August 12, 2002
Cowboy church rustles new life into once-vacant pews
___By Ken Camp
___Texas Baptist Communications
___FAIRLIE--Before Durham Baptist Church closed its doors two years ago, each of its surviving members could have sat one person to a pew, and a couple of pews still would have been left vacant.
___But since Cross Trails Cowboy Church began meeting in that same simple white-frame building a few months ago, worshippers have sat shoulder to shoulder, with children in their parents' laps, just to fit.
___"The difference is that Cross Trails, from its beginning, dealt with removing the barriers to getting the gospel a hearing," said Ron Nolen, regional consultant with the Baptist General Convention of Texas Church Starting Center. "It is culturally relevant to the unchurched."
SHANNON MORELAND and Greg Horn baptize a new believer in a swimming pool set up in the yard of Cross Trails Baptist Church. The pool-turned-baptistry has been busy lately, with nine people baptized at the cowboy church, which was aided in its start by gifts to the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas missions.
___Cross Trails Church grew out of the vision of Shannon Moreland and Greg Horn, both members of First Baptist Church in Commerce. Moreland was working on the 1,200-acre Horn family ranch near Fairlie when the two laymen started talking about the need for a "cowboy church" in the area.
___They wanted to offer a "come-as-you-are" kind of church where anyone would feel welcome. "If the best thing they've got to wear is a pair of dirty blue jeans, then praise God, we just want them to come on to church in what they have," Moreland said.
___Cross Trails started as a Bible study meeting at the community center in Fairlie, a rural community west of Commerce. Moreland and Horn advertised in hometown newspapers throughout Northeast Texas, and they posted fliers in area hardware and feed stores. "But honestly, it was mostly word of mouth," Moreland said.
___Sixty people came for the first Bible study meeting. The group continued to meet at the community center every Wednesday for about two months.
___Recognizing the potential for growth, they decided to constitute as a mission congregation of First Baptist Church in Commerce. At that point, they moved into the old Durham Baptist Church facility, which had been made available to Hunt Baptist Association when the congregation disbanded.
___About 1,300 families live around Fairlie, but Cross Trails is drawing from a much larger area. Average driving distance to the church is about 12 miles, but some drive up to 30 miles just to worship at a church where they feel comfortable.
___"Our goal is reaching people who are part of the rural, agrarian culture," Moreland said. About half the members at Cross Trails had little, if any, church background. Of the remaining 50 percent, about half those had dropped out of church because they didn't feel comfortable in a big, formal congregation.
___Fifteen people have made professions of faith in Christ at Cross Trails Baptist Church, and at least a half-dozen others have rededicated their lives to Christ. Moreland and Horn have baptized nine people in an inflatable pool in the church yard.
___"They have found a real spiritual hunger out there," said Johnny Henderson, pastor at First Baptist Church in Commerce. "God is doing a great work through them because Shannon and Greg know the culture and know the language of the people they are trying to reach."
___More than 100 people worship each Sunday at Cross Trails Church in a building that comfortably seats about 85.
___In the near future, members hope to buy acreage closer to the highway and build a larger facility. "We'd like to have an arena where the kids can ride their horses and a ball field where they can play," Moreland said.
___Moreland preaches on Sunday mornings, and Horn teaches a weekly Bible class for new believers. A couple from First Baptist Church of Commerce lead a more in-depth Bible study for more mature Christians.
___"The new Christians demanded a Bible study," Horn said. "They have a hunger for the word that is just incredible.
___"People are looking for acceptance and answers. People want to know there are other people who care about them, who are going through the same kinds of things they are going through. People want a place where they can tell their story and know somebody cares."
___Chad George is one of the new believers reached by Cross Trails Church.
___"It's more down-to-earth, kind of laid back, and I like that," he said. "There's lots of people who aren't comfortable in a big church, who don't like to put a tie and a suit on. This is kind of a different crowd here--more down-to-earth people. There's a lot of good country boys around here who just need to have the light shown to them so they can walk with the Lord."
___While the church definitely has a "western flair," only a handful of the members are active in ranching or rodeos, Moreland noted. The average worshiper probably spends more time on a John Deere tractor than a horse, and baseball-style "gimme" caps outnumber Stetsons at church picnics.
___Nolen, who modeled the "cowboy church" for Texas Baptists by launching a congregation in Ellis Baptist Association, maintains the cowboy culture is largely a state of mind.
___"Most of the people at Cross Trails may not be 'cowboyed up,' but the key is that they have an appreciation for western heritage and the values shared by country people," he said. "It's a target group that I suspect is just beneath the radar of many existing churches."
___Nolen estimates 1 million Texans fit into the cowboy culture. "If we reached 125,000 of them over the next 10 to 15 years, we would need 400 cowboy churches in Texas to disciple them," he said.
___Cross Trails is one of about a half-dozen cowboy churches Texas Baptists help fund through their gifts to the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas missions.
___Moreland believes part of Cross Trails' appeal is a nostalgic yearning for something that has largely disappeared from the landscape.
___"Looking at this church is sort of like looking at baseball and apple pie," he said. "It's the kind of country church fellowship that a lot of people grew up hearing about but never knew themselves."
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