- April 25, 2024
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Although his father worked in construction, Ed Anthony spent his childhood summers on his family’s dairy farm in Medway, Massachusetts. He baled hay, shoveled out the cow barn and did other chores around the property.
When he was a teenager, he’d bale hay for neighboring farmers. His payment was getting the opportunity to ride the farmers’ horses.
Anthony eventually left Massachusetts and joined the United States Marine Corps. He was in the Marines for 4 1/2 years and served three tours of duty in Vietnam before he was discharged in 1976, eventually moving to Florida and becoming a Christian in 1984.
What did he learn from his time growing up?
“Three things,” Anthony said. “Patriotism, God and having my life centered on that.”
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Anthony first heard about cowboy church in 2005. He first walked into a cowboy church in 2007, when he and his wife, Debra, were on a trip in Lakeside, California.
Cowboy churches are rural, local Christian churches within the cowboy culture that have a Western heritage. All walks of life are welcome, but the church is mostly geared toward farmers, ranchers, and so on.
Anthony was immediately hooked.
The concept of cowboy church was developed in the 1970s by a former Texas rodeo clown who felt like people in the rodeo circuit needed an opportunity to connect with God.
It started out as the Texas Fellowship of Cowboy Churches, but it spilled out to neighboring states.
Anthony and his wife have been a part of the International Cowboy Churches Alliance Network since October 2010. The couple started a church in Arizona in 2013, but they moved to Flagler Beach in March.
They have since opened the doors to the county’s very own cowboy church.
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The Lonesome Dove Country Church, located at 7900 Old Kings Road in Palm Coast, opened its doors for the first time on Sunday, May 10 — Mother’s Day.
The congregation had six people attend.
The music is a mix of country western, country Christian and old gospel. The dress code is come-as-you-are.
“My standing joke is: If you’re out feeding the horses, slopping the hogs and you realize you only have five minutes to get to church, well, you’re dressed for church,” said Anthony, who's a pastor at the church. “You don’t need anything fancy.”
The doors to the church, which is located inside the Florida Agricultural Museum, open at 9:30 a.m. and the service starts at 10 a.m. If you’re only going to church, you do not have to play to get inside the building.
“We’re trying to get the word out,” Anthony said. “We want to see people come out. This was just something deep in my heart. This is an area where we can really serve God. We just want to reach out to people who want to have a relationship with the Lord. That’s what it’s all about.”
