Casual cowboys drive unique worship service

No one wears dress shoes.

No factory-made designers or hand-crafted heels.

Then again, it doesn’t take expensive shoes to carry a beat — to tap the ground, the grass, the bleachers to the sound of the music, to the voice of the saved.

These people wear flip-flops, tennis shoes, boots — rounded toe, lace-up, pointed toe. They tap their feet to the music, to the sound of R.W. Hampton’s version of “When Momma Prayed,” to gospel music from Rusty Rierson and poetry from Geff Dawson.

You don’t have to dress up to be here, to receive God’s word.

It’s a cowboy church service — no matter who you are or how you dress — and it was part of the weekend’s sixth annual Old West Cowboy Days Celebration in Ottawa.

No Sunday’s best needed. Just ears, a heart, a prayer to be answered.

“It’s basically a Bible-believing service,” Ernie Rodina, coordinator of Cowboy Days, said. “They tie it to the western lifestyle.”

Rodina said he counted 150 to 200 people at the service, which was Sunday morning.

Steve Stafford, pastor of Risen Ranch Cowboy Church in Carthage, Mo., led the service at Forest Park, which he said was directed toward sinners, toward people who are tempted by the devil on a daily basis.

“We will be tempted all our lives,” Stafford said. “In our lives, it will be Satan who will test us.”

Stafford encouraged Sunday’s listeners to let God direct them, to let his word lead them away from the devil  — no matter who they are or where they are in life.

“Satan likes to paint it up nice and pretty — just one more drink, one more pill, one more night,” he said. “Jesus Christ will meet you wherever you are. He’ll meet you in the bar, in the drug addiction, in the financial crisis.”

Throughout the service, some of the weekend’s highlighted musicians joined Stafford on stage to share stories and music.

“The most important part of Cowboy Days is this morning,” Rodina said on stage Sunday.

The church service was just one of the weekend highlights, with other events including colt breaking seminars, mounted shooting demonstrations, mutton bustin’ chuckwagon race demonstrations, musical entertainment, the first Dutch oven cook-off and more.

“I think it’s a great event,” Rodina said. “The music show (Saturday) night was the best we’ve ever had.”

Rodina said Saturday night’s concert garnered two standing ovations.

“The fact that we had two standing ovations says something,” he said.

In addition, Rodina said the hot Saturday temperatures caused a decline in numbers from years past. Cowboy Days has drawn 6,000 to 7,000 people Saturday and 2,000 to 3,000 people Sunday.

“We thought it went really well,” he said. “Saturday might have been a little uncomfortable.”

Some of Saturday’s events included a cattle drive and parade down Main Street, a horse sense clinic and stock dog demonstration.

“It went pretty smooth,” Rodina said of the weekend. “I thought the parade went well. I was well-pleased, taking the economy and everything into consideration.”

Rodina added that Sunday attendance was up from past years ­— partially because of the cowboy church service.

“The response has been tremendous,” Rodina said. “We really promoted it because it’s been so special.”