Worship for All at Jacksonville First UMC
contributed by Melinda Shunk, Children’s Ministry Coordinator Last March, the Rev. Nathan Kilbourne shared with the ministry team at Jacksonville First UMC that he really wanted to develop more of an intergenerational worship service so that in worship the span of mature members and young members could all have their worship needs met. Stephanie Dunn […]
Art From the Heart
Beth Lenderman uses her God-given talent to support the local Wesley Foundation
contributed by Sam Pierce When Beth Lenderman was little, she drew all the time. She took painting lessons in middle school and art in high school. When she got older, she listened to a lot of negative comments and moved away from art and did other things. But about six years ago, she got back […]
UMC bishops honor, remember Rev. Dr. Felder
WASHINGTON, D.C. – United Methodist bishops are honoring and remembering the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Cain Hope Felder, a distinguished scholar and first executive director of the Black Methodist for Church Renewal (BMCR), who passed at his home in Mobile, AL on October 1, 2019. In a letter to his spouse Dr. Jewell Richardson […]
South Central Jurisdiction College of Bishops Join Texas Bishops in a Call to Address the Humanitarian Crisis Along U.S. Southern Border
For Immediate Release October 11, 2019 Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We continue to watch with increasing distress the unfolding immigration crisis taking place along our southern border. And while much of the debate centers on the states of Texas and New Mexico, the reality is that immigration policy […]
Serving an Older Congregation
Benton First's Encore Ministry Hosts Fun and Fellowship for Those 60 and Up
According to the Pew Research Center’s statistics on U.S. United Methodists, a majority of professing members are age 65 and older, but while many churches invest in their children’s and youth ministries, ministries specifically designed for adults age 60 and up are more difficult to find. First United Methodist Church Benton is trying to grow […]
The Many Paths of Discipleship
Q&A With Rev. Dr. Michelle J. Morris and Her New Book, Gospel Discipleship: 4 Pathways for Christian Disciples
Tell me about yourself: Where you’re from, where you live now, where you went to school, some of your favorite things to do when not at work, etc. Ahh, the dreaded where you’re from… most pastors pause on this one, take a deep breath, and then go through the litany of all the places we […]
Why the Church Should Talk About Mental Health
contributed by Gracie Rymel As someone who has grown up in the Church and struggles with mental illness, I can tell you that it has not always been easy to talk about. We have been taught to enter the Church doors with a smile on our face and pretend that everything is okay. It seems […]
Group Home Growth Because of Donors, Supporters
contributed by Amy Shores, Director of Pastoral Care, Methodist Family Health Methodist Family Health’s therapeutic group homes are the foundation on which the Methodist Family Health continuum of care was built. Many may be familiar with our homes around the state as our organization began in 1899 as the Arkansas Methodist Orphanage. Caring for Arkansas’s […]
What If?
I have a confession to make. At times – probably too much of the time – I feel trapped in the worst of “church world.” I guess it just goes with the territory of being a bishop, but it often seems as if all I hear is bickering about matters of human sexuality, complaints about […]
Lilly Endowment Awards Grant for Hendrix Youth Institute
Sustainability funding to allow continuation of HYI’s programs for another five years
CONWAY, Ark. (October 7, 2019) — Hendrix College has received a $231,250 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to continue the Hendrix Youth Institute (HYI). The College operates HYI, which is geared toward teens discerning a call to ministry, under the direction of the Office of the Chaplain and through a grant made by the United […]