For a bunch of taciturn Midwestern farmers, they appeared to be having an awfully good time - especially considering that they were in church. It was Sunday night at the First Christian Church on Market Street in Farmer City, Illinois, a town of 2,000. And Sunday night, everyone in the area knows, means Cowboy Church.
Formalities are few.
Cowboy hats, boots and jeans are standard wear. There are mandolins, banjos and the occasional harmonica. And there is, reports The Boston Globe, a certain conservancy of the spoken word. In other words, not much preaching. Pastor Bud McMasters cooked up the idea about a year ago as a way to boost attendance, then sometimes as small as 10 on some Sundays.