Country churches: Where skeet-shooters and fishermen find community
by Linley McCord and Leah Reynolds on September 14, 2015 in Great Commission
With funds given through the Mary Hill Davis Offering, pastors seeking to plant a country church or transition their church to a country church have the opportunity to learn more about the process through Texas Baptists' Leadership Summit for Country Churches. The Week of Prayer for Texas Missions and the Mary Hill Davis Offering is September 13-20, 2015. Click here for resources for your church to help promote this special offering in your church.
According to David LeFlore, pastor of Southfork Country Church in Parker, "If you like watching Duck Dynasty, you'll like our church!"
As its name states, Southfork is a country church, which is a unique combination of a traditional church and a cowboy church. It has a "come as you are" mentality and worship music with a country twang.
While cowboy churches center around the rodeo, country churches appeal to the skeet-shooters, hunters and fishermen.
Southfork's Sunday morning stage contains a piano, drums, bass, two guitars and a banjo. The congregation sings old hymns with a country-sounding accompaniment.
With faith and prayer, LeFlore chose to transition Southfork Baptist Church to Southfork Country Church after the traditional service dwindled to around 15 members. The decision to alter the style has proven to reach a new group of people in the surrounding community.
"We've recently adopted a mobile home park, and we've already reached five families who have joined the church," LeFlore said.
By combining traditional style with cowboy style, Southfork Country Church and other similar churches are reaching the country folk of Texas who would otherwise have a difficult time finding a comfortable church home.
Did you know?
- Statistics show that around 70% of people who come to country churches were previously unchurched
- 70% of baptisms in country churches are adults
- Around 70% of those adults baptized are men
- The average number of baptisms in country churches is 30 per year
- The Texas towns of Dallas, Roscoe, Georgetown, Azle and Academy have all received country church starts in the last year