VOA标准英语2008年-Saddle Up! It's Time for Church

（单词翻译）

Earlier this month, the Chicago Tribune newspaper sent a reporter to church — four hundred kilometers away in the little town of Mount Vernon, in southern Illinois.
　
Minister Coy Huffman holds services during pro¹ rodeo events. Here he delivers a Power Up sermon and blessing² of contestants³ in the National Finals in Las Vegas

And it was no ordinary house of worship. The congregation meets in a riding arena⁴, normally home to horse shows and rodeos where bulls and bucking⁵ broncos toss cowboys into the dust. Its name is the New Frontier Cowboy Church.

At this cowboy and cowgirl — church, the minister preaches from the saddle. He wears a big,— white, ten-gallon hat like the hero in western movies. All hats come off during prayer, of course. And one of them gets passed around the bleachers when it comes time to collect the weekly cash offering.
　
Rope Myers, a champion rodeo steer⁶ wrestler⁷ who's now a cowboy minister, baptizes a boy at one of his and his wife Candice's youth camps

There are more than 600 cowboy churches across America, meeting in arenas⁸, barns, and out in the open in state fairgrounds. There's even an online directory of some of these homespun churches.

During the service, according to the Tribune article, Preachers tell corny jokes. Worshipers whoop⁹, holler and clap. The bands jam with banjos, mandolins, guitars, drums and sometimes a worn washboard. It's not unusual to be baptized in a horse trough.
　
Just about everybody — minister, band, adult and child worshipers — wears a western hat to services at this cowboy church

You don't see many suits and ties and Sunday-go-to-meetin' dresses at these services. Folks wear cowboy garb¹⁰, right down to neckerchiefs and fancy belt buckles¹¹ and spurs if they're riding.

According to the Tribune, the service in Mount Vernon closed, not with a traditional recessional hymn¹², but with a recording¹³ of the cowboy song made famous by the late King of the Cowboys, Roy Rogers, and his singing wife, Dale Evans: Happy Trails to You, Till We Meet Again.