Cowboy Church is more than just a time-honored tradtition in the Fort Worth Stockyards, it's a vibrant and gowing congregation that welcomes visitors from far and wide each Sunday at high-noon To best illustrate it's intent and meaning for the people and visitors of the Stockyards we share this article that first appeared in the Dallas Morning News in January, 2002.

A gospel clad in denim

At Cowboy Church, things are simple and folks come as they are

By LAURIE FOX Fort Worth Bureau 


A clanging cowbell substitutes for pealing church bells, and "Sunday best" means boots and jeans. Nestled among souvenir shops and barbecue restaurants, the Cowboy Church in Fort Worth's Stockyards offers an unapologetically Western worship. Each Sunday at "high noon," tourists and locals alike gather in the wood-and-windows chapel, drawn there by word of mouth or the sandwichboard signs placed along Exchange Street.

"People just seem to find their way here," said the church's pastor, George Westby, who founded the church 10 years ago.

As he stands in front of a sign that reads "In the days of old, even the rugged came to the cross," he greets his congregation, which averages about 50 people. They all introduce themselves. Many are from Fort Worth and come every week. A few report that they're visiting from Tennessee and Ohio. During the Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show, which runs through Feb. 3, some rodeo cowboys drop by.

"It's always a mixed bag of people, which is why we like to keep things simple," said Mr. Westby. "It just felt so comfortable to worship that way. We didn't get together with the intention of starting a church."  He said he was inspired by the annual Red Steagall Cowboy Gatherings in the Stockyards, where cowboy poets would share poems, songs and sometimes religious testimonials.

"It was so pure that it really touched my heart," Mr. Westby said. "I wanted to find a way to give that to people every week."

Mr. Westby and the church's piano player, Jean Marlowe, teamed up to start the church, which has moved several times, but now, thanks to northside businessman Holt Hickman, they have a permanent place in the Stockyards' renovated sheep stalls.

The rustic setting - dusty brick floors, raw wood beams and bales of hay - seems to suit the clientele. "We're pretty laid-back," he tells the group. "What you see is what you get." Folding chairs serve as pews, and each holds a paperback Cowboy Church songbook and New Testament. A New Testament verse is read aloud, each person saying a verse, one voice picking up where another leaves off.

"If you feel like reading, jump in and read a paragraph or two," Mr. Westby says. "If you don't, don't worry about it. Someone else will."

The children keep busy in Sunday school, gluing glitter and cotton to describe what heaven looks like. Bandana pillows and cowboy hats decorate their work area. Outside the church windows, curious passersby look in, some stopping to listen to the singing of Megan Beninson, a young member of the Texas Girls' Choir and visiting vocalist last Sunday. Mr. Westby doesn't "pass the hat" for offerings, but a beat-up Western hat sits on a nearby table and is soon filled with bills. The money will be distributed to the poor in the north Fort Worth neighborhoods around the Stockyards, he said.

"We're not in this for the money," said Mr. Westby, who pays only the utilities on the donated chapel. "When money gets involved, that changes things." Ms. Marlowe said the church's modest mission is what keeps people coming back.

"We have a small, core group and visitors from all over," she said. "People just seem to be comfortable because they don't have to dress up to be welcome."

Mr. Westby's wife, Debbie, can attest to that. "It's definitely 'come as you are,' " she said. "In the summer we get tourists in shorts."  Amy and Steve Cousens, who were visiting from Cleveland, Ohio, said they were strolling through the Stockyards when they saw the church's sign.

"It's very different from what we're used to, but it was kind of neat," Mrs. Cousens said.