Southern Baptist 'affinity churches' tap niches to add members

Jim Matthews dresses for Sunday in his favorite cowboy boots and denim jeans. He's not concerned about a suit jacket and tie or wearing his "Sunday best" because everyone else he greets at the Cape County Cowboy Church will be dressed like they're headed for a horseback ride.

The Cowboy Church meets in an auction barn where the floor is bare ground and the pews are really metal bleachers. Stalls and gates round out the space behind Matthews as he preaches.

Matthews is the pastor of the region's only cowboy congregation -- one that began a year ago in January and is still growing steadily.

The group averages about 300 members on Sunday and nearly 450 each Thursday. Sunday service is at the Fruitland Auction Barn and Thursday's service is at Flickerwood Arena.

It may seem unorthodox to attend worship services in an auction barn, but the Cape Cowboy 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" and nontraditional churchgoers.

Church leaders who will be attending the convention's annual meeting in Nashville on Tuesday and Wednesday say the churches maintain a strong biblical message but provide environments that aim to make more kinds 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."

Harris said the convention, which boasts a membership of more than 16.2 million, started 1,781 affinity-based churches last year and hopes to create even more this year.

The Cape County Cowboy Church was among them. Matthews, a horse owner himself, knew the cowboy culture and said he'd be leading this church whether or not he was paid as pastor. "It's part of my heart."

The Rev. Mike Parry, pastor of Fruitland Community Church which helps sponsor the cowboy congregation, said the idea was to do something creative and spirit-filled. "It doesn't have to look like us," he said.

In fact, the two churches meet only a mile apart but draw vastly different crowds. "That's a totally different group of people who wouldn't come to our church."

Matthews agreed. "So often we pattern our churches after the West Coast or big cities but not everybody is from the big city or West Coast. The rural life appeals to us."

But it's not just cowboy churches that are attracting new members. There's a theme for nearly everyone. If you want to get in an early game of golf, then there's a golf church that meets before tee time. Other churches appeal to bluegrass enthusiasts and members of "Generation X." But Harris said the most popular are the cowboy and biker churches.

Gary Davis, pastor and founder of the Church in the Wind of Denver, Colo., a biker church, said the pleasant attitudes are the same every Friday night at his congregation.

Davis said he was prompted to start the church in 1996 after he was told by a traditional church that he couldn't wear his biker outfit to service. But he said it's not what you wear that matters.

"We don't care if you're wearing a suit or a T-shirt and jeans," said Davis, who rides a Harley-Davidson to church and whose congregation is nearly half bikers. "What we care about is the condition of the heart."

Other denominations are creating niche churches, but Harris said they don't start them as quickly as the Southern Baptists.

Craig Miller, director of new congregational development for the United Methodist Church, agrees the Baptists are moving faster largely because in that faith individuals can start churches. The Methodists have conferences to start congregations and added 200 last year.

"I think it's a challenge to do a new church start on your own," Miller said. "The advantage of a conference or denomination helping you is that you have the support and training that comes with that."

The Cape County Cowboy Church is a mission of Red Star Baptist Church and Fruitland Community Church.

Laura Johnston contributed to this report.