Bass fisherman find fellowship in boat instead of
arena
February 12, 2012
Good question:
When is the deck of a fishing boat similar to the floor
of an arena or casting a plug similar to roping a calf or steer?
Simple answer: When the guys or gals in the boat with the
rods and reels in their hands are members of a cowboy church and enjoying the
same kind of fellowship their western heritage friends have with reins and ropes
in theirs.
Beginning this month—Feb. 25 at Lake Palestine—some 200
fishermen from many cowboy churches will begin a new season of bass fishing
tournaments as members of the Cowboy Church Bass Club. Other tournaments are
scheduled at Athens, March 24; Lake Fork, April 28; Cedar Creek, May 19;
Richland Chambers, June 23; Ray Roberts, July 28; and Joe Pool, Aug. 25.
Two other tournaments will be held following the regular
events—a “Classic” event Sept. 22 for any teams who have fished in as many as
three tournaments or teams from individual churches who have held their own
competitions—and a Top 10 tournament Oct. 13 for the top 10 points teams during
the summer. They will cap off the year with a banquet on Oct. 27.
The bass fishing club started as an outdoor ministry of
Cowboy Church of Ellis County but quickly attracted teams from many other cowboy
churches and other Christian churches and some teams with no church affiliation.
The club exists “to unite Christians and reach out to
non- Christians with the love of Jesus Christ through competitive bass fishing
tournaments.” At the close of each tournament they have a devotional, a
testimony or an inspirational message.
“We also pray for each other and take prayer
requests,”said Al Kohutek, a Church of Christ member who maintains the club’s
website at www.cowboychurchbassclub.org . “I consider it a part of my ministry,”
he said. “We accept everyone from all churches or no church.”
Reggie Stewart, a former member of the Ellis County
church and now pastor of J Bar C Cowboy Church in Palmer, is ministry leader for
the club. “These fishing tournaments are one of the best things to draw people
who don’t go to church,” Stewart said. “It’s a lot like a rodeo arena; it’s a
tool to get them there.”
Entry fees are $60 per team. First time or infrequent
participants also pay a $10 registration fee.
Stewart is a long-time fisherman and has been a fishing
guide for more than 10 years. He also has written about fishing for many
magazines and newspapers and often thought after covering a weekend-long fishing
tournament how it might be to bring the anglers into a Christian environment.
“It is a good drawing tool,” he said. “We have more than
200 in the club and 150 of them are active members. That’s impressive when you
consider that many of the big bass fishing circuits don’t even draw 35 teams.
“We have 30 to 35 teams and often more than 100 at every
tournament. Everyone has to meet and have prayer and at the end at the weigh-in
we do a devotional before there is any payout..”
Many of the participants have asked for prayer for their
families and many have joined cowboy churches because of the experience, he
said.
Stewart said that about 50 percent of those who fish the
club’s tournaments are from cowboy churches; about 30 percent from other
churches and the rest may have no church affiliation at all but hear the gospel
presented at each tournament.
“It’s not about the money, and not hardly about the
fishing for many of us,” he said. “It’s about fellowship.”
