photo by Sarah A. Miller/Tyler Morning Telegraph Church members Tara Emerson, 11, of Rusk and her father Clint Emerson watch the Race for the Cross ... Because He Paid Your Fees Open 5D Barrel Race Sunday April 26, 2015 at Trail to Christ Cowboy Church in Jacksonville. The free event had 327 entries with each participant allowed two entries. "We come from a western heritage and cowboy culture. We want to use what God's given us to help reach people for Jesus," said pastor Mark Norman. Barrel racers were required to attend the 10:30 church service before competing.

Jacksonville – With the façade of an Old West town behind him, Benjamin McAnally started singing the hymn, “I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses.”

His twang reminiscent of country singers, McAnally, 19, appeared every bit the part of a country artist in his black cowboy hat, black button down shirt and jeans.

But the performance wasn’t for entertainment purposes only. McAnally, of Jacksonville, was leading worship at the Trail to Christ Cowboy Church.

And in the crowd in front of him people worshiped, some sitting others standing with arms raised.

Just like churches nationwide, people gather here weekly to worship God. But unlike all churches, they do so in a uniquely western way.

“It’s more relaxed here, what we’re allowed to do and what we’re not,” McAnally, 19, of Jacksonville, said after the service.

People come as they are. So that means jeans and cowboy hats are common. Spit cups and dirty boots are accepted.

“We want people that don’t feel comfortable going to church anywhere else,” Pastor Mark Norman said. “We’re boots and blue jeans. We’re tennis shoes and shorts. We just want to be able to tell people about Jesus.”

The music reflects the western culture. Norman described it as “holy tonk.”

“If we can get you to tap your toe, we can touch your heart,” he said.

The church does not pass an offering plate. Instead, near the entrance, an upside down cowboy hat is attached to a box so people can donate money if they want to.

“The Bible says for you to bring your tithe and offering,” Norman said, emphasizing the word ‘bring’ rather than the idea of collecting or taking an offering.

The church does not have a traditional invitation at the end of the service. Instead people are given the opportunity to fill out a sheet of paper and put it into the cowboy hat if they would like more information or to talk with the pastor.

Norman said people who come and are uncomfortable aren’t going to walk forward, but they likely will be willing to meet with him one on one.

“It takes a lot of pressure off people, but it doesn’t cheapen the Gospel at all,” he said.

An accepting environment

The church’s come-as-you-are attitude drew Jacksonville resident Stephanie Christie to the church four years ago.

Ms. Christie, 31, a mail carrier who sings as part of the worship team, said she appreciates the fact that people can be themselves at the church.

Jacksonville resident and nurse Jordan McAnally, 24, agreed saying the church is judgment free and she likes that she can come dressed casually.

Patti Holman, and her husband, Kris, both 52, have attended the church for about six years. They previously attended another cowboy church, but Trail to Christ was closer.

“It’s our life,” Mrs. Holman said. “They accept us the way we are.”

Holman, who is a church elder, gave his testimony on Sunday describing himself as a drug addict who has been clean for 30 years.

“No matter where you’ve been or what you’ve done, God can use you,” he said.

Although western heritage culture envelopes everything about the church, not every person who attends wears a cowboy hat and boots or owns a horse.

Take, for example, Amy Salazar, 30, an office manager in Jacksonville. Ms. Salazar came more than a year ago at her father’s invitation.

Although she doesn’t consider herself a person of “western heritage,” she visited when there were special musical guests and the music really touched her, she said.

Now, she attends the church regularly and said her three children have grown to love it too.

“Sunday morning we have as varied a group of people as we could,” Norman said.

The birth of a movement

In Texas in the Baptist denomination, the cowboy church movement dates back to the late 1990s, according to a history of the American Fellowship of Cowboy Churches (previously the Texas Fellowship of Cowboy Churches).

At that time Ron Nolen, then a church starter with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, learned about the team roping culture through his son.

Nolen realized the traditional church was not reaching this group of people and he wanted to reach them.

So, the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the First Baptist Church of Waxahachie partnered to start the Cowboy Church of Ellis County in 2000. Charles Higgs, who works for the Baptist General Convention of Texas, said that was the first such partnership.

Today, there are more than 200 Texas cowboy churches associated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas and more than 40,000 people attend those churches, Higgs wrote in an email.

Traditional Baptist churches sponsored more than 60 percent of these churches and the Baptist General Convention of Texas invested more than $6 million in funding them, he said.

Reaching the community

The cowboy churches draw a variety of people including professional rodeo competitors, local level competitors, and those who enjoy country music and the western heritage culture, Higgs wrote.

He said cowboy churches provide “simple church with a simple message.”

“Their arena is the outreach of the Cowboy Church,” Higgs wrote. “The arena is the Family Life Center of the church. Many of the Cowboy pastors will tell you, ‘When you see hoof prints in the arena, then you will see more baptisms in the horse trough.'”

Higgs said the greatest challenge for the cowboy church is to assimilate new believers into the church and to ensure the pastors and leaders receive the theological education they need.

There are more opportunities for the latter as several seminaries have launched certificate of ministry programs in recent years, he said.

At Trail to Christ, Sunday attendance regularly reaches more than 250 people with attendees coming from Cherokee, Smith and Anderson counties.

The church regularly puts on outreach events in its arena including a recent barrel-racing competition that drew more than 300 competitors.

Other events include summer Vacation Bible School and a Cowboy Carnival that the church puts on.

“We’re just trying to do church with the things and the lifestyle God has provided for us,” Norman said.

His desire for the church’s future is simple.

“The main thing is we just want more people to know Christ,” he said. “That’s our focus. Everything else is gravy … we just want more people to know Jesus Christ (as) Savior.”

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