Cowboy Church

One of our must see in the list was the Cowboy Church and the Chuckwagon Supper at the Flying with the Wranglers Ranch.

For the first time in life we saw western ranches on our drive from Canyon City to Colorado Springs. Israel brought us through the longer scenic route as we were not in a hurry. A ranch appears to be acres of land owned by a single owner or a family, the entrance always marked with a wooden sign board proudly announcing the name of the ranch, atop two wooden poles. These entry ways are quite tall almost like some arches in some Indian towns we see.

Driving across the ranches flooded my mind with imaginations of how cowboys live(d). We were able to recall scenes from western movies about an outlaw fleeing by horse from one ranch to another and the Sheriff's people chasing behind him, the romances that could have bloomed across the ranches, the cheerful wedding gatherings, how bootlegged men would have sat around the fireplace smoking pipes while giggly ladies took part in the household duties of cooking and cleaning and child rearing without missing out on the local gossips around town...

So here we are at the Cowboy Church in Flying with the Wranglers Ranch. Similar entrance sign greeted us and we were queued behind many cars which were directed for parking by local cowboy lads wearing jeans and cowboy hats and of course the bandanna scarves around their neck. I was not sure if they are real cowboys or regular men in cowboy costume, but later understood they were for real as it was a working ranch.

I was a little hesitant to attend Sunday service in jeans but had no other go. My hesitation was short lived when I saw so many ladies and lads in jeans as if it were their prime attire.

The church itself was designed like a huge shed with open sides as windows, probably seating over 1000 (could it be?) people. It was dimly lit with the lights coming from overhead hurricane lamps, hung in the middle of cart wheels. Okay, they were not the lamps that use oil to burn but their electric counterparts. Beautiful Hymns of the past era were sang like "He owns the cattle on the mountains", "In the sweet by and by ..." etc. It was lovely.

In the back there was a table with all breakfast supplies such as coffee, donuts and other kinds of goodies. We had had our breakfast at the Marriott already.(Oh yes, I forgot to tell you, after trying out Econolodge and Rodeaway Inn for a day we decided to get back to Marriott as per our original plan.)

After the songs, Pastor Scotty Vaughn took to the stage and talked about JOY. Oh man that was great! I often talk about joy and keep up my good cheer but in the last couple of weeks the joy had drained out of me as I had lost my job so suddenly. So the message was so prompt for my soul and I got a renewed sense of JOY in me. One thing that struck my mind was that the Pastor had said the opposite of joy was unbelief! It means not trusting in God! Joy is the deep abiding confidence that God is in control regardless of the circumstances, yes I knew that, I say that to people but when my circumstances were not very joyful I had as easily forgotten that and so it was a great reminder for me.

Children too had enjoyed their Sunday School and we were off to some sight seeing later that afternoon to the Garden of the Gods and Cheyenne Mountain Zoo which I will share in detail later.

Just did a preview and noted that the post had already gotten quite long. So in order to save you folks from further boredom, decided to leave it at this and continue on the Chuckwagon Supper in my next post.... For now, here's some pictures from that Sunday morning (July 31st 2011)