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July 9, 2009

Cowboy Church keeps growin’

Growth pushes church to new location

Jayne Boykin

DUNCAN — Chisholm Trail Cowboy Church is on the move. This Sunday will be the first service in its new temporary location in the barn at Teen Round-Up.

Services begin at 10 a.m. with Children’s Church for the buckaroos and buckarettes (boys and girls), lots of Southern gospel music and special singing, and a message by Dale Howry, pastor.

In March of 2007, an organizational meeting was held at the Stephens County Fair & Expo Center, where many rodeo events, stock shows and other western events are held each year.

“The cowboy has always had a culture of his own, and is often not being reached by more traditional churches,” the Rev. Jerry Couch, director of missions for the Mullins Baptist Association, said at the time. “The idea of a cowboy church has been bandied about for a while. We started talking about it last summer, and it just started to snowball recently. We just decided it was time to do it.”

“We want people to feel that they can come as they are and that no one is going to look at them oddly if they wear a cowboy hat or ride up on a horse. Many cowboys are comfortable attending services in a rodeo arena, feed store or sale barn, who wouldn’t ever go into a traditional church.”

A couple of cowboy ministers helped in the organizational process, including Sam Scott, a church planter with Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, who wears his black hat and cowboy boots everywhere he goes.

By July of 2007, the fledgling congregation that numbered around 50 to 60 had a pastor, the Rev. Dale Howry of Ada.

Since then, the congregation has grown, and now approximately 200 people attend each Sunday.

Howry and his wife, Sue, commute each week from Ada to lead the services, then return on Thursdays to lead a Bible study and potluck meal at 6 p.m. at the MBA office. A potluck is also held after services on the first Sunday of each month.

Although the congregation has continued to meet at the fairgrounds since its beginning, activities at the fairgrounds have grown and increased in frequency since the church was organized, and often, space was not available for services, Sue Howry said.

“We really appreciate the fairgrounds for letting us meet there, but this summer, there are at least five weekends in a row that space would not be available.”

In looking for a more permanent meeting place, members of the congregation talked to Roxanne and Kim Kerley, directors of Teen-Roundup, who welcomed them with open arms.

It’s a temporary arrangement, as the Cowboy Church is looking for land near Duncan on which to build a church of its own. Members of the congregation are hoping to have enough acreage to carry out the horse-related activities, such as roping and play days, that members like to hold Sunday afternoons after the services, Howry said. Those activities will probably continue for the time being at Claud Gill Arena, when it’s available, and at the homes of several members who have arenas of their own.

“We have one team still participating in the Ranch Rodeo Competition sponsored by the Oklahoma Fellowship of Christian Cowboys. The competition includes calf branding, doctoring, ranch sorting and penning. The Cowboy Church team consists of Brian Foster, Gerald Swanson, Kevin Ensminger and Conner Seager. Alternate is Dusty Tevebaugh. They will perform Saturday at 3 Crosses Ken Lance Arena at Union Valley,” she said.

The Children’s Church is led by former teacher and barrel racer Cindy Johnson, who has 35 years of classroom experience. The church has just held its second Vacation Bible School, which about 85 children attended. Seven accepted Christ, Howry said.

During the two years of Dale Howry’s pastorate, more than 30 people have been baptized — in a horse trough.

In addition to the Sunday and Thursday meetings, a group of young adults meets at 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays at the MBA office, and is now holding a “Fireproof” series. Teens meet at 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays at the home of Tom and Connie Stewart, 3410 Osage.

An event still in the planning stages is a joint meeting of Cowboy Church and the Bikers’ Church, tentatively set for 5:30 p.m. July 25 at Duncan Lake, for ice cream and watermelon.

Teen Round-Up is five miles west of U.S. Highway 81 on Beech, and 3/4 mile south.

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