Cowboy Christians

Marie W. Dallam

First book-length treatment of the cowboy church
Based on extensive fieldwork conducted over a five year period
Draws on in-depth interviews with important cowboy church leaders

Cowboy Christians

Marie W. Dallam

Description

Cowboy Christians examines the long history of cowboy Christians in the American West, focusing on the cowboy church movement of the present day and closely related ministries in racetrack and rodeo settings. Early chapters move from the postbellum period through the twentieth century, tracing religious life among cowboys on the range as well as its representation in popular imagery and the media. The central chapters focus on the modern cowboy church and examine its structure, theology, and method of perpetuation, and explore future challenges the institution may face, such as its relegation of women to subordinate participant roles. The final chapter considers present day incarnations of rodeo and racetrack ministries as examples of the cowboy Christian proclivity for blending the secular and the sacred in leisure environments. Woven throughout the text is a discussion of the religious significance of the cowboy church movement, particularly relative to twenty-first century evangelical Protestantism.

Marie W. Dallam demonstrates that the cowboy church's antecedents and influences include muscular Christianity, the Jesus movement, and new paradigm church methodology. With interdisciplinary research that blends history and sociology, Cowboy Christians draws on interviews with leaders from cowboy churches, traveling rodeo ministries, and chaplains who serve horse racing and bull riding environments, as well as incorporating Dallam's own experiences as a participant observer.

Cowboy Christians

Marie W. Dallam

Acknowledgements
Chapter 1 Cowboy Christian Culture: An Overview
Chapter 2 Cowboys and Religion before Cowboy Church
Chapter 3 Ministry to Rodeo Cowboys
Chapter 4 The 21st-Century Cowboy Church Movement
Chapter 5 The Cowboy Church as a Man's Church
Chapter 6 The Wider World of the 21st-Century Cowboy Christian
Appendix A Note on Sources
Endnotes
Bibliography
Index

Cowboy Christians

Marie W. Dallam

Author Information

Marie W. Dallam, Associate Professor, University of Oklahoma

Marie Dallam is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Oklahoma.

Cowboy Christians

Marie W. Dallam

Reviews and Awards

"Cowboy Christians explores this subculture of the evangelical subculture ... Cowboy Christians provides a useful window into what might be called niche evangelicalism" - Randall Balmer, Journal of Southern History

"Marie W. Dallam's satisfying study of cowboy churches not only educates the reader about a relatively new movement in American evangelicalism, it also throws into relief many of the complexities surrounding the performance of gender, Christianity, and western American identity... Dallam's voice shines in her prose, and she is a winsome and trustworthy guide to this fascinating niche of American Christianity. Students at all levels will benefit from this enjoyable and groundbreaking book." - Brett Hendrickson, Journal of Religion

"This is a very engaging and astute book. Dallam displays an eye for significant detail and a thorough command of her sources. Both her narrative and analysis are lucid and straightforward. Cowboy Christians should be accessible to undergraduates and rewarding for scholars." - Eugene V. Gallagher, Nova Religio

"Dallam brings to our attention a fascinating and revealing corner of modern American Christianity and does an effective job of linking cowboy Christianity to broader trends like the 'new paradigm church' movement, muscular Christianity, and revitalization movements in general." - Jack David Eller, Reading Religion

"Marie W. Dallam's Cowboy Christians is an engaging, interdisciplinary analysis of one of the lesser studied, but certainly more interesting subcultures within the broader scope of modern American evangelicalism. Relying heavily on a mix of personal communication, first-hand accounts, and secondary literature, Dallam illuminates the human dimensions of this subculture. The result is a study that is informative, compelling, and consumable... [T]his is a good book that deserves a wide audience. It is a slice of modern Americana." - Sean P. Cunningham, Southwestern Historical Quarterly

"Cowboy Christians is appropriate for courses in the sociology of religion and religious studies. The writing style is scholarly and articulate, but eminently accessible. The wide variety of data sources provide excellent opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students alike to consider the empirical investigation of religion. And given the cultural currency of the iconic cowboy, this book will have appeal to scholars and students across the country, not just those situated in the western and frontier states." - Sociology of Religion