2007 Archives
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BGCT takes decisive action to prevent future abuses
Updated: 3/02/07
BGCT implements responses
to church-starting scandal
By Marv Knox
Editor
DALLAS—The Baptist General Convention of Texas has implemented steps to prevent recurrence of a church-starting scandal that rocked the convention last year, a special study committee told the BGCT Executive Board Feb. 26.
Still, follow-up action is needed to complete the prevention process, the committee added, noting vigilance will be required to ensure that new church-starting policies are effective and secure.
Oversight group Chairman Jim Nelson. 03/02/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Disabled rodeo-riding pastor overcomes obstacles
Posted: 2/16/07
Twenty years ago, doctors told Randy Bird he never would ride, rope or walk again. He not only rides and ropes; Bird also is pastor of Higher Trails Cowboy Church in Merit, northwest of Greenville. (Photos courtesy of Randy Bird) Disabled rodeo-riding pastor overcomes obstacles
By Toby Druin
Editor Emeritus
MERIT—Twenty years ago, in the midst of an almost yearlong stay in a Dallas hospital where medical specialists were putting him back together, doctors told Randy Bird he never would ride, rope or walk again.
They underestimated him. He not only rides and ropes; Bird also is pastor of Higher Trails Cowboy Church in Merit, northwest of Greenville. He hasn’t given up on walking again, either, and people who know him and his determination aren’t betting against him.
Randy Bird developed a therapy saddle that enabled him to ride and rope, even after a wreck 20 years ago left him unable to walk. 02/19/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Baptisms, mission dollars follow cowboy church growth
Posted: 2/16/07
The top team at the Pastors’ Ranch Rodeo at the Cowboy Gathering at Cowboy Church of Ellis County in November included (left to right) Larry Mitchell, pastor of Rim Rock Cowboy Church in Quitman; Jim Strickland, the Texas Fellowship of Cowboy Churches’ new representative in Lubbock; Mike Moss, pastor of Bull Creek Cowboy Church in Lone Oak; and Greg Horn of Fairlie, immediate past president of the Texas Fellowship of Cowboy Churches and East Texas representative for the fellowship. Moss also was chosen “top hand” at the rodeo. (Photo by Toby Druin) Baptisms, mission dollars
follow cowboy church growth
By Toby Druin
Editor Emeritus
WAXAHACHIE—If it meets its goal, the Texas Fellowship of Cowboy Churches will have 250 churches by the end of 2010—congregations that are expected to baptize 7,500 new converts annually, attract 50,000 in worship attendance on an average Sunday and donate more than $1 million to missions each year through the Cooperative Program of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
The goal is an ambitious one, said Ron Nolen, who retired from his job as western-heritage ministries director for the BGCT last fall to become full-time coordinator of the Texas Fellowship of Cowboy Churches.
02/19/2007 - By John Rutledge
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Cowboy churches spread, thanks to laid-back approach
Posted: 2/16/07
Trading a traditional baptismal for a horse trough, a new follower of Christ is baptized at a cowboy church. Cowboy churches spread,
thanks to laid-back approach
By Barbara Bedrick
Texas Baptist Communications
STEPHENVILLE—On a chilly morning in Central Texas, a man in ostrich-skin cowboy boots stood shivering in a water-filled horse trough. Charles Higgs quickly dunked him. Higgs, the pastor of Cowboy Church of Erath County, also baptized the man’s wife and two children that same day.
The family-style baptism is just a sign of the times, Higgs said. He was a pastor at traditional churches 28 years but now says he has a passion for people interested in cowboy culture.
In six years, 7,000 people have been baptized at Texas cowboy churches. 02/19/2007 - By John Rutledge
