We may have been driven out of churches, but it's created a way to bring people in

(This is from a ministry update emailed out monthly to ministry partners and connections as a way to be accountable and keep people informed of how God is using Cowboys of the Cross.)

While it feels like a lot God has allowed a lot to be taken away from us right now, something good He's removed is one of the biggest excuses or reasons a cowboy has for not wanting to go to church. It may feel offensive to some of us that have a different understanding of grace and church life, but, right or wrong, the most common feeling and reason the rodeo crowd shares for not going to church is feeling like they're being judged or, as they put it, "the hypocrites." The biggest real-life reason they have is the lifestyle really does make it hard to be somewhere on Sunday mornings, one of the reasons this ministry leads what we call 'cowboy church' at a rodeo or bull riding--so they at least get some teaching and prayer time with God, gathered as a small community of believers.

But churches have almost all gone to streaming, posted sermons or in some cases, parking lot/drive-in churches and it's created an unexpected opportunity during these lockdowns. It has created a very comfortable way to invite others to 'attend church' and a very comfortable way for some to give it a try for their first time.

The past few weeks, I've been using social media and messaging to promote and invite people to attend the different churches Cowboys of the Cross has been blessed to be a part of. I've had a couple people ask me for links again to services and I've tried to point people to churches in their region in the hopes that extra connection might encouraging them to give it a try.

I know when one bull riding couple saw one of the churches I posted, they realized it was close to them in Ohio and plan to give it a try in person when we're able to meet in our buildings again. Another with kids tuned into to LifeSong's children's program that they streamed one Sunday. Another church in Tennessee was sending out Sunday School curriculum by email with lessons, links to videos and instructions for crafts so parents could do this with their children at home. I saw a rodeo cowboy asking for something online he could give his kids to do from the Bible--I now forward that curriculum for him to do with his kids.

Personally, last week I found myself watching three services on Sunday, starting with one I most often get to attend that ends in time for LifeSong's to start in the next time zone over. Then, as much as I've been inviting these guys to find a service to try, the ones that do attend have shared their services with me so I've started trying to watch one of those or others to catch up with some of the other supporting churches out there that I rarely get to visit. It's not that this can't be done at other times, but when you remove travel time, catching two services has suddenly become very easy and this abrupt change in our culture has caused some paradigm shifts or freed up time we never had before. For me, the work of ministry is still busy and it's taking some extra effort to keep in touch and in front of the cowboys, but without the physical travel, I've suddenly discovered some free time I haven't had in a very long time.

But back to the cowboys, that's how I've been explaining it to them--there's no reason to feel like they can't give one a try because all of the awkwardness of walking in a door the first time, or being unsure of what to do as a church's traditions unfold, have been removed. There's no reason they can't be up in time in the morning to watch a live stream and most services are available any time after that.  There's never been an easier time to get comfortable with church and that's one of the ways I've been trying to promote it. The hope, of course, is that some like the couple I mentioned, will find it easier to walk through the doors of one of those churches when we can gather together again.

Meanwhile, we continue to do our own short cowboy church-style messages for Friday nights. The messages are posted early in the evening so that they are available by 7 pm ET, with the idea that cowboy church at a rodeo is typically done Friday and Saturday nights at that time and the encouragement to find the sermons posted to social media to watch 'together' at that time. Of course, they can be watched at any time and overall, is just one way to try to keep a sense of community among those of us that have been isolated from the rodeo and bull riding community. I've done the first three and Keith jumped in to do one for Good Friday. I'm also able to post them to the Southern Extreme Bull Riding Association's Facebook page in addition to my own social media accounts and a few of the producers have shared our promotion of these messages to help get it out there.

KEEPING IT TOGETHER

Another way of trying to keep community together is a short questionnaire I've started sending out to some of the guys encouraging them to share what they are finding difficult, something positive they've experienced, what they're most looking forward to when this is over, what they hope will change as a result of this and if they have one, a favorite or encouraging Bible verse if they have one and a prayer request. I'm going to put them together with their picture in a graphic format to share on social media with an invitation for anyone else to submit one. 

This will be in addition to regular content I've been posting to social media and of course, the personal contact I'm trying to make with the guys, different ones every week, to check in and just keep the lines of communication open.

It's more difficult than I imagined, but not impossible, to help keep a sense of community together. My biggest concern for the rodeo community is the likelihood that events where crowds gather will be the last to start again when we get back to a more normal life. Once we're back to being able to gather in groups of 50 or under in the weeks to come, I know there will be some practice pens starting again. Triple T, where we had been getting large crowds for cowboy church at their winter bull riding series, was interrupted by this lockdown with one event to go, is one of those where, since last spring, I had been doing cowboy church Sunday afternoons. I'm confident this will start again fairly soon with open practices where we're able to follow state and federal guidelines and still have cowboy church again face-to-face. 

RIGHT NOW MEDIA

Those of you stuck at home, thanks to Cowboys of the Cross partner Jeese Horton and Bethel Baptist Church in North Carolina, we can offer you a free subscription to Right Now Media. It's like a Christian Netflix but with an emphasis on messages from well - respected pastors and teachers as well as a wide range of kids programs. If you email me your name and email address, we can get you connected with this great discipleship resource. 

Donations to help keep Cowboys of the Cross ministering are sincerely appreciated. Thanks to those who contribute each year and those tithing monthly.

To Contribute:

Online Giving:

To donate online, please go to https://www.lifesongfamily.org then select “online giving” at the far right from the home page. From the new screen that opens, you can find “quick give” on the left of donation box. You'll see a “my donation” heading and to the right, is a drop down menu with the default 'general budget'. Please click there to find Cowboys of the Cross and the rest is self-explanatory. If you contribute this way, please send a quick email to let me know so that I can check with the church that it was received properly. 

By Mail:

Please make checks out to LifeSong Family Church but include a note with it that it is for the rodeo ministry. If you would, please also let me know when you submit a donation so that I can be sure that it has gone to the correct church account and so that I can keep track of how much support you have raised. Thanks so much! It all helps.

LifeSong Family Church

1041 S. Ellington Parkway,

Lewisburg, TN

37091