Merritt’s ministerial landscape is getting a little more country with the addition of the Grasslands Cowboy Church.
The new church will be ministered by Pastor Brad Miller, a member of the Canadian National Baptist Convention. While Miller’s messages and sermons will be traditional, the church service itself will be fairly informal.
“We’re blue jeans friendly,” he said, adding the only rule is that cowboy hats come off before the congregation prays.
The church will meet at the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame, which Miller said hearkens back to the church’s celebration of Western heritage.
Cowboy life is something Miller knows a thing or two about.
He farmed in the Sunshine Valley for years and worked as the unit chief at the local ambulance station. After his commitment with the B.C. Ambulance Service was up, Miller sold the ranch and headed north to the Chilcotin, where he started cowboying and ministering at a rural church and camps full time.
“Farmers, ranchers, First Nations, you name it. Did all the marrying and the burying in that area for almost four years,” he said.
Miller then received an invitation from the Canadian National Baptist Convention to relocate and start up a cowboy church in Merritt.
“My name came across someone’s desk, and having been here before and worked here for many years, I wasn’t going to be a newcomer,” he said.
Miller and his wife relocated to Merritt about two and a half years ago and have spent that time getting their bearings and reacquainted with the area and its people.
He currently ranches, farms and cowboys for the Coquihalla Cattle Company on Coldwater Road.
“That reintroduced us back into our culture and our circle of people we knew were our ministry’s focus,” Miller said.
He said gaining credibility for his ministry means more than talking the talk.
“It’s one thing to put a pair of jeans on and say you’ve ridden a horse in front of Wal-Mart for a quarter, but it’s another thing to actually walk along shoulder to shoulder with people,” he said.
He said he hopes this church appeals to people who perhaps don’t feel comfortable in a traditional church setting.
“We call it old-circuit preaching,” he said. “Very neighbourly with very little fanfare. Just church at a level where people feel comfortable coming in the door.”
With services from 4 to 6 p.m. on Sundays, Miller also said he hopes the Grasslands Cowboy Church provides an option to those who can’t make it to typical Sunday morning services because of their morning chores on the ranch.
The first service takes place this Sunday, April 27.
“Jesus was born in a barn. We might as well speak of him in a barn or in a farm environment,” Miller said.
