The smell of cow manure and hay accosts your nostrils when you
step through the glass double doors.
The smell of cow manure and hay accosts your nostrils when you step through the glass double doors.
Wrangler-clad musicians enter your line of sight as you walk deeper into the arena, their leather clad Bibles laying close at hand as they tune up in front of the auction area.
As the congregation slowly filters in, members are greeted by either Preacher Coy Huffman or his wife, Donna – their warm welcome conveying genuine joy through their syrupy southern drawl.
Around 7 p.m., people begin taking their seats at the Highway 101 Livestock Arena in Aromas, readying themselves for some down-home testifying and praising Jesus.
Welcome to Cowboy Church.
Folks are dressed in all kinds of attire, from jeans and cowboy hats to suits and ties, but the ambiance is unpretentious and decidedly country.
The reason they’re here is simple – to fill their hearts and their lives with the Lord.
When Huffman asks for prayer testimonies, a Monterey resident who regularly attends asks those present to pray for his horse, Pete, and his dog, Ben, who have been having difficulties at home.
“We’re all country people here, so my prayer request is for my animals,” he said. “I’ve got a horse that thinks he’s a dog. Pete comes up to the house and eats Ben’s food and they get in a fight over it. I’m praying that we get that horse’s head straight.”
This light-hearted prayer broadens the smiles already plastered on people’s faces and peals of laughter ripple through the crowd.
Huffman utters an “Amen, praise the Lord,” to speed the prayer on its way to God’s ear.
Huffman founded Cowboy Church International more than 30 years ago when he met someone who profoundly changed his life.
“I met Jesus,” he said. “Jesus became the Lord of my life.”
He grew up in Kansas performing on the rodeo circuit. It wasn’t until he was in his 30s that he decided to get his education.
While he was attending Oral Roberts University, a non-denominational Christian liberal arts college in Tulsa, Okla., he noticed some of the other students had something he didn’t.
“They had eternal life and I was the one missing out,” he said. “It was then that I began to understand that I needed to be saved.”
In the early 1960s, Huffman left Oklahoma with his wife for the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, where he began to perfect his craft, preaching to anyone who would listen on the streets of Denver.
Several years later, he decided to take his preaching on the road to a group of people near and dear to his heart.
Cowboys.
He began with small services after rodeos, where the cowboys and cowgirls could listen to his preaching in their jeans and hats and not feel judged, he said. He traveled all across the West spreading his beliefs, through Wyoming, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, California, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas and Arizona.
The first official Cowboy Church was held in a sale barn in Arizona, similar to the livestock arena in Aromas.
He has been preaching at the Aromas location, one Wednesday a month, for the past five years, he said.
The congregation peppers Huffman’s Scripture reading and sermonizing with fervent proclamations of “Praise Jesus,” “Amen” and “Hallelujah.”
When the band croons a soft gospel melody, believers raise their hands to heaven, close their eyes in faithful contemplation and sway with the music.
When they belt out a triumphant declaration to “stomp the devil out of your life,” the floor shakes with members’ foot-stomping and raised voices.
During the middle of the service, members are encouraged by Rick Williams, a Oklahoman who is being mentored by Huffman in the art of country preaching, to voice their prayer testimonies, whether they be large or small, life-changing or not.
“I love to hear good reports,” Williams said. “I don’t care if (God has) healed your heartburn or a heart attack; an ingrown toenail or a foot that’s been cut off.”
Members pray to get over a cold, for their house to be sold, that their business becomes more successful or that an upcoming event turns out well.
When the service is over anyone can stay for a free meal where people from all over the Central Coast can get together and enjoy good food and good company.
Gilroy resident Jerry Bottorff attended the service for the first time Wednesday and was impressed at the welcoming environment the church fosters.
“It’s not your usual Sunday crowd,” Bottorff said. “You go to other churches, there’s no laughing, there’s no clapping. It’s a good feeling.”
Bonnie Stoeberl is a devout attendee of the service in Aromas and one in Salinas, where she and her husband live.
The invigorating music and sermons delivered in an easily-understandable fashion and family-oriented feel of the services continue to bring her back for more.
“The difference in religion is relationships. These people know the Lord personally,” Stoeberl said. “(People) are brought up knowing doctrine and ritual, but here they teach you now to know the Lord personally – how to have a relationship with him.”
Huffman and his wife have a permanent home in Arizona, where the church’s headquarters are, but they travel throughout the West year-round.
He has helped to start up more than 20 churches – some he just oversees and others he preaches at in person.
His grueling schedule has him traveling almost constantly, either by motor home or plane, to churches, rodeos, conferences and more.
“God helps me keep up with it,” he said. “It’s not like I fly to Texas every day – just occasionally.”
He still announces rodeos, which generates some steady income, but his church’s financial stability is based on a more elusive entity.
“It’s a faith venture. God raises up people to help us,” Huffman said. “God speaks to people’s hearts and helps us out. We just trust in him.”
