Rodeo Royalty

Amen, then a yee-haw Rodeo competitors find time to worship
[Mar. 9, 2009] The white tent, a world away from the screams of 70,000 fans, is a place to reflect.
Here barrel racers, steer wrestlers, ropers and bullfighters bow their heads and hear only an occasional dog barking, or the creak of aluminum poles as a breeze finds its way through the tent flaps.
On Saturday night they’re the stars of the Houston Rodeo, looking up from the stadium floor to see their own magnified faces on the Jumbotron. On Sunday morning, at a campground a few miles away, they are congregants in a church so humble it has no room for egos.
As dressed-down as its participants, cowboy church offers a no-frills spiritual lesson and, for celebrities of the rodeo world, a brief escape from the spotlight.
Rodeo competitors camp down the road from Reliant Center, in a dirt lot lined with trailers. One long tent houses dozens of horse stalls. Cowboy church is held in what, at all other times, serves as the meal tent.