Here in New Mexico it seems to me that the Cowboy Churches are thriving in rural New Mexico. Years ago when I started to preach in Catron County I witnessed first hand that growth and it seems to continue to this day. The Cowboy Church movement began in 1972 when Glenn Smith, a professional rodeo clown, abandoned his career and devoted himself to spreading the word of God. Smith began ministering to people on the bull riding and rodeo circuits, using traditional western activities as a way to spread his Christian beliefs.
The Cowboy Church movement itself is non-denominational, and many cowboy churches are independent. A number of mainstream denominations (Baptists, Methodists, Assemblies of God, Nazarenes) sponsor cowboy churches.
It hurts my heart so much to see Churches close. Please read my post at the very end on the decline of Church attendance in America.
Baptist Press
By Aaron Earls, posted April 2, 2024 in Lifeway, SBC News
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (BP) – The Southern Baptist Convention faces not only declining membership but also fewer churches to attract potential new members.
According to Lifeway Research’s analysis of the 2022 Annual Church Profile (ACP) of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1,253 congregations that were part of the Convention in 2021 were no longer connected in 2022. This is the most recent ACP data available. The 2023 report will be released soon.
Among the 50,423 active congregations in the Southern Baptist Convention in 2021, 2 percent disbanded or closed and 0.5 percent left or were disaffiliated from the Convention by the time the 2022 data was compiled.
Some churches were planted to offset that number, but the SBC saw 416 fewer churches and 165 fewer church-type missions associated with the Convention in 2022 than in 2021. The lack of new churches to replace the number of churches closing is a broader issue within U.S. Protestantism. Previous Lifeway Research analysis found approximately 4,500 Protestant churches closed in the U.S. in 2019 while only around 3,000 were started. The Rest of The Story Here
Church Attendance in U.S. Continues to Decline. Great Commission Failure.
