Starting & Sending
What do you get when you cross 10 kids under 10; 5 goats, 1 pony and 20 watermelons? Well other than the obvious fact of a whole bunch of sticky giggles. You’ve got a Cowboy Church Service.
Round Pen Cowboy Church held it’s first service this Sunday starting at 1:30. They call their worship hour “The watering hole”. This is a new church plant in Fruita Colorado. The first service was what they call a Cowboy Shindig ( a really fun day with lots of Cowboy activities and some good cowboy preaching). They had stick horse racing for everyone 5 and under and luckily had only one serious buck off. Then came the great ribbon race where the 5 to 10 year olds had to race down the indoor arena to a goat on the end of a rope, straddle the goat backwards and tie a ribbon on it’s tail. The most financially rewarding race of the day was the dollar race. In this race the kids had to ride a pony bareback with a dollar bill under their leg. If the contestant made it around the arena without losing the cold cash they were able to pocket the money.
The “YOKE” race allowed the young and old adults to fill their competitive spirits. This unique “cowboy” race paired up two teams with two cowboys or cowgirls on each team. Each team had to carry an 8 foot long piece of 2 inch black PVC pipe across their back with a 5 gallon bucket of water strapped on each end. This was made even more difficult by having each contestant’s leg tied to his partners’ leg. They had to maneuver through a course and race over a bridge to the finish line. Which ever team ended up with the most water left in their buckets won.
The “YOKE” race was purely a set up for the cowboy style sermon that taught on Matthew 11:28-30, “For my Yoke is easy, and my burden is light”.( Mt. 11: 30)
The Lord has opened a great number of doors for Round Pen Cowboy Church. So much has happened in just this first week. The new church plants’ “core group” met on Sunday the 8th of June and decided they should have a Cowboy Shindig for Father's day as a grand opening. Then between Monday and Tuesday mornings they were asked to put on a Cowboy Church service with the county fair, were interviewed by one of the JDs with a secular country station, Colton was asked to be the Chaplain of the local rodeo that meets every Tuesday night, and a local newspaper wrote an article telling about this interesting new Cowboy Church. (Check out Free Press in Grand Junction.) It seems that God was ready for the church to get started and He has opened many doors.
The cowboy churches do not resemble traditional churches much, and nor do its typical attendees much resemble those in mainstream congregations. Members aren’t required to dress a certain way. They come in their boots, dirty wranglers, belt buckles, cowboy hats, and some even come in sneakers and a ball cap. Cowboy’s and Cowgirl’s feel more comfortable in a barn with the smell of horses and the feel of being home.
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