MSNBC reports on a growing trend in the Southern Baptist Convention: cowboy churches, where instead of dressing up in jackets, ties and long dresses, churchgoers fashion themselves like cowboys at a rodeo.
There are 140 such churches in Texas alone, and more in 11 other states. The largest church’s membership exceeds 2,000.
The trend is said to be spreading rapidly: Why attend church for prayer and penitence, after all, when one can join feel-good country sing-alongs and watch bull-riding?
Some people may view this as a sincere effort to reach the faithful where they’re at, but to me it seems like runaway cultural corruption and pandering — by the very denomination that poses as a beacon of moral and religious orthodoxy.
