Another favorite and popular Sunday morning destination is of Lone Pine Film Festival tradition, is the Sunday Morning Cowboy Church, led by Pastor, Greg Rickets, from the RCA Church in Ridgecrest, CA. This year’s Cowboy Church will be held at the Spainhower Anchor Ranch just south of the Museum.
The music and Western-themed sermon take on a special meaning as the worshipers sit in this beautiful venue under the Eastern Sierra and Mount Whitney. Truly, an exceptional morning! The 30-minute service will start at 9:30 A.M. As access and parking to the Ranch is limited, a bus will pick up participants at the Museum entrance Sunday Morning at 9:00 am.
In 1996, the Film Festival Board suggested that a Sunday “Cowboy Church” be added to the weekend. The short worship service that is now held on the Anchor Ranch just South of Lone Pine includes spiritual songs, a short sermon, and a time for refreshments and mingling. In 1996, and for many years, Ben Sparks, then, the local Pastor, wrote the 48 page, The Cowboy Church, which features 10 of these homilies with the use of themes, associated with Western movies. The Booklet, The Cowboy Church, is available in the Museum Gift shop.