MiddletownJournal.com

Now Bill Patrick knows how Noah must have felt.

About 18 months ago, Patrick said, God placed it on his heart to create and be the pastor of a cowboy church...in Middletown!

"I said to myself, 'People will think I'm a nut,'" said Patrick, 50. "It's like building an ark or something."

After several months of hosting gospel music concerts at his farm on Germantown Road, Patrick finally relented to his calling, and on Oct. 9, he opened the barn doors of the Harvest Ranch Church in Poasttown.

Ever since that day, "it's been like a burden was lifted off of me," Patrick said.

Cowboy churches are among of the fastest-growing start-up churches in the country. They cater to cowboy or western-style enthusiasts through the motif, dress and music. The informal culture of a cowboy church can be appealing to those who aren't comfortable attending traditional church services, Patrick said.

"God didn't call me to pastor a regular church," said Patrick, who attends Solid Rock Church in Monroe and teaches a Sunday school class to adults, ages 35 to 50.

And Harvest Ranch is far from a regular church. Patrick, who is a licensed, ordained minister, holds his nondenominational worship service on Tuesdays rather than Sundays inside a barn on his 10-acre property at 6850 Germantown Road.

There are no pews (just round tables and chairs), and the preacher's pulpit is a horse saddle. Members can kneel to pray at the church's makeshift altar, which is no more than a few bales of hay.

And nobody dresses up, said Patrick who often wears jeans and a "regular old shirt."

"It's pretty much come as you are," he said. "It's just something different."

Patrick said he hates titles and prefers being called by his first name rather than reverend. He also plans to refer to the elders of his church — when he gets some — as "trail guides."

Patrick said Harvest Ranch will also feed your belly in addition to your spirit. The church offers a "chuck wagon meal" at 6:30 p.m. prior to every service.

Worship service, which begins around 7:30 p.m., consists of announcements, musical selections — usually country gospel, bluegrass gospel or Southern gospel — a 20-minute sermon from Patrick or another guest speaker and an invitation to Christian discipleship.

There is no passing of the collection plate, Patrick said. However, buckets are placed at each table for those who would like to make an offering.

"We believe in tithing, but we really don't look at who pays and who doesn't because that's not what we are after," Patrick said. "There is no pressure."

Since opening the church, attendance has been between 70 and 80 people per week, Patrick said. A service two weeks ago drew Harvest Ranch's largest crowd of 110.

"You don't have to be a cowboy to be a member," Patrick said. "People come and they love it.

"We just have a good time and enjoy ourselves. It's just a simplified service with God as the main attraction."