Country Christmas 2025 | A Christmas Message from Wyoming Cowboy Pastors 

Farmers and ranchers dedicate their lives to stewarding God’s creation. More than one rancher has been known to say, “Tell the cows it’s Christmas,” in regard to taking a holiday off.  

As such, pastors to ruralists may have to be creative to share the Gospel in the far reaches of their regions. The Rev. Bryce Lungren and Justin Hammerich are two Wyoming pastors doing so in a state in which cows outnumber people two to one.  

“I’ve had more conversations about the Lord and done more ministry standing in the corral at shipping or branding than [anything],” said Hammerich, who pastors Summit Church in Kaycee, Wyoming. “Not that I don’t have ministry opportunities on Sunday, but the way that God has placed me, it just gives me unique opportunities. So I’m pretty thankful for it.”  

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Hammerich on answering the call to shepherd 

Hammerich keeps a foot in both the agricultural and ministerial spheres. “I’m like a part-time pastor, part-time rancher, part-time day help, which I always tell people means I end up being full-time in all three,” he laughed.  

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“I never thought in a million years that I would end up in Kaycee. I mean, apart from that being the Lord’s plan, this never would’ve crossed my mind,” he said.  

Originally from Greeley, Colorado, Hammerich described his younger self as “a town kid.”  

“I didn’t have any interest in this type of lifestyle until I got older,” he said.  

“I had a really, really good friend of mine that I rodeoed with that when I was 19 years old, who led me to the Lord, and I came to that saving relationship with Jesus Christ in August of 2000.” 

Hammerich’s journey to pastorship was gradual.   

“I just kept having opportunities where I would go speak at little cowboy churches. People would have me come in and do testimonies. There was an open door there that the Lord was trying to lead me through, but I didn’t have the maturity, and I really didn’t have people around me to disciple me and help me walk through that. And so for 10 years I struggled in my faith.” 

Things came to a head for Hammerich after the birth of his firstborn and years of struggling with alcoholism.  

“When I was 30, I had several things really hard in life that happened. Our first son was born, and it was this moment in my life where I came to the end of myself and I was like, man, this is hard. And I didn’t know what to do and I was just like, God, I give up.  

“I’ll be honest, I was just a horrible alcoholic, and I could not get rid of it. And I finally, one day I just woke up and I was like, God, I’m done. I’m yours. I can’t do this. You’ve got to take it. And he did. He did.  

“That was on Jan. 26, 2013. And ever since then, it’s been a fairly rapid progression, and I have really started walking with the Lord more intimately and really going after whatever he’s called me to. I’ve been way more obedient,” said Hammerich.  

Hammerich completed a two-year discipleship program with a mentor to learn the skills in order to become a pastor. The opportunity to lead the new Summit Church in Kaycee (a branch of a church by the same name in Buffalo), and he accepted.  

“It was kind of up to me whether or not I wanted to go into actual seminary and do continued learning. 

“There’s something about my role here and just being a lay minister that I just feel like God is able to work through that. I don’t come off with letters behind my name. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. There’s a lot of times where I’d love to have a lot more education than I do, but I just feel like me just being a person and just being an ag guy and a ranch guy, it’s like God has opportunity to work through that probably He wouldn’t otherwise,” he said.  

Lungren on answering the call to shepherd 

Father Bryce Lungren, known as “the cowboy priest,” is the pastor of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Buffalo, Wyoming.  

While he, too, was brought up in town in Worland, Wyoming, his heart was in agriculture. Lungren took advantage of nearby family farms and ranches whenever possible during his upbringing, and his parents now reside on his mother’s family’s homestead, making them fifth generation on the land in Washakie County. 

“The ranching and the cowboy stuff was really able to come naturally. Wyoming, anywhere you go in the state, that’s part of the culture. So it was really easy then both for me personally to thrive, but then to serve in this capacity. It was a natural transition to meet people where they’re at,” Lungren said.  

He worked for ranches in Montana after high school, which were “formative years” for him. 

His path to the priesthood was full of twists, but a national tragedy was a major turning point in Lungren’s life.  

“The one that comes to my mind is 9/11. I was 21, just kind of living the American dream, and then all of a sudden that just rocked everybody’s world,” he said. Lungren described a “put me in coach” feeling in response to the event.   

“I didn’t really know what that meant, but I think a lot of people had the same reaction. A lot of people went to the military, things like that. And mine was just a prayer, ‘Lord, I’m here for you. What do you need?'” 

A deeper commitment to prayer and daily Mass followed.  

“It gave me an eternal perspective on life. And the priesthood, people mentioned that a time or two, and I was open to it. I think my biggest fear was going back to school. I know it was,” he said.  

Eventually, he answered the call to the priesthood and entered a monastery for undergrad studies. “That’s where I really began to appreciate the intellectual disciplines of Christianity,” Lungren said. He was ordained a priest in his mid-30s after eight years of seminary.  

Today, he runs cows with his dad, helps members of his parish brand and ship whenever possible, and keeps his two horses nearby for such occasions.  

While the past six years he was an associate pastor for various parishes, he is the pastor of his current parish. “It’s kind of like going from ranch hand to ranch manager. It’s really good. I enjoy being able to make decisions and kind of be creative and move the ball forward, but there’s definitely more responsibility and administrative needs,” he said.  

“I was really able to combine my passion for ranching and my desire to do the Lord’s will and to serve as a priest and a pastor. When those two worlds converged, that’s when I really found joy and creativity and just a love for serving God and his people.”  

 Favorite Christmas memories 

When Lungren first came back from seminary but before he was ordained, he was assigned to St. Stephen’s Indian Mission Catholic Church on the Wind River Indian Reservation in northwest Wyoming.  

A “renegade horse” ran near to the church one fall season, and with help, Lungren got him caught. He worked on gentling him and breaking him to ride, and he was encouraged to have the horse broke to drive by St. Stephen’s Day on Dec. 26, a main celebration for the parish community.  

“He was really easy and just had a good gentle spirit once we got him cut,” he said.  

An old cutter sleigh was rescued and refurbished for the event. “Chief” was easily broken to drive. Christmas Eve came that year, but no snow.  

“And then Christmas Day it just snowed, a storm and a good 18 inches kind of snow. If you’ve been in Wyoming, you know what that means. The next day, beautiful blue sunshine. [On St. Stephen’s Day], it was just really beautiful and cold. So we pulled the horse out and we gave sleigh rides and everybody came and it was just really joyful and fun, just kind of a cowboy Christmas,” said Lungren. 

 Hammerich shared a favorite Christmas memory from childhood.  

“My mom, she was huge into Christmas. I mean, it was full still is to this day, full bore. She was really into collecting Santas and I mean there would be Santa Clauses all over the house from everywhere. It was like 12 days of Christmas with my mom. It was a lot of fun. 

“One of my favorite memories, and my mom still talks about it, but my little sister and I had this little roping dummy that we would keep in the house in the wintertime, and we kind of had a big, long living room and we would rope it. But anyways, Mom would set up the tree at the one end, and I don’t remember exactly how it happened, but we were in the house roping one Christmas vacation and we hooked the tree and did a significant amount of damage. And it’s funny now, it was not funny at the time, but it’s one of those memories that you laugh about and you can’t help but think about every year at this time,” he said.  

“This world that still is enveloped in darkness needs to see the light of Christ, And we become that light through Christ shining through us.”  

– Fr. Bryce Lungren 

A Christmas Message 

Christmas is a central holiday for Christians, on which they commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ.  

Hammerich shared points of faith that resonate most with him during Christmas.  

“The God of the universe that spoke the stars into existence, that knit us in our mother’s womb was willing to be dependent on other humans for his existence,” Hammerich said. “The God of the universe was submissive to a mother and father, and that is mind blowing.” 

“The biggest thing for me about Christmas is just the fact that God loved us so much that he sent his son to die for us, that we could be redeemed, that we could be made children of God again and have that relationship with our Heavenly Father back. I mean, what amazing gift that our Lord is that rich in mercy, that even while we were still sinners, he died for us. 

“I think that would be the simplest thing to say during the Christmas season is in all the gifts and all everything that we do, that we just don’t forget how big a love our God has for us. 

Lungren reflected on Christmas as bringing light to a darkened world.  

“The mystery of Christmas is the Incarnation of God. So God took on our flesh in Jesus. God taking on our flesh is bringing salvation into the darkness of our sinful world. 

“And that through our baptism and through our discipleship and following Christ, we participate in that mystery of bringing light into the darkness. I think for us, every time Christmas comes around, it’s a reminder of that and to say, ‘Okay, how am I doing there?'” 

Lungren went on, “My Christmas message to everybody is to allow the light of Christ to shine in and through you. We need to receive it, but also this world that still is enveloped in darkness needs to see the light of Christ. And we become that light through Christ shining through us,” said Lungren.  

Though chores still need to be done, water opened, and cows checked on Christmas Day, there is no better time for the agriculturalist to reflect on the creation around them, and with that; realize that there must indeed be a Creator.