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Cowboy Church To Visit Mills Home on Horseback

May 11, 2007

It’s not unusual to see individuals and groups visit the children living at Mills Home in Thomasville. People from across the area drive onto the area campus operated by Baptist Children’s Homes of North Carolina (BCH) to perform work projects, bring donations or to simply offer encouragement to the young residents. But to see men and women clad with cowboy hats arriving at Mills Home on horseback is a first.

Members of churches belonging to the Cowboy Church Network of North America will parade on horses through downtown Thomasville on Thursday, May 17 to the children’s residential campus where they will spend an evening with the boys and girls. Horse drawn wagons will carry food and supplies collected by the cowboys as a part of BCH’s annual “Food Roundup” food drive.

“The Cowboy Church Network and Baptist Children’s Homes is a natural match,” says Jeff Smith, longtime North Carolina Baptist pastor and founder of the Cowboy Church Network of North America. “Children and horses go well together. And helping children is a worthy cause.”

Smith works fulltime establishing churches that provide a unique style of worship specifically for cowboys. Cowboy churches meet one night during the week instead of Sunday since most cowboys only have the weekend to ride. Many cowboy services are held in rodeo arenas where men, women, children and horses are all welcome. Young Christians are baptized in horse troughs and offerings are collected by passing around a cowboy hat.

“The cowboys are friends of the traditional church even though we do things a little bit differently,” Smith explains. “Our message is the same as the traditional church’s. We just throw in a few more horseshoes.”

There are 37 cowboy churches in the Cowboy Church Network and more than 20 of them are based in North Carolina. Triad Church in Archdale is the one of the cowboy themed churches located in this area.

Smith feels Thursday’s event goes beyond helping the children at BCH’s Mills Home. He sees it as an opportunity to educate the cowboys about reaching out to help others.

“The Cowboy Church Network is still relatively new,” he says. “I want the cowboys to learn about ministry and the exhilaration of giving back to people. Coming to the Children’s Homes will help towards accomplishing that goal.”

Cowboys will leave the parking lot of the 305 East Main Street employment office location of Thomasville Furniture Industries at 6:30 pm on Thursday. Thomasville City Police will lead the cowboy parade down the one-mile route where they will arrive at BCH’s Mills Home between 6:45 and 7 pm. The children living at the residential campus will be waiting to greet them. The parade will include flag carriers, wagons and lots of cowboys and horses.

After their arrival to Mills Home, cowboys will provide horseback rides for BCH’s residents. The event will culminate with a cowboy-style worship service at the campus church. The sanctuary will be decorated with horse saddles, lariats, and bails of hay. Music will be provided by Christian country music singer and songwriter Jeff Godwin. Dressed in his customary blue jeans, boots, cowboy hat and belt buckle, Smith will conduct the special service.

Smith is busy making final preparations for the parade and event. He is hopeful this first event between the Cowboy Church Network and Baptist Children’s Homes will lead to a long-lasting relationship.

“I guarantee we’re going to benefit more than the children,” Smith says.

Since 1885, Baptist Children’s Homes of North Carolina has helped children and families in crisis. BCH began with one campus, Mills Home in Thomasville, but now provides services in communities across the state.

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