M aking a Difference Church on the Range When Pastor Jeff Smith was looking to buy a horse for his daughter a dozen years ago, he had no way of knowing it would lead to the founding of the Cowboy Church Network of North America (CCNNA). While talking to folks at feed stores and on trail rides, I invited them to church, but they declined,” Smith explains, but later, when he asked them if they’d come to a Monday night gathering at the bull-riding arena, they eagerly accepted. That got him thinking. Today CCNNA serves cowboys/ girls, farmers, and ranchers at more than 60 cowboy churches throughout North America, with a Wednesday night fellowship he calls “The Gathering.” “A light in every barn” is Smith’s vision for CCNNA, whose congregations meet not only in barns but also in horse arenas, on trail rides, and in wide-open pastures. Just as Jesus was born in a barn and wore carpenter’s clothing, Smith, who participates in rodeos and trains his own horses, explains, “We’re wearing jeans and boots, part of our trade.” In association with the North American Missions Board, CCNNA baptizes in horse troughs, and cowboys and cowgirls come just as they are. He invites skeptics to check out cowboy church for themselves. “When they do,” he says, “they realize we’re very serious, and people are getting saved. Cowboy churches are real churches with bylaws, and we baptize, marry, and bury, and minister to spiritual needs.” Smith points out that while traditional churches often send people the message “Come and look like us,” cowboy churches reach out to meet folks right where they live. Hope Baptist Church on the Montana plains near Ridgeway is a small church, 27 miles from the local post office, that ministers to ranchers. “There are only 80 people in a 400-square-mile radius,” says Pastor Tim Wyrick. “If we have 40 people in church, that’s really good.” Surrounded by miles of prairie grasslands, Hope Baptist is a spiritual oasis
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for ranchers in these parts. “We have a close-knit community out here,” says Wyrick, who has served as a Village Mission of North America pastor since 2001. Earning the trust of the ranchers is a big part of his ministry, and he is available to help ranchers brand, give shots, sheer—whatever they need done. “I’m pretty good with machines, so I’m called on to fix trucks. It’s neighbors helping neighbors out here.” About 600 cow and calf operations cover approximately 14,000 acres and go back three generations. During haying season, Wyrick works alongside both parishioners and non-parishioners. “I like going to visit them and working with them on their ranches. Relationship is the whole basis of my ministry.” “Wyoming is a tough area,” says Pastor Deanne Graves of Hilltop Baptist Church in Green River, Wyo. “I had a ranch and was happy, but I sensed God calling me to step out in faith. So I said, ’Okay, I’ll take the call if you provide for our livestock.’ That day three people phoned out of the blue and offered their ranches, making us free to move.” Growing up working cattle in northern Colorado, Graves has worked on ranches all his life. He understands the culture and the land. “I can do this on my own—no need for Christ,” is a prevailing attitude that Graves says keeps many from coming to church. “Cowboys are a transitory community,” he says, citing that as one of the biggest challenges he faces. “They come to this region to work for a while and then move away back to their ranches.” Jay Avant, pastor of Milltown Cowboy Church near Davenport, Fla., says, “Cowboys, and those associated with the cowboy culture, don’t want the gospel sugarcoated. They want the plain truth,
Brenda Ervin and they want it to where they can understand it.” Bringing Jesus to rodeo riders, barrel racers, ranchers, and farmers, Smith attends dozens of events around the country. PBR, the world’s biggest bull-riding event, held in Winston-Salem, N.C., is another ministry outreach, and “Cowboy Church Roundup” is held each November celebrating everyone involved in CCNNA. We have a big rodeo and it’s very exciting with folks coming from all over to be baptized in a horse trough. I give an invitation and ask if there is anyone who wants to accept Jesus Christ, and they are baptized also.”
“Our goal is to impact the cowboy culture with the gospel of Jesus by planting cowboy churches in every county, province, and territory of North America,” says Smith, who says that cowboy faith is on the rise in rural America. “Rescue the perishing” is not just a line from a classic hymn, but also the desire of a growing number of pastors with a heart to serve cowboys and ranchers. Learn more at CowboyCN.org.
Brenda Ervin is an award-winning barn preservationist and author specializing in documenting rural America.