A new Arkansas Baptist cowboy church is taking shape at the corner of Highway 52 and Highway 425 in Hamburg.
The idea for White Horse Cowboy Church, 160 Highway 52 West, started in May 2024 around the Crossett Riding Club’s Annual Rodeo, where Calvary Trail Cowboy Church Pastor Donny Hargett served as the “behind the chutes” chaplain.
Hargett noticed a rich environment for a cowboy church. He and several other cowboy church pastors began praying about bringing the ministry to the area. The core group of cowboy churches involved include Calvary Trail, Cross Point, Cross Bar C, Whispering Pines, Grace, and Rugged Cross.
Arkansas Baptist State Convention (ABSC) Church Planting Strategist Jay Ham said the churches did an outreach event during the Crossett rodeo where they talked with folks about the possibility.
“There was such a rich environment for a cowboy church that we had to do something about it,” Hargett said. “We just saw a lot of cowboys who need Christ.”
Soon after the rodeo, the group began hosting a Bible study on Tuesday evenings at the home of Glynn Summers. As it grew, they moved the Bible study to the CrossRoads Community Building. In January 2025, they started a Sunday service.
About two weeks ago, a Pentecostal church with dwindling church membership decided to gift their property, which included two buildings and three acres, to the cowboy church.
“They had come to a conclusion that they were gonna have to close their doors. We were meeting in this community building not far from where one of their trustees lived and he came to our Bible study and introduced himself,” Hargett said. “He said they had voted to give us their property and buildings if we wanted it.”
Hargett said they are in the process of getting the property deeded over to them. He said Calvary Trail Cowboy Church will sign on the deed and when the church gets big enough, they will sign it over to White Horse Cowboy Church.
“We have two brand new buildings, new to us, and three acres of ground and it’s just a miracle. I don’t know what else you’d call it,” Hargett said. “Forty years I’ve been in ministry, and I’ve never seen this happen.”
Sunday, March 2, was their first service at the new location. The Calvary Trail Cowboy Church Band led worship, and Hargett brought a message from Psalms 40.
Afterward, they had a fellowship time with soup, chili, cornbread, and desserts.
A post on the White Horse Cowboy Church Facebook page on Sunday, March 2, following the service, said, “We are excited about what God has in our future for White Horse Cowboy Church! He has blessed us so much in the short time we have been on this journey to share Jesus with our community! If you are looking for a church home, or if you are just curious about what a Cowboy Church is like, come check us out! We will be looking for you!!”
“We want to reach those who are not going to church anywhere,” Summers said, but anybody is welcome.
Hargett said White Horse Cowboy Church has received support from First Baptist Church in Crossett as well as the Ashley County Baptist Association.
“We got their approval to do ministry in their backyard,” he said. “They were accommodating and basically gave us the right hand of fellowship and approved the fact that we’re starting a Southern Baptist cowboy church in Ashley County, and they are aware of it and not taken off guard by it and we were welcomed.”
The idea is that when the cowboy church charters, they will become a part of the association, Hargett said.
Cowboy churches celebrate western culture and western heritage in the way they do ministry and in their services.
“These are people who like the western heritage culture. We wear jeans and boots and hats to church and we’re just as clean as the next folks,” Hargett said. “Cowboy church is just a place where we want people to feel comfortable.”
Attendance currently ranges from 12 to more than 30 people. On Sunday, 52 people attended the service at White Horse Cowboy Church. Among those present were several members from Calvary Trail Cowboy Church and Whispering Pines Cowboy Church.
White Horse Cowboy Church meets 4:30 p.m. weekly for Sunday service and 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays for Bible study.