Lakewood UMC Lent project collects books for kids at White Memorial UMC
When Rev. Roy Beth Kelley, senior pastor of Lakewood United Methodist Church, heard from her children’s ministry director, Jill Dillman, that she was planning a used book collection drive for Lent, she immediately connected the dots to the “bus stop ministry” of White Memorial United Methodist Church in Little Rock. While talking to White Memorial […]
New District Superintendent named to Northwest District
Bishop Laura Merrill has announced her intention to appoint Rev. Roy Beth Kelley as Superintendent of the Northwest District beginning July 1, 2024. Kelley is currently the senior pastor of Lakewood UMC in North Little Rock. She has served as a pastor under appointment for 13 years in various large and small settings, including Dover […]
Bishop Laura Merrill Appoints New District Superintendent
Bishop Laura Merrill has announced her intention to appoint Rev. Davida “DeeDee” M. Autry as Superintendent of the proposed South District of the Arkansas Conference beginning July 1, 2024. Autry is currently serving as executive pastor of First United Methodist Church in Fort Smith. Rev. Autry has served as full-time clergy in the Arkansas Conference […]
Methodist Foundation for Arkansas makes “One More Question” outreach grant come to fruition
Arkansas Conference of the United Methodist Church Receives “One More Question” Outreach Grant from the Methodist Foundation for Arkansas LITTLE ROCK, ARK. (February 12, 2024) – The Arkansas Conference of the United Methodist Church was notified recently of a new grant that will benefit local churches with training and micro-grants. The grant aims to deepen […]
Beacon Churches Shine Amidst Disaffiliation in the Arkansas Annual Conference
In the late summer of 2022, several Arkansas United Methodist Churches began seeing an influx of new faces for worship on Sundays and online. Most of these people were not new to United Methodism, and in many cases, they happened to live more than 30 miles away from the new churches they were visiting in […]
31 Arkansas United Methodist Churches Receive Grants to Aid Feeding, Literacy, and Healthy Family Ministries
October 24, 2023 (Little Rock, AR) — 200,000 More Reasons, an initiative of the Arkansas Conference of the United Methodist Church, recently announced that 31 local United Methodist churches received grants that will be used to benefit their local communities with feeding and literacy ministries, and building healthy families. In Ashley County, Hamburg First United Methodist […]
Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Parking
First United Methodist Bentonville has been letting the community park in its downtown Bentonville parking lot for a long time. This has been a significant benefit for people visiting because downtown Bentonville’s development and events make parking hard to find. “One day, I parked in the lot for Saturday Farmers’ Market,” shared Jeff Rickard, member […]
Transitional Year Ahead for Districts, District Superintendents, and Conference Staffing
Beginning July 1, the Arkansas Conference will be experimenting with some structural change within our districts, the work of our district superintendents, and the district offices. There will also be expansion of roles by some of the current Annual Conference staff. “In this season, we need to be prayerful, careful, and realistic stewards of our […]
Proposed Ordinands and Provisionals
The Board of Ordained Ministry for the Arkansas Conference has announced the following individuals who have been proposed as Provisionals for 2023: Alyssa Burleson Kuebler Deacon Daniel Lee Curry Deacon Joshua Earl Bland Deacon Annie Mary JoAnn McGregor Meek Elder Chad Everette Bo Hornsby Elder Abbey Lee Maynard Elder Miranda Joy Donakey Hornsby Elder The […]
Arkansas Annual Conference Ratifies 67 Churches to Leave the Denomination
Saturday, May 13, 2023, Hot Springs, AR: A Special Session of the Arkansas Annual Conference was held at the Hot Springs Convention Center earlier today with Bishop Laura Merrill presiding. This special session was called to address the following issue: The consideration of ratification of disaffiliation agreements from the Conference Board of Trustees with various […]