Opening with cowboy gospel tunes and then singing several Psalms as a cowboy played his guitar, we were further entertained by rodeo rope tricks performed by Rider, the eldest son of the Kiesner Family who regularly travel the rodeo circuit performing daring acts with their guns, knives, ropes and horses.
The Cowboy Church meets monthly in the barn at 1713 Trigg Road, Ferndale, Washington. Contact Roger and Rosemary Gustafson at 360-380-1638 for more information.
This text is from The Arizona Star sports page.
Tucson Region Rodeo has its Own Breed of Religion
Cowboys Buck Satan, Pray All Will be Safe
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Before they call his name to go out in the ring, bull rider Chance Smart leans over the chute and puts his hands on his assigned bull, praying that he will have dominion over the animal.
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"I pray no weapon formed against me or the animals shall prosper," said Smart, a 24-year-old Mississippi native, referring to a passage from the Bible's Book of Isaiah.
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"I pray for the whole rodeo, for everyone here." Smart is among a group of professional cowboys and cowgirls who remove their hats, kneel in the dirt and pray each day behind the chutes at Tucson's La Fiesta de los Vaqueros rodeo. They pray before and after the daily events, often amid dust kicked up by animal hooves and above the din of crowds, clanging gates and neighing horses.
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Not all say they are religious, though most are Christian. Christianity has a heavy, and for the most part appreciated, presence on the rodeo circuit, they say.
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Led by the Rev. Coy Huffman, the group's prayers are simple and to the point. He uses the Bible to motivate the bull riders, bareback riders and barrel racers who join him in worship.
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"God's helping me every time. It's his will I'm rodeoing," said Joe Meling, 22, a bull rider from Oregon. "I've been injured, but I've also been healed."
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Bull riding is generally considered the most dangerous rodeo sport. Riders' injuries are frequent and can include cracked skulls and collapsed lungs. Some riders have broken their backs and necks, and never recovered.
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"When you're facing danger every time you do your job, you've got to have some kind of faith," said Texan David Samsel, 36, also a bull rider. "If you don't believe, you'd better not be in this game."
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Bareback bronc rider Chris Harris said not every preacher is welcomed by professional rodeo riders. Some religious leaders talk down to the cowboys, the 31-year-old Texan said.
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"You can't just walk into a group of guys like us and expect us to respect you," said Harris, who describes himself as not religious but a believer in God. "Coy is one of us. He's here to lift you up, not to take."
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Harris said he was hit in the head by a horse 12 days ago and was knocked out cold. He's trying to reach inside himself now, to remove self-doubt.
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That's where Huffman can help, he said.
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Bull rider Casey Baize, a 28-year-old Texan, said the services are a comfort when he's on the road, away from his wife and children. He said he found God while competing in rodeos during high school and was baptized during a rodeo in 2000.
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"A lot of rodeo guys have a bad rap. Some of us might be wild and crazy guys, but a lot of us love the Lord," Baize said.
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Huffman leads Sunday services in the Rodeo Grounds' Hospitality Barn, including one set for 10 a.m. this coming Sunday. The services are open to rodeo spectators, too. When La Fiesta de los Vaqueros wraps up this Sunday, he'll head
to the Parada del Sol Rodeo in Scottsdale.
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Huffman's Pro Rodeo Ministries got their beginnings in 1970, when he spent every cent he had on a Bible, he said.
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"I was about to become the richest man on the Earth."
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He hit the road with his wife, Donna, in 1976 after being ordained through the Fellowship of Christian Assemblies. The couple live in a motor home, and though their home base is in Sonora, Calif., they spend less than one month per year there.
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He and his wife also run Cowboy Church International. They help set up cowboy churches around the country and hold conferences for church leaders. Their first conference 12 years ago attracted 30 people. Last year's event drew 300.
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"Done got 'er did" is one of Huffman's favorite sayings. It means the will of God is done on Earth as in heaven, he explained.
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He hands out prayer notes called "Power Up" that he offers as inspiration to the rodeo competitors, who often spend more than 10 months per year on the road.
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Huffman is a former rodeo competitor himself. He did bareback riding in the 1950s and '60s. That's how he met Donna, a former barrel racer. Huffman will acknowledge only that he was born in the 1930s, but he declines to give his age.
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"You never tell your body how old it is, or it will react accordingly," said Huffman, who was raised on a ranch and farm in Kansas and Oklahoma.
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New Mexico native Larry Leist, 31, a bull rider, has known Huffman for 15 years and says his presence provides a helpful way to stay mentally focused.
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"I've backslid, and I haven't always walked with God as much as I should," Leist said.
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"In fact, I used to call guys like Coy eight-second Christians . you know, they just worshipped long enough to help their ride and stay on the bull.
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"But I disagree with that theory now. Anytime you can spread the word of God, it's a good thing."
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- By Stephanie Innes, Arizona Daily Star, Tucson, Arizona
Published: 02.23.2008
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