Saturday, September 12, 1998

Cowboy churches spread fellowship around country

By Diane Samms Rush

Knight Ridder Newspapers

GREENSBURG, Kan. -- Travis Swafford read Malachi 4:2, a passage of Scripture that assures the faithful that they will "go out leaping like calves from the stall" on the day the Lord separates the evil-doers from the righteous.

"Doesn't that remind you of spring calves?" Swafford asked the two dozen folks at the worship and praise gathering.

Heads nodded in agreement.

Those attending the monthly gathering of the High Plains Christian Cowboys on Aug. 15 here know about leaping calves, stubborn horses and working in hayfields in the summer heat. All of them have been involved in the livestock industry and/or farming in some fashion.

They are also a part of the cowboy church movement that has mushroomed in the past decade in the Southwest and is growing in other parts of the nation.

Cowboy churches can have walls, such as Wade and Louise Markham's Cowboy Junction near Vinita, Okla., or they can meet in borrowed settings, as does the Kansas group, which meets the third Saturday of every month in a different place in southwest Kansas.

Some cowboy ministries exist solely to witness and offer worship experiences at rodeos and horse shows. None of them requires wearing Sunday-go-to-meetin' clothes, an important attraction to some. All are independent organizations.

Before the meeting started, a hearty potluck meal of meat loaf, beef brisket, scalloped potatoes and home-baked desserts was shared at the Greensburg Neighborhood Facility. Afterwards, the 26 adults began a time of worship and praise. The handful of children who came along disappeared out the back door of the building to play.

Roger Ramsey, who lives on Big Spring Creek southwest of Meade, Kan., said he likes to go to as many High Plains meetings as possible, mostly to see his friends and to share the love of God.

During sharing time, Ramsey noted that the creek, which has flowed in dry years and wet, is running very low because irrigation has lowered the water table.

A cluster of wheat farmers discussed how low per-bushel prices meant that their excellent crop this year wouldn't give them any more income than lower-yield crops of previous years.

Swafford, the guest speaker, led the group in song, beginning with Rich Mullins' "Awesome God" and ending with all four verses of "Amazing Grace."

He and others shared some of their faith journeys and offered the names of friends and relatives who needed prayer. At the conclusion of the informal service, Chris McCarley, a horseshoer and cowboy who hires out for day work, invited anyone present to profess their faith. McCarley, of Ashland, is chairman of the group, which has been meeting since 1993.

For most people, the word cowboy suggests a positive image. But not for everyone.

"People hear that my husband is a cowboy, and they say, 'Oh, you don't work,' " Dell Spurgeon said. She and her husband, Windy, were co-hosts of the August meeting.

The Spurgeons have a small place near the southwest Kansas town of Protection, Kan., and 560 acres of cattle and alfalfa on the Cimarron River near Gate, Okla.

"I work plenty -- helping him with cattle and everything else," she said.

In Gate, the Spurgeons attend the Methodist church, and when they're in Protection, the Christian church is their home congregation.

Almost all of the High Plains Christian Cowboys have home churches, said Kathy Oliphant of Offerle, Kan., who writes the group's newsletter and mails it to a list of 100. "I know we have people from the Methodist, Mennonite, Baptist and Bible churches," she said.

David Oliphant, Kathy's husband and co-chairman of the group, said he looks forward to the cowboy services because the sharing in the fellowship has "more meat and potatoes" to it than his home church in Burdett.

The September meeting will begin with a trail ride at Lake City, then members will sit down to hot dogs and hamburgers.

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The horse is a powerful symbol in the cowboy church movement.

Ronnie Christian of Bandera, Texas, has ridden bucking horses for 26 years and bulls for 11 years as a professional cowboy. He is president of Christian Cowboys & Friends and editor of the bimonthly Christian Cowboy Magazine, which lists some 90 cowboy ministries.

"Auction barns are opening weekly or monthly for services," Christian said, "and some just meet under a tree at a rodeo."

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Most cowboy churches are in Texas, but they are also springing up in other states, from Idaho to California and into Canada.

"A guy from Long Island, New York, called the other day," Christian said. "He wants to start a cowboy church."

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The Markhams of Vinita are old hands at cowboy church. They launched Cowboy Junction as a Bible study for rodeo cowboys in their living room in 1989. As the number of faithful grew, the Markhams erected larger buildings. The ministry now meets in a 300-seat barn, and a new barn is under construction that will hold nearly 500. The ministry also has a Web site www.junct.com-1/4cowboyjunction.

"They come from all around," Louise Markham said in a recent phone call. "There's people who drive 50 miles from Tulsa. There are farmers, ranchers, cowboys. We celebrated an 86-year-old lady's birthday last week, and there are three ladies in their 70s who drive 35 miles to get here."

Cowboy Junction meetings are at 7 on Monday nights. There are two reasons for that. First, many of those who attend also have home churches. Second, professional cowboys can attend after a weekend of rodeoing.

The ministry was begun after Markham, a veterinarian, found seven cowboys, friends of his son's, asleep on his living room floor one Monday morning back in 1989. Knowing that cowboys would choose a rodeo over church, he decided to provided a worship experience for them on Mondays.

Louise described a typical meeting: 20 minutes of singing, 30 minutes of preaching by Wade Markham, fellowship around a dessert bar of sweets brought by worshipers.

"Then the guys go out and rope," she said.

"We do whatever it takes to bring 'em in."

(c) 1998, The Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kan.).

Visit the Eagle on the World Wide Web at http://www.wichitaeagle.com/

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