ROFL!! And there's plenty to choose from. Here's ECUSA's contribution.
You can watch the full length version at the following link .... assuminig your stomach can handle it.
Posted on 07/27/2006 11:36:28 AM PDT by NYer
BOAZ, July 26 (UPI) — The newest iteration in the U.S. church growth movement's drive to boost attendance on Sunday mornings is something called "cowboy churches."
As evangelical Christian congregations within the country and western culture, cowboy churches often meet in a barn or western-themed building. Some have their own rodeo arenas and country bands. Oftentimes, cattle tanks are used for baptisms.
During the recent Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Greensboro, N.C., a "stampede event" aimed at highlighting cowboy churches showcased cowboys and cowgirls from across North Carolina. Jeff Smith of the Cowboy Church Network of North America attended the event.
"These churches are one of the hottest things going," Smith said. "The cowboy church movement has grown so fast. It's working. Cowboys who weren't going anywhere before now have somewhere to go."
Randall Stoner, director of missions for an Alabama Baptist county association, is another advocate for the unconventional churches, Associated Baptist Press reported Wednesday.
"They [members of the Cowboy Church] have taken on the challenge of intentional evangelism," he said. "This church is reaching a segment of people that need Jesus Christ."
Otis Corbitt, who works for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, agreed.
"It's a way of creating an environment where people will feel comfortable to come and worship the Lord," Corbitt said. "There are a lot of people in our society who do not feel comfortable in our current churches."
The Cowboy Church of Marshall County in Alabama — the first of its kind in the state, according to Corbitt — held its first service May 7. The new church stemmed from a "cowboy and friends fellowship" that meets once a month at various barns throughout the county.
"We thought that if up to 140 people were coming once a month, maybe they'd come every week," Chris Campbell, a former youth minister who helped found the church, said.
The church averages 50 people each Sunday, with different pastors preaching each week. There is no standard order of events and no offering, which is typical for cowboy churches nationwide.
"It's not that you have to be a cowboy to go, but the church is for people who would feel more comfortable in a less formal setting," Corbitt said. "It is reaching out to a segment of population in Alabama that no one else was able to reach with the gospel."
David Denham, a leader at the Cowboy Church, knows what it means to be unchurched and wanting something more out of life.
"I had not been in church in over 20 years," he said. "I had been hurt in church before. Two years ago, an evangelist stopped by my work, and I was saved right there at work. It goes to show that you don't have to be at an altar in a church to get saved."
Now passionate about serving the Lord, Denham wants cowboys who don't regularly attend church on Sunday mornings to feel welcome at the Cowboy Church.
"We don't want to be a place where people who are disgruntled with the traditional church come to in order to leave their church; we want to be a place for the unchurched," he said. "We certainly have a different atmosphere here — it's a Western way of life. But there's really only one church, and that's the Lord's church."
Seriously, FIFTY people in Alabama merit a headline like, "[blank] churches growing in U.S."?
Why is it that the AP only publicizes vulgarities?
No, seriously... this is ridiculous. If they want to call it a "prayer meeting," well that's one thing, but this use of the word "church" to describe everytime more than three baptists go to the same place is getting a little ridiculous.
A few weeks ago, someone wrote about the phenomenon of "house churches" gaining tens of millions of followers in the US. Turns out, all that was meant was people -- like about 90% of whom attended some sort of REAL Sunday service -- praying in a house.
OK, I get that not everyone is high church, but for Christ's sake (and I mean that), enough with using the word "church" to describe the marginally Christian equivalent of a theme restaurant.
Don't get me wrong... I'm glad if someone is going out there and getting cowboy types (Alabama???) to pray, but I'm just so sick of defining everything down. I just lump it in the same class as calling a group of buddies, a "family," the scribblings of deranged lunatics, "art", or the failure to adequately fund some indigenous ritual, "cultural genocide."
>> Brokeback Churches <<
...besides, I didn't know there WERE ECUSA cowboys.
(yes, that's a joke... my boss isn't a cowboy, but he is an ECUSA oil man.)
Umm... let me clear: By "oil man," I mean someone who works to recover petroleum from the ground.
Not just no, but H#ll no. These churches are very popular in rural Texas, and the ones I've seen seem to be biblically sound. Very conservative both culturally and theologically.
The church is the people. The church building is the building. They aren't the same, and these groups of people meeting at placese are churches. "Whenever two or more of you are gathered in my name." Paul started quite a few house churches.
ROFL!! And there's plenty to choose from. Here's ECUSA's contribution.
You can watch the full length version at the following link .... assuminig your stomach can handle it.
As a last comment, apparently Brokeback was successful in what it was trying to do. Every mention of cowboys now includes some kind of stupid homosexual joke, which was what they were trying to accomplish, the degradation of an icon.
LOL! You're terrible... :-)
While it is true that "where two or more are gathered there is Christ", that does not make the gathering a church. What is the Church?
St. Paul states that the Church, NOT Scripture is "THE pillar and ground of the truth." (1 Timothy 3:15) Since the Church alone is mentioned as THE pillar of truth, then It alone has the right to discern the truth and interpret Scripture. For if individuals could correctly interpret Scripture, then all interpretations would be EXACTLY THE SAME as there can only be ONE spiritual truth for the plural of the word "truth" NEVER appears in Scripture. The Church is Christ's bride (Ephesians 5:29) and has no spot, wrinkle or blemish (Ephesians 5:27). Christ also stated that the gates of hell will not prevail against His Church (Matthew 16:18) so how can the Church commit error? Individual clergy may commit sins, even popes commit sins because in the Church there are both weeds and wheat (Matthew 13:30).
Is the Church to be a loose conglomerate of believers or is it to be organized and structured? Scripture CLEARLY established "offices" and a "hierarchy" among Christians. The offices of "bishop, priest (presbyter) and deacon" are mentioned in Scripture (1 Timothy 3:1,8; Titus 1:7). What else is this but "organization?" Or should we believe that any believer can "claim" to be a bishop, priest, deacon or even "apostle?" The word "office" is specifically used in Scripture (1 Timothy 3:1) to describe these positions. Webster defines quot;office" as "A special duty, trust, charge, or position, conferred by authority or God and for a public purpose; a position of trust or authority." And the office of "apostle" is to be continued (Acts 1:20-26) to the present day. Not all believers are "equal" nor have the same gifts (1 Corinthians 12:8-10; Ephesians 4:11). Is the Church a "visible, earthly" entity? Yes, for Christ would not direct us to the Church for disputes if it were not here on Earth (Matthew 18:17). Nor would "fear" encompass the whole Church if it were a mystical, invisible and heavenly entity (Acts 5:11). The Church is definitely here on earth for the actions described in Acts definitely take place on earth and the term used is "the whole Church" (Acts 15:22).
>> They aren't the same, and these groups of people meeting at placese are churches. <<
You just became exhibit 'A'. Yes, the church is COMPRISED of the people: The Greek word for church, Ekklesia, meant an "assembly," a gathering of all the faithful together into a whole. The "Didache" (lit., "Twelve," as in the teaching of the twelve) is a first century document which describes in considerable detail what occurred in such assemblies.
>> "Whenever two or more of you are gathered in my name." <<
..."There I am in your midst." That has nothing to do with the topic of what "ekklesia" means.
>> Paul started quite a few house churches. <<
Yes. They were called together in the largest households (so the whole community could fit, since typically the gatherings were quite large!) The entire community gathered, risking discovery so that they could be joined ("assembled") as one ("communion").
Why not?
In Southern California, I've heard of at least one "rock-n-roll" church
(really kind of a customized car oriented group).
Hey, at least it keeps some Californians out of The Church of Satan!
Do the cowboy churches believe in the Ten Commandments?
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