The Record Newspapers - Hometown News For Orange County, Texas

The Cowboy Church of Orange County has approved a retrofit to its current arena, a 40,000 square foot expansion to the church facility which will more than double its covered seating space by 700+ for church and community-wide events. The arena cover project will transform the current arena into a world-class covered and cooled facility the church plans to make available to the community. Venue plans include hosting music events, sporting events and trade shows, in addition to ministry opportunities for large groups such as youth conferences.

“This is a 16-year vision for the Cowboy Church of Orange County whose time is now,” said Cowboy Church Pastor Harland Strother. The main church building on FM 1078 was erected in 2007, when cowboy churches in general were very new to this area.

When still new to CCOC and Orange County in 2022, Strother reminded the congregation, “We were gifted with 25 acres for a reason: to use all of it for God’s glory.”

Pastor Harland and his leadership teams began by focusing on out-of-the-box aspects of community outreach and the church’s original vision, encouraging the church body to do the same. Continued growth called for both a second Sunday worship service and Wednesday night worship to accommodate new members. Outdoor and Family Ministries were added and began to flourish.

Guided by Pastor Harland, CCOC leadership recently revisited the idea of an arena cover for the CCOC Arena, and a local financial institution approved the financing for the project, pending the church wide yes vote which took place Sunday July 16. The church body’s unanimous yes vote included the approval of a one-time collection which will take place Sunday, July 23, for the downpayment on the loan.

Several local businesses have already approached the church with offers of arena sponsorships which will include large advertising banners in the newly covered arena facility. Interested arena sponsors may contact the church at 409-920-2271.