and form a quartet,” Rhoades said.
answering the phones, calling people back, and booking
NEW HORIZONS
55TH YEAR
New Horizons gospel group begins their 55th year of
sharing their gospel ministry
I
f you happen to see a black and gold touring
bus with former Laclede County Presiding
Commissioner Danny Rhoades at the wheel,
then look closer and you might see his older brother
Max Rhoades and his younger sister Becky Rhoades
Buttrey behind its tinted glass.
They are the New Horizons gospel group in their 55th
year of hitting the road and sharing a gospel ministry
through song at venues near and far.
Before there were the New Horizons, there were Dean
and Julia Rhoades’ small sons singing in Lebanon’s
Church of the Nazarene where Dean was the pastor for
51 years after using his contractor skills to turn an old
boarding house on Fourth and Jefferson into a church.
“Mom used to put us up to sing in church all the time. I
can remember being very, very young doing that,” senior
PAGE 8 | LACLEDE COUNTY RECORD’S WEEKEND EDITION | SATURDAY, AUGUST 20, 2022
community in which to live that is supportive of gospel
By Chris Roden
sibling Max Rhoades said.
He was four years old when his parents moved to
Lebanon. Brother Danny was about two and half, and
Becky was yet to be.
Once Becky came along, they gained a lot of singing
experience in the church.
“Oftentimes, we would come in from a long weekend on
a Sunday night thinking we were just going to sit down
and enjoy. Dad would say, ‘You kids get some songs
ready. I want you to sing.’ We never did argue with him.
We just did what he asked. We were always part of the
ministry here, and we loved it,” Rhoades said.
Getting up before an audience held no fears for them.
“We were raised in it. It’s just what we did,” he said.
Mornings in the Rhoades’ home consisted of breakfast
followed by Julia reading Bible stories, Dean reading
scriptures, prayer and the kids joining their mom at the
piano for singing.
“Mom would sing, and that’s where we learned to sing.
Dad could sing, Mom was a good singer, a good parts
singer, a good alto ... Dad made sure we learned all the
things required for the ministry. We were a part of that,”
Rhoades said.
When Max turned 16 and became a licensed driver, he
and Danny purchased an old Bogen PA system from a
traveling singing group that inspired them musically
called the Jones family.
John Jones and his brother Dennis helped them try out
the system.
“We went out to a little Methodist church on N highway
to try it out. Took a song out there. John played the piano
and we sang, and that’s when we decided to get together
After being called “The Barnyard Four,” they were
inspired by an Oakridge Boys album title, “Over New
Horizons.” The New Horizons were launched.
The PA system fit in the trunk of Max’s car, and
weekends meant watching the dotted highway lines flash
by as they drove to other towns to sing gospel music and
seeing new horizons as a consequence.
Eventually John joined the Navy and Dennis got
married, leaving the quartet with space to fill.
Baby sister Becky Rhoades Buttrey would eventually fill
the gap.
After many years and a variety of transportation types
that proved uncomfortable, the group currently ride to
concerts in a 1998 MCI diesel-powered touring bus with
Danny at the wheel.
They miss their previous driver, not because of Danny’s
driving skill at the wheel but because of the character of
Jack Kinnett, who drove them for 14 years prior to his
passing.
“If you could say you’re called to drive a bus, that man
was. A blessing he was. Wonderful, wonderful man,”
Buttrey said.
The longest distance they have traveled to sing the
gospel was to Los Angeles playing 25 dates in different
churches in just 30 days in the early eighties.
They experienced some culture shock when one pastor,
after seeing promotional photos of the New Horizons
dressed up to sing, suggested they not come to his
church where it was normal for members to wear bikinis
to services.
Danny Rhoades said growing up in the Rhoades family
meant not even wearing short pants.
Buttrey remembers her first appearance was being a
substitute singer at age 12 when the Jones boys could
not go to an event. She and her mom were asked to fill
in. About three years later, she shifted from being a sub
to a full-fledged member in 1973.
“When I was 15, that’s when we put this group together
as you see it now,” Buttrey said.
Max Rhoades put it simply: “Mom and Dad made us
take her.” If true, that worked out well for Buttrey.
“It’s all I ever wanted to do besides teach, and I got to
do both,” Buttrey said.
Buttrey retired from her teaching career after teaching
second, third and fourth grade in Lebanon schools for
31 years in 2011.
For her, traveling is a necessary evil.
“I’m the type of person I don’t like to get ready to
go anywhere, but once I’m there, I’m great,” she
said.
Buttrey is the only sibling to have a formal music
education by attending MidAmerican Nazarene
University.
However, her most influential music teacher
was Mrs. Sonya Johnson who taught in a
Lebanon elementary school and later at
the Junior High.
For Danny, one of the highlights
of his experiences in the New
Horizons is recording their
albums, both singing with
the family and cutting his
own gospel saxophone
albums. Part of the
process is working with
people with tremendous
skills.
“Whenever you do that
and go to a place and
you see people that are
so gifted that it thrills
you, knowing where
they got their talent -- it
comes from God above,”
he said.
However, their yearly
Gospel Spectacular in the
last week of July is the real
highlight for Danny.
“You work a lot year round,
giving out information,
LACLEDE COUNTY RECORD’S WEEKEND EDITION | SATURDAY, AUGUST 20, 2022 | PAGE 9
the talent for the programs and getting everything
taken care of so when people do come to town to your
homecoming concert, the Gospel Spectacular, you’ve
got something there for them,” he said.
The Gospel Spectacular started in 1980 or 1981, as best
as Max can remember.
“It is the longest running gospel concert in the country
right now. No other organization has continually had
one for as many years as we have,” Danny said.
Max pointed out that when the Gospel Spectacular was
held outdoors behind the Church of the Nazarene the
event was never rained out.
“It rained right up until the time, rained after we got
stuff tore down, but never one time did it rain us out.
God is good,” Max said.
Danny said their dad got on his knees to pray for
cooperative weather for each Gospel Spectacular.
After Danny suffered from heat stroke while putting
up the outdoor stage, it was time for a new venue. The
Cowan Civic Center became its new, very comfortable
and climate-controlled home.
The group has recorded on vinyl, eight-tracks, cassettes
and now CDs only. None of them had a definite figure
for the number of albums they have recorded without
gathering them up and counting, but probably over 25. It
is not a profitable venture monetarily speaking.
“We cover our costs for the ministry and put on our
gospel sing every year. We pay for that before it ever
happens. We make sure if nobody shows up, we can
cover the cost. Danny is our money guy, and he takes
good care of that, “ Max said.
While they sing at venues like the Missouri State Fair,
it is not their real focus. It is in churches where they
see the profit they enjoy most, profit not preceded by a
dollar sign.
“Singing is good, but our calling is in the church. That’s
where we’re the best is in a church setting. We minister
in churches and see a lot of people saved. You can’t
place values on that,” Max said.
An attempt to retire a few years back failed when the
invitations to sing kept coming and no one could say no.
“You just got to understand the love of this music. This
is all we’ve ever really wanted and had no idea it would
go this far and this long and get to do what we’ve
gotten to do along with doing a career that
I’ve loved. I’ve been blessed to have both
... I loved what I did, and I love what I’m
doing,” Becky said.
She said God gave her the ability to
grade papers and work on her master’s
degree as she rode the bus and a good
groups.
“This community supports them well. They have been
very good to us. This is our home. I wouldn’t want to be
anywhere else,” Becky said.
Max has written some of the group’s songs and has
notebooks filled with songs he has never sung.
Their newest CD, purchasable from their website,
https://newhorizonsgospel.org, has a new favorite of his
written by a friend.
Max said Bruce Haynes is one of the best gospel
songwriters around. He met with him three or four times
discussing a song that would make certain the group’s
kids would know what their parents believed. Haynes
came up with the song “The Gift.”
“It’s what we want to leave. We want our kids to know
that God’s grace is still amazing. It’s important to know
that they walk in truth. The greatest gift that I have to
leave you is Jesus. Great song,” Max said.
They have had some success on the radio with Top 40,
Top 30 and even a Top 20 gospel songs without really
promoting them.
“We never got out and pushed them. It’s not what we
wanted to do,” he said.
Their website shows a busy schedule and hints that they
soon will be seeing new horizons down the road.
Fifty-five years in, they plan to keep touring until they
cannot tour any longer.
“We’re just fulfilling a call everywhere we go. Every
weekend, it’s a new horizon,” Max said.
Submitted Photos
Left page, top, without a group historian to document
dates, Danny Rhoades’ best guess of the year for this photo
is the 1970s when bell bottom slacks were the rage. From
left to right are Rhoades, Gerald Stowe, bassist, Glenda
Powell, pianist, Becky Rhoades Buttrey and a bearded Max
Rhoades. Danny Rhoades said Powell played with the New
Horizons for about 10 years total. Right page, top, a more
recent shot shows the New Horizons singing in colorful
Meramec Caverns as part of the Lesters’ Fall Festival of
Gospel Songs. The group has sung at this event for 25 or 30
years. Danny Rhoades said the acoustics in the large cavern,
which will hold an estimated 1,500 people, are amazing.
Below, the most recent photo of the trio.