Byron Ash, pastor of Cowpunchers Cowboy Church in Shelbyville, back row with cowboy hat, recently baptized an entire family of new believers, the Wagners. They family now regularly attends the church, driving roughly 100 miles roundtrip to be at Cowpunchers each week.
SHELBYVILLE — As pastor of a cowboy church, Byron Ash has a strict rule: No poaching allowed.
That’s not in reference to cattle or horses, but to church members.
“If someone in our church has a friend who is already a member of another church, I tell them NOT to invite them to our place,” said Ash, pastor of Cowpunchers Cowboy Church in Shelbyville. “In fact, I get mad if they do. We’re not here to take members away from other churches. We’re not rustlers. Our goal is to reach the unchurched.”
That simple objective is being achieved each and every Sunday at Cowpunchers, which started ten years ago with four adults and five kids in a small meeting space and has now grown into a thriving church that ranks among the top churches in the state in baptisms. Along the way, they’ve helped plant four other cowboy churches.
“There’s no way to explain what’s happened here other than to say it’s all Him,” said Ash. “It’s not me. It’s not our staff. It’s all Him. Jesus has allowed us to be used, there’s no other way to put it.”
Ash said the Lord has shown Himself time and time again during the life of the church, noting that even the church’s budget is a miracle. “We’ve never bought a building, we’ve never passed an offering plate, and we feed everybody a meal every time we get together — and yet, we’re still making it. It’s because of Him and Him alone.”
Lewis McMullen, church planting specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, has helped the church move through its various stages of growth. He has served as a mentor, prayer partner and consultant to Ash through the years.
McMullen said he has been amazed by what has taken place. He said he believes the key is that the attendees at Cowpunchers are put in a position where they feel they are an important part of the church right from the beginning.
“They give new believers and newcomers to the church opportunities to serve right away because they have so many various ministries,” said McMullen. “It’s really been awesome to watch.”
Ash put it this way: “I’m very heavy on disciples. I don’t have any bench warmers in my church.”
McMullen said there is an intimacy at Cowpunchers that doesn’t always exist, unfortunately, at more traditional churches.
“One of the neat things about the church is, every Sunday morning before service, they gather for prayer — the women in one place, the men in another,” McMullen said. “And they just go around in a circle sharing what God’s done that day, or sharing what prayer requests they have.”
IT’S NOT COMPLICATED
The appeal of Cowpunchers appears to be found in its simplicity and its “no-heirs” approach to reaching the lost.
Work clothes, crying babies, messy hair, late arrivals — it is truly a “come as you are” environment. Cowpunchers takes its “open invitation” policy very literally.
“Things are different here,” Ash said. “And I think that is why the unchurched people are the ones that stay with us. They have no idea what church is supposed to look like to start with. Some Sundays, we have people who walk in straight from working — and we’re fine with that.”
The services at Cowpunchers, including the sermons, have a “no-frills” feel, with Ash saying that his messages aren’t intended for theologians.
“I’ve never spent 20 hours preparing for a sermon, and honestly, I can’t even imagine what that would look like if I produced one,” he said. “The commands of Jesus are the basis for every sermon that I’ve got. … I never get into the Old Testament too deep or get into Paul’s letters too deep. I focus on the words written in red.”
There is one constant about his sermons, Ash said: “One way or the other, the blood, the cross and the gospel are in every message.”
McMullen agreed that the absence of bells and whistles is what makes the church appealing for so many. “They keep it very simple,” McMullen said. “It’s the Acts chapter 2 model — they gather for teaching. They gather together in fellowship. The message is very clear and direct when they are preaching and teaching.”
In regard to church attire, causal clothing is not just acceptable, but basically required. Ash said if any of his regulars come to church wearing “dress up” clothes, he sometimes pulls them aside and asks them to go home and change.
“Clothes can become a barrier,” he said. “Some people don’t have clothes to wear to church and they’re too embarrassed in what they have, so they don’t come. We don’t want that to ever happen at our church.”
At many churches, crying babies are sometimes viewed as a distraction and no food is allowed in the sanctuary. That’s not the case at Cowpunchers.
“If people are hungry, they can eat while I’m preaching,” said Ash. “Doesn’t bother me at all. If a baby is screaming its head off, I’m good with that, because I just remember how blessed we are — I mean, there are a lot of churches that don’t have a baby in it.”
A DIFFERENT PATH
Not only is Ash the pastor of an unconventional church, but his path to becoming a pastor was also untraditional.
The son of a Baptist preacher, Ash dropped out of school in seventh grade, turned from the Lord as a teenager and began to hate anything associated with church.
On Sunday mornings, he said, he would sit in front of a country store and glare at the people who would drive by on their way to church. “I’d sit there with an empty beer can (that he would find in the street) and a cigarette just to make sure they knew that I didn’t want any part of what they were doing.”
Ash remained away from the church and away from the Lord for much of his adult life. At age 48, though, everything changed.
“One day, I met the sorriest man of all time — and I met him when I looked in the mirror,” said Ash. “The Lord had broken me, and even then, it still took a long time before I answered His call. But I eventually gave everything over to Him. And when I give my testimony, I always say ‘Jesus went around Mount Sinai in four days. Israel did it in 40 years. It took me 48.’ ”
STRONG SUPPORT
Ash said Cowpunchers’ growth is a direct reflection of the commitment level of the staff.
“God has given me the exact ministry team that I needed,” Ash said. “They will ride with me to the gates of hell to keep someone out of it!”
Ash noted that several others from outside the church have played vital roles in guiding the church through different seasons. The list includes TBMB president and executive director Randy C. Davis — whom Ash refers to as “Ranch Boss” — along with Tim Key, director of mission for New Duck River, Jonas Taylor, director of mission for Salem Baptist Association, McMullen and many others.
“Every church in New Duck River has also been a part of our ministry team,” said Ash.
Ash said Phillip Gilliam, who serves as an elder in the church, has had a dramatic influence on his ministry.
“When I met him, I realized immediately that he was the person that was the model for what I was trying to become,” said Ash. “I wanted to follow his light. And after getting to know Philip, I told myself when I become the man God has created me to be, I hoped to be like this Godly man — faithful, strong and not looking back.”
Cowpunchers’ foundational training comes from the American Fellowship of Cowboy Churches. “We have been blessed to be able to be a part and learn from the leadership and staff of the AFCC,” he said.
REACHING (WAY) OUT
Ash is quick to point out that many of the church’s regulars don’t come to Cowpunchers because it’s convenient. In many cases, it’s anything but that.
“The regulars at our church drive an average of 27 miles, one way, to get here,” he said. “I’ve only got two people that I know who actually live in city limits of Shelbyville. We’ve had people drive from Madison, Alabama, to be with us. And again, that’s not because of me or anyone else — it’s because of Jesus.”
Ash said getting people to come to church is far simpler than it seems. He said many Christ-followers often add their own complications to a process that should be very basic.
“Do you know why most people don’t attend church? The No. 1 reason is they’ve never been invited,” he said. “Think about that. They’ve never been invited.”
For Ash, though, there’s an easy fix. He is constantly inviting people to come to Cowpunchers, even if they don’t live nearby.
In recent weeks, Ash has made connections with a family that lives 45 minutes away from the church. Ash shared the gospel with them and invited them to Cowpunchers — and the entire family was recently baptized. That same day, Ash drove 45 minutes to their house to hand-deliver a Bible to them.
“He just wants to reach unreached people,” said McMullen. “That’s obvious as soon as you meet him. He is also very eager to help other pastors and to help other churches. The Lord is using him — and Cowpunchers — in many great ways.” B&R
