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Written by Mark Thompson
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 Rev. Ted Pressley, founder and president of Cowboys For Christ, and an original leader of the Cowboy Church movement starting in 1970, passed away Saturday, Dec. 31, from complications following recent illnesses.
Known as “Brother Ted” to many, he preached the Gospel more than four decades at rodeos, horse shows, churches, conventions and anywhere else the Lord called him, typically wearing his cowboy boots, Wrangler jeans and a Stetson hat. He also served as the editor of Christian Ranchman, a Christian livestock tabloid newspaper that continues to share God’s word across the United States, Canada and many other countries.
Pressley had turned 73 on Dec. 20, 2011. He had experienced “some major health issues all year,” according to David Harvey, executive director of Cowboys For Christ, and a longtime friend of Pressley’s who worked with him in the ministry the past 30 years.
“I guess the Lord just decided to take him home,” Harvey said. “We will be carrying on with the ministry. We want to grow it [Cowboys For Christ, with about 50 chapters in the United States and a few more in other countries] to be a real monument to the legacy of Ted Pressley.”
Mount Olivet Funeral Home, 2301 Sylvania Ave., Fort Worth, is handling all funeral arrangements. Visitation begins Friday, Jan. 6, at 5:30 p.m., at that location. It continues all day Saturday and Sunday, with visitation including family members from 4-to-6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 8. The funeral service will take place on Monday, Jan. 9, at 11:30 a.m., followed by a 2 p.m. interment service at D/FW National Veterans Cemetery.
After answering the Lord’s call to preach, Pressley attended and graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. He eventually spread his and Cowboys For Christ’s interdenominational message to many. Pressley pastured two churches and hosted a “Cowboy Chapel” radio broadcast in the Rocky Mountains.
Before beginning his ministry, “Brother Ted” traveled different roads. Earlier in life, he had worked as a rodeo hand, horse trainer, ranch manager, resort hotel manager and as a Florida bar and nightclub operator.
Following the Lord’s call and being born again, he founded Cowboys For Christ with a small but dedicated group of supporters. They included several rodeo cowboys. The ministry expanded into all aspects of the livestock industry and eventually, 39 countries.
“Ted has touched so many lives,” Harvey said. “He’s been everywhere from ranches to rodeos, on the radio and at all the horse competitions. He’s just been a hallmark in the livestock industry for so many years. It’s a loss that the Lord will work us through.”
“Brother Ted,” a Fort Worth, Texas-area resident since the late 1960s, was born Dec. 20, 1938, in Gastonia, N.C., to H.K. and Grace Pressley. Survivors include a brother, Dr. Richard Pressley, and his wife, Ann, Advance, N.C.; a son, Russell Pressley, and his wife, Jana, Rhome, Texas; a daughter, Angela Summerville, and her fiancee’, John Williams; a daughter, Rachelle Benton, and her husband, Brad; grandchildren Michael Cobb, Matthew Summerville, Hunter Pressley, Baylor Benton and Campbell Benton, and many other relatives and friends.
Family members request any memorial donations be made to the organization Pressley founded, Cowboys For Christ, P.O. Box 7557, Fort Worth, Texas, 76111.
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