Cowboy churches are local Christian churches within the cowboy culture that are distinctively Western heritage in character. A typical cowboy church may meet in a rural setting in a barn, metal building, arena, sale barn, or old western building, have its own rodeo arena, and a country gospel band. Baptisms are generally done in a stock tank. The sermons are usually short and simple, in order to be better understood by the parishioners. Some cowboy churches have covered Arenas where rodeo events such as bull riding, team roping, ranch sorting, team penning and equestrian events are held on weeknights. Many cowboy churches have existed throughout the Western states for the past forty to fifty years; in approximately the past fifteen years, however, there has there been an explosion of growth within the "movement". In 1972 the cowboy church concept was created by Glenn Smith as chronicled in his book Apostle Cowboy Style published in 1988. Many cowboy churches today are actually denominational attempts to re-frame the setting of their theology. Some cowboy churches could be described as an outgrowth of ministries at professional rodeo or team roping events, while the roots of many can be traced back to ministry events associated with ranch rodeos, ranch horse competitions, chuck wagon cooking competitions, cowboy poetry gatherings, and other "cowboy culture" events. It has been said that a cowboy church must have five principal characteristics: non-denominational, no offerings collected or solicited, no membership, no dress code, and held in non-traditional settings. Cowboy churches also exist in the denominational context of traditional Baptist churches. The "no barriers" cowboy church model pioneered by Ron Nolen of the Baptist General Convention of Texas has been used by the AFCC to plant over two hundred denominational motivated cowboy churches in sixteen states. This model mimics the worship service first designed by Glenn Smith while focusing on the absence of the traditions that are believed to have no biblical basis, such as the "altar call" and passing of the collection plate. Tithes and offerings are simply placed in a boot, hat, or wooden birdhouse at the entrance of the meeting room. The model, copied from Glenn Smith, also utilizes a specialized leadership structure that empowers volunteers and teams to execute most of the functions of the church. This model was copied and then used at the Cowboy Church of Ellis County in Waxahachie, currently the largest cowboy church in North America. The Southern Baptist Convention have started cowboy churches using their own polity and leadership structure. Even though most of these churches are located in Texas and Oklahoma, the number of cowboy churches is expanding rapidly throughout the United States aided by a growing group of formal and informal cowboy church networks including the American Fellowship of Cowboy Churches, the Cowboy Church Network of North America, the International Cowboy Church Alliance Network, and others. Today, these groups are closing more cowboy churches than they are opening as it shuns and excommunicates those who revert to the original model first suggested by Glenn Smith in 1972. The only group with operations extending over ten consecutive years is the Cowboy Church of Virginia.
Cowboy ministries
There are also cowboy ministries that hold cowboy church services at rodeos and other western events. A cowboy ministry may also hold rodeo schools, clinics, or camps. These are not "churches" as they do not have repeating services at repeating locations.
