The American Fellowship of Cowboy Churches (AFCC), (the “Fellowship”) is organized to resource and develop Cowboy Churches through enhanced training, assessment, coaching, communication and connectedness through the movement of God's Spirit within the Western Culture; to establish a forum or platform for the “Baptist Way” Cowboy Churches to speak to one another; to enable “Baptist Way” Cowboy Churches to speak with a united voice; and to encourage the Cowboy Churches to remain voluntarily related to those Baptist entities that are supportive of and cooperating with the Fellowship.

The San Angelo Cowboy Church is a low barrier seeker sensitive church.

Everything we do (or don't do) is guided by one simple question: will doing this make it easier for those not familiar with Jesus Christ to come to church and hear the gospel?  If the answer is no, then we will put it aside unless doing so would violate the clear teaching of scripture. To put it another way, Cowboy Church is not designed to make church folks comfortable. It is designed to be a safe welcoming environment for those unaccustomed to attending church.  Because this is so, you will find a number of things that are different about our church:

We let people come and go anonymously.

Many people today value their space and time above all else. They don't want unannounced visits or telephone calls during dinner. At Cowboy Church, we give them all the space they want.  We do not ask them to fill out a visitors card nor do we do follow up with them until they give us permission to do so.

We seldom do altar calls.

While going to the front of the church for prayer is an age old tradition, it is one that makes many people uncomfortable-especially if they are required to stand up before several hundred people in order to accept Christ or receive prayer.  We always make prayer available, but we do not require people to come to the front to receive it.

We don't pass the offering plate.

Although we need money to operate just as any church does, we do not believe that money should become the focal point of a church. If someone's heart leads them to give, we provide a place for them to do so. If their heart does not lead them to give, that's alright too. We believe God will provide.

We let the band do most of the singing.

While many Christians deeply enjoy an emotionally engaging worship service, many people unfamiliar with church find it confusing and sometimes even stressful. Emotional displays scare them. So, we forgo some of these things in order that they can settle down and actually hear what the songs and the message are saying about Jesus Christ.

And of course, we let people come as they are.

Let's face it. Some folks don't have time to dress up, some folks don't have the clothes to dress up with, and some folks wouldn't dress up even if they could. No matter what people choose to wear, we want them to hear the gospel. So, there's no dress code here. People are encouraged to wear whatever is comfortable to them.

None of these things are incidental or accidental. They are all designed to give the person who doesn't know Christ an opportunity to hear the gospel. Literally hundreds of churches in our area cater to the mature Christian.  We just believe there should be at least one that's designed to reach out to those who do not yet know Christ.

Sinners Pray

God, I’m a sorry sinner that realizes I cannot save myself, so I need you. I should be punished for what I am and what I have done, but I know that you took all that punishment for me. For this, I am eternally grateful. I am now askin’ forgiveness and I am handin’ you not just the reins, but the whole bridle of my life. I have no control now it is all up to you.  Thank you for everything from the bottom of my heart and soul . I know now I will meet you in heaven.

If you have prayed this prayer, and accepted Jesus as your Savior and Lord, it is our hope that you will contact us and let us rejoice with you and allow us to encourage you and pray for you.

 





Who We Are

OPEN

(God loves everybody-we should too.) 

NON-JUDGMENTAL (See above.)

BIBLE BELIEVING

(It's the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.) 

RELEVANT

(What good is the truth if it's not applied to real life?) 

COMMUNITY OF BELIEVERS 

(We rub elbows with each other daily-not just Sundays.)

ACCOUNTABLE TO GOD AND EACH OTHER

(Everybody ought to answer to somebody.) 

 IN ORDER TO GROW IN OUR FAITH

(If it's cold and still, it might be dead.)

 AND REACH THE RURAL/WESTERN CULTURE WITH THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST



 (We love the country life. God created it that way;)

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 cattle tank.

The sermons are usually short and simple. 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.

 Core Beliefs

We believe the Bible is the very word of God and is to be our final authority in all matters of faith and life.

We believe in one God that exists in three persons: God the father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

We believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died to save men from their sins. 

We believe that men are saved by grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ.

We believe that baptism is the means by which people are to publicly profess their faith in Christ and identify themselves with his death, burial, and resurrection.

Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen
Saviour, the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness
of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church
ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord's Supper.

Why Do Baptists Baptize Only By Immersion?

For two reasons: (1) Immersion was the mode of baptism in the New Testament; John the Baptist immersed his converts in the Jordan River; Christ Himself was so immersed. (2) Baptists regard baptism as a public confession of Christian faith and a symbol of the burial and resurrection of Christ, as stated by Paul in his Epistle to the Colossians. Hence, Baptists look upon immersion as realistic symbolic, through which the life of sin is buried in baptism and the new life of faith emerges.

Immersion is limited to adults and to such children as have reached an age where they can understand the meaning of baptism. "Baptize" is a transliteration of the Greek word baptizein (meaning "to immerse"), not a translation. To say that Baptists baptize by immersion is redundant, since baptism originally was immersion.





Luke 3:21, 22 “Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.”