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An Orange County church is putting the fun in fundraising by hosting its inaugural Car, Truck and Bike Show.

The event by the Cowboy Church of Orange County includes a variety of cars, trucks and motorcycles; a concession stand; a DJ; a 50/50 Split the Pot; a display of new vehicles from Team Granger Super Center and a chance at winning $100 for those that display their vehicles.

Ronnie Burton and his wife Melinda have been organizing car shows for quite some time, visiting as many as possible.

“The pastor said it was a vision of his to have a car show,” Burton said. “I was kind of led to do the same thing. It kind of coincided with each other.”

Burton said it generally takes a full year to organize a large-scale vehicle show, but they’re using the first to test the waters so they can add vendors and other attractions next year.

“We told him we’d put on a simple car show to get of feel of what kind of crowd we can draw,” Barton said. “If everything goes well, next year we’ll have a lot more.”

Barton shows his 1969 Camaro as well as his 1992 Ford 4-wheel drive.

He and his wife have been members of Cowboy Church for nearly a year.

“We moved from Louisiana and visited a bunch of churches around,” he said. “(Rev. Harland Strother) started there about 10 months ago, and when we went, we really enjoyed his speaking. We really fell right in with them. It’s great people. It’s a Bible-based church.”

Sherrill Porterfield said the church is approximately 16 years old, but with a new pastor, church leaders are working hard to reach out to the community.

“Last year when he came in, his thing was like we have this postage-stamp size church on 25 acres, so we need to have outreach,” Porterfield said. “He started throwing ideas out. We just want to have free, fun, family oriented things.”

Porterfield said Strother rides a Harley and belongs to a motorcycle ministry.

“There’s no judgment,” she said. “That’s why we’re really thinking outside-of-the-box. And that’s what church is supposed to be about, but it doesn’t always work that way.”

Strother said they have a saying: Harleys, Hummers and Horses welcome.

And the youth group, Burton said, has approximately 60 participants.

Music ranges from classic country and western to popular songs with lyrics adapted to worship.

“It’s a lot of activity and a lot of fellowship and it’s really a great place to get away from everything,” Barton said.

Porterfield said they don’t identify with a particular denomination.

“It’s more about the relationship that a religion,” she said. “That’s the Cowboy Church culture.”

Cowboy Church has worship services at 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, as well as 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday. There is also a 6 p.m. Youth Supper and Bible Study as well as a 6 p.m. Rock-N with Jesus for ages pre-K to 5th grade.

The vehicle show begins at 9 a.m. Saturday and lasts until 2 p.m. Those who want to register their vehicles can do so for $25 on the day of. Proceeds benefit the church.

Cowboy Church of Orange County is located at 673 FM 1078 in Orange.

The Bridge City Chamber of Commerce will host a ribbon cutting at the church at 10 a.m. Thursday to celebrate the upcoming event.

— Written by Monique Batson