Southern Baptists Mix Gospel With Rodeo

[Moloch]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Pastor Don Martin's preaching duds are as unconventional as his church. "I wear a Western-style shirt, jeans, cowboy hat and boots, and we meet in an arena used for rodeo events," said Martin, founder of the Happy Trails Cowboy Church in Taylorsville, N.C. "The only time I take my hat off is when I'm praying."

It may seem unorthodox, but the church is among hundreds of so-called "affinity churches" the Southern Baptist Convention has set up around the country using niche-marketing tactics to attract the "unchurched" — people who often don't make it to the pews — and nontraditional churchgoers.

Church leaders who will be attending the convention's annual meeting here in Nashville on Tuesday and Wednesday say the churches maintain a strong biblical message but also make a wider variety of people feel more comfortable.

"They're considered affinity-based because they offer what people like, such as the cowboy lifestyle," said Richard Harris, vice president of church planting for the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. "When they find somebody that has the same passion that they do, that attracts them."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050620/ap_on_re_us/baptists_niche_churches

[bobbieinok]

1. like the pentecostal motorcyle missions, eg, Kenneth Copeland

[AlCzervik]

2. Their marketing is unreal!

can't stand them but i gotta hand it to them, they know what they're doing-scary.

[dArKeR]

3. Covenant Transport of Chattanooga -"It's a child It's not a choice"

Covenant Transport of Chattanooga, Tennessee
423-821-1212 has on the back of their trucks
“It’s not a choice
It’s a child”

This is a trucking company with owner operators and their

Soon all corporations in America will be managed/owned by religious fascists! Soon you will have to be a born again Christian to get a job!

http://www.covenanttransport.com /

"We encourage drivers to speak their minds, and we listen to what they say. Covenant has created several programs from the ideas of driver’s just like you."
http://www.covenanttransport.com/difference.html

Seems drivers have no choice because this religious statement is branded next to their corporate logo.

It's a big task but moral, honest, us people should have a quick access easy to use "Boycott the Corporate Fascist Website" lists.

(I posted this in GD but I'm worried no one saw it. I think this is unprecedented! Mixing for GOP corporate elitist and Fundamentalist religion. Soon you won't be able to get into events without showing a Christian ID card.)

[leesa]

4. Ah yes, the culture of life abusing animals. Good fun!

[young_at_heart]

5. Bush addressed them for the fourth year in a row today

He spoke to the church leaders about the usual topics....same sex marriage, abortion, stem cell research. He thanked them for defending the "values that carry a moral society".