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United States News Title: Riding with God: Cowboy church in Geauga County has wide-ranging appeal Newbury Township -- Mamas who let their babies grow up to be cowboys have one less thing to worry about. Cowboy churches are galloping across the nation, providing a spiritual home in stables, riding arenas and other open spaces where some country folk like to congregate. And not just in Texas and Oklahoma. Inside Twin Pines Stables last Tuesday, horses whinnied in the side pews, sparrows swooped in and out of the rafters, and the opening hymn instructed believers to "Saddle up your horses. We've got a trail to blaze. Through . . . God's amazing grace." Why a cowboy church? Why not, say the founders of Life Brand Cowboy Church. "There are 60,000 horses in Northeast Ohio," Pastor Royce Gregory said. "There are a lot of horse people up here." And with more religious groups meeting congregants in familiar cultural settings, what better place for a Christian ministry than a horse barn, say church leaders. "Jesus never built a church," said the Rev. David O'Toole, a music ministry leader. "As a matter of fact, I believe he was born in a stable, if I'm not mistaken." Lots of reasons to pray The numbers branded on the bull were 666, which some interpret as the mark of a diabolical beast referred to in the Book of Revelation. The bull was so large, it wouldn't fit into a single chute, so a chute behind it had to be opened to provide enough room for the snorting, 3,400-pound animal. Some riders gave up their entry fee rather than ride it. Gregory was able to stay on for five seconds but then found himself rolling under the animal. For 15 seemingly endless seconds, the bull spun around, with the curled-up Gregory thinking this was the end. Somehow he emerged untouched from that drama 25 years ago in Weatherford, Texas, convinced that God was looking out for him. Horse people have lots of reasons to pray, cowboy missionaries say. And not just bull riders who risk broken bones or paralysis each time they enter the chute. Working in open spaces with animals who are part of God's creation is an atmosphere that lends itself to prayer and contemplating the divine. Advertisement What they have lacked were places and time to worship. Rodeos, horse shows and ranch work fill many weekends for cowboys and others in the world of riding and caring for horses. Gregory says that while most cowboys carry a Bible in their rigging, going to church on Sunday is difficult. Three years ago, the Rev. Jeff Smith of Midland, N.C., rented a bull-riding arena and invited his rodeo friends to a night service during the week. "You do it, we will come," they told him. Smith, the executive director of the Cowboy Church Network, now has helped start 26 cowboy churches from Florida to Canada, including Life Brand. Gregory's epiphany came about seven years ago in Trumbull County, while he was judging a bull-riding competition in Kinsman. Gregory said he felt the Holy Spirit speak to him. "Look around you, Royce. There's lost people. They need the love of Christ," was the message Gregory said he received. "My first thought was, Huh, me?' " He began sharing Scripture with cowboys during area rodeos. Last year, he decided to take his ministry a step further and begin a church, with the help of Smith; Gregory's home church, Lake Ridge in Mentor; and the Southern Baptist Convention. The nation's largest Protestant denomination helps fund and provides volunteers for the church as part of its Cleveland Hope initiative to plant churches in Northeast Ohio. Life Brand held its first service in May and draws an average of 60 people, both horse people and people who enjoy the country lifestyle, each week at the Geauga County stables, Gregory said. Smith doesn't know the number of cowboy churches in the United States but says the phenomenon has taken off as organizations such as his Cowboy Church Network offer training for clergy and lay leaders. "I believe it's kind of a God thing," Smith said of the success of cowboy churches. Not that it is without secular appeal. "Everybody likes cowboy stuff, so they come out," he said. Casual surroundings attract some "You'll know you're in a redneck church if . . . "The preacher tells the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 with two fish, and the congregation wants to know whether they were bass or catfish and what bait did he use. . . . "People think rapture is something you get when you lift something too heavy. . . . "The minister asks Bubba to take up the collection, and five men and two women stand up." Gregory, a native of Corpus Christi, has a Texas-size grin on his face as he starts the service with some redneck humor. Dressed in a Palm Leaf cowboy hat ("Most cowboys don't wear Stetsons anymore"), starched shirt and pants with a large silver belt buckle and boots, the 48-year-old Gregory fits in with the congregation's sea of flannel, jeans and boots. Six riders attend the entire 75-minute service on horseback. On this night, everyone claps to the hymn "Are You Washed in the Blood?" One soloist puts her soul into the country tune, "If Nobody Believed in You." On the video screen the words of the hymns are shown as well as the announcement "Restrooms, AKA outhouses, are located in the rear parking area." At one end of the riding arena is a stainless-steel horse trough, the baptismal font where next month at least nine people will be fully immersed. The dress, the contemporary music, the setting -- everything -- is designed to be relaxed and familiar to people who are in or attracted to cowboy culture. And that's the way the congregation likes it. Debbie McCann, 49, of Chardon, wearing cowboy boots and hat, says her family enjoys the service so much, they attend church twice a week, once on Sunday at their home church and again on Tuesday nights at Life Brand. "I love it. I think it's awesome," she said. "It's just different. It's a lot more relaxed." Three teenagers sitting in the first row of the wooden-plank grandstand say this is one place that gets church right for them. Dusty Whidden, 17, of Kirtland, likes being able to come from work to the service without having to change. "I don't like going to normal church," he said. Lauren Gum, 17, of Mentor, said it was "amazing" to listen to Scripture in such a comfortable setting. "I love this way of life," she said. "I can come as I am and don't have to worry about what other people think." Setting is different; message is old-fashioned A well-worn black leather Bible rests on top of a saddle that serves as a lectern. Gregory grabs the Bible and proceeds to give it a workout, gesturing with it, reading from it and at times pounding it to emphasize a point as he paces back and forth in the dirt in front of the grandstand. If the setting is unusual, Gregory's message is old-fashioned. "There's only one way to heaven, and that's through faith in Jesus Christ," Gregory tells his congregation. "Some people call it hellfire-and-damnation preaching," he said, slapping his palm on the Bible. "But you know what, that's what it says. There's no getting around it." The message -- not how people dress or the style of music or the setting -- is what is important, church leaders say. The Gospel "is ageless, it's timeless, and it's classless," O'Toole said. "Wherever people are assembled, it's a church. Whether in a stable or a cathedral, I really don't think it matters." Life Brand Cowboy Church meets at 7 p.m. Tuesdays at Twin Pines Stables, 14549 Sperry Road, Newbury Township.
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