Fellowship of Cowboy Churches points to continued growth

Posted: 11/17/06

Fellowship of Cowboy Churches
points to continued growth

By Barbara Bedrick

Texas Baptist Communications

WAXAHACHIE—Pastors and western-heritage church leaders who believe God must be a cowboy at heart voted to ramp up the growth of the cowboy church movement at the Texas Fellowship of Cowboy Churches 2006 Annual Cowboy Gathering, prior to the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting.

Fellowship members voted to increase their current budget of $120,000 to $290,500, hire two staff members, double church planting school funds from $4,800 to $10,000, double ranch house school funding to $8,000 and quadruple event funding.

The BGCT 2007 budget, approved by messengers to the annual meeting, increased funding for the fellowship fourfold—earmarking $25,500 for western-heritage churches.

“The BGCT has been there for me as a pastor,” said Charles Higgs, director of BGCT western-heritage ministries. “They realize we’re reaching lost souls for Christ and want to be a part of that. God has given me the privilege of walking with men I admire.” Higgs leads Erath County Cowboy Church in Stephenville, where he is founding pastor.

The fellowship hired 2006 President Greg Horn to expand the cowboy church outreach in East Texas and Shannon Morgan, pastor of Palo Duro Cowboy Church in Canyon, to expand the westernheritage movement in West Texas and the Panhandle, including Midland-Odessa, Lubbock and South Plains, as well as South Texas. Members also voted to almost triple the chuck wagon and western hauler outreach efforts.

“Sometimes God uses nobodies like me to do his work,” Horn said. “I’ve been honored to serve as your president and look forward to working for you to reach others for Christ. It’s amazing to see how far we’ve come in a year.”

“The western-heritage church movement continues to gain strength as numbers of new cowboy churches started by the Baptist General Convention of Texas have almost doubled from 51 to 82 in 2006 alone,” said Ron Nolen, director of the Texas Fellowship of Cowboy Churches. “The amazing thing is we baptized more than 3,000 Christians this year so far.

“We know there is a need for the western-heritage church. Seventy-five percent of these people will be adult men and women never before targeted. We’ve got work to do. We’ve got to put boots to the ground and cross the state to meet this unreached segment of Texas.”

Fellowship members also elected 2007 officers, including President Pat Traxler, pastor of Brush Country Cowboy Church in George West, Vice President Paul Howie, pastor of Leon River Cowboy Church in Eastland, and Secretary Jamey Burrus, pastor of Cowboy Church of Young County in Graham.