along with interns Anna Skudarnova, and Zach Walker, the photographer, contributed to this article.
