More Than Just A Meeting, An Event!

The 159th meeting of the Presbytery of Arkansas will be held in-person, at Ferncliff Camp & Conference Center on May 31st in their newly completed Evergreen Hall. But there are so many opportunities for you to connect with others around this meeting that you will have to click on this page to discover all of the opportunities!

By the way, if you have one, Ferncliff would love for you to bring one of your church's mugs to the meeting to hang on one of their "mug walls"!



Meeting Registration Deadline: Wednesday, May 21st

2025 Clergy Compensation Reports Past Due!

Don't forget that all ordained MWS members and CREs serving congregations in the Presbytery of Arkansas must get their 2025 Compensation reports turned in to Stated Clerk, Blake Brinegar, revbrinegar@gmail.com or Kim Palmer, kim@presbyark.org, by April 30th.

The Presbytery of Arkansas is partnering with Ferncliff Camp & Conference Center to host a Playology workshop on Tuesday, May 20th, from 9:30 AM until 3:30 PM at Ferncliff.

Ready to bring fresh energy, creativity, and connection to your ministry? Join us for a day of fun, faith, and formation led by Darci McKinnon and Rev. Michelle (Mike) Burcher! This workshop is packed with hands-on classes, meaningful worship, and playful theology — all designed to help your church engage every age group in new, imaginative ways.

 We will share a morning Kickoff centered around community-building, recreation theology, and connection. Then choose your adventure with classes like Creative Bible Study, Around the Table, Imaginative Worship, and Games Galore. The day will end with a creative worship service!

Whether you're a pastor, educator, youth leader, children's volunteer, or all of the above — you’ll leave with tools and ideas you can use right away. Bring a group. Build your toolbox. Rekindle joy in ministry.

Click here to learn more and register for Playology!

Registration Deadline: Friday, May 9!

The next REM (Ruling Elders in Ministry) Retreat will take place June 6-7 at the University of the Ozarks and will have 2 separate tracks. For newcomers or those who wish to refresh, we will offer our annual introduction to preaching and officiating at the Lord’s Table. Participants who complete this track will be eligible for approval by the Committee on Ministry to officiate at the table in their church of membership. 

For those who attend REM regularly, our second track will focus on modernizing your church’s decision making structure, and preaching 2.0. 

REM is offered completely free of charge and is offered through the Thriving in Rural Ministry program at the University of the Ozarks. Click here to register. If you have questions contact the Rev. Phillip Blackburn at pblackburn@ozarks.edu. 

The Synod of the Sun Presbyterian Women's (PW) Gathering is now accepting registrations!

When: July 24 - 26

Where: First United Presbyterian Church, Fayetteville.

Click here for the schedule and to register.

Rooted & Ready: A Day of Youth Ministry with Andrew Zirschky! Andrew, a Research Professor in Youth Ministry at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and Executive Director of Progressive Youth Ministry will be at Ferncliff Camp & Conference Center on Thursday, May 22 offering two classes for members of Arkansas Presbytery.

That morning at 9:45, he will offer "Show Up and Matter: How Presence Turns a Good Youth Event into a Life-Changing One". Lunch is at 12:15, then at 1:30 Andrew will offer a second workshop "Faithful Ministry in a World of Risk: Cultivating an Ecology of Safety in Ministry with Children, Youth & Young Adults". Register for one or both workshops at no cost, but you will have the option to register for lunch at Ferncliff for $10.

Click here to learn more and register for Rooted & Ready!

Registration Deadline: Friday, May 9!

Presbytery of Arkansas/Travelers Baseball Night!

Friday, May 30th, is Presbyterian night at the ballpark when the Arkansas Travelers play the San Antonio Missions at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock. Tickets are $20 per person for all ages. This includes dinner, the game, and fireworks afterwards.

As long as the temperature is above 75 degrees, the splash pad will be available at no additional cost for children in the 5th grade and younger.

Click here for more information and to register by the Friday, May 16, at 12:00 noon deadline. Get a group together, or just bring your family and we'll see you there!

Presbytery of Arkansas/Naturals Baseball Night! Wednesday, June 4, is Presbyterian night at the ballpark when the NW AR Naturals play the Wichita Wind Surge at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale.

Tickets are $9 per person for all ages. It's $1 hotdog night. If you like to make a joyful noise, join the choir on the field to sing the National Anthem. Parking is $5 per car at the ballpark.

Don't miss out on all the fun! Click here for details and to register by the Sunday, May 18 deadline! Get a group together or just bring your family. See you there!

The Presbyterian Advocacy Hour brings together committed people of faith each month to fill your solar batteries up with information and ways to act on the most pressing issues. Church members, lay leaders, pastors, mid council staff, all Presbyterians and friends are welcome! Get nourishment for your spirit and resources for advocacy!

Each month, we’ll start with spiritual grounding and then move to in-depth analysis of key issues. There will be an optional 30 minutes for smaller group networking, movement building and community building. Register here and join us every fourth Wednesday!

Faith Formation Resource Grants are now available from your Presbytery Resource Team! The purpose of these grants are to provide seed money to support Presbytery of Arkansas congregations and ministries in creatively engaging their faith community in practices of faith formation, Christian education, spiritual growth, and discipleship. 

These grants of up to $500 are to help you create a new Faith Formational program in your church or community that you otherwise would not have been able to afford to do. Look at the needs around you. Is there a need for a Grief-care or Divorce-care program in your community? Maybe you feel your church would rally around a new men's, women's, or intergenerational program or event. Maybe your church doesn't have children, but it has the man-power to sponsor a community VBS.

Pray, dream, then click here to learn more and apply for a Faith Formation Resource Grant by the June 30th deadline!

Mission Possible: 2025 - April 4th-6th, Youth from the Presbytery joined together for Mission:Possible: 2025, where they participated in hands-on service, play, worship, singing, and learning about ministries around Northwest Arkansas.

Click here to see photos and read a recap of the weekend adventure!

The Enneagram With Suzanne Stabile - First, Ft Smith is hosting the "Enneagram Godmother" for a two-day workshop weekend event! Tickets cost $50 with an optional $10 lunch add-on June 6, 2025 6pm-9pm and June 7, 2025 9am-5pm.

The workshop is part of their King Speaker Series, where they gather authors, ministers, and other interesting people to speak about their lives, experiences, and faith journeys.

Click here to register.

The Pentecost Offering, which supports children at risk, ministries with children and youth (including the Youth Triennium, which happens this July in Louisville), and the Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) program, is a way Presbyterians encourage and support our young people. Receiving this offering will help to ensure that our younger siblings in Christ begin life with a solid foundation of faith.

Online resources include minutes for mission, worship resources, children’s curriculum with activities, PowerPoint slides and social media/newsletter images for your use. There is also a short video titled “I Will Pour Out My Spirit” for use as a minute for mission in worship and other gatherings.

Prospective new worshiping community leaders are invited to attend a 1001 Discerning Missional Leadership Assessment. 1001 New Worshiping Communities is offering its Discerning Missional Leadership (DML) assessment for prospective and early-stage new worshiping community leaders (NWCs) four times this year.

DML assessments give participants vocational guidance on the possibility of starting a new worshiping community and recommend next steps for their spiritual and professional growth as they pursue that work. Sending prospective NWC leaders to a DML assures presbyteries their NWCs are led by healthy, growing leaders.

A free worship resource for difficult conversations from the Worship Design Studio. WDS and Marcia McFee offer resources and support to you in the form of free content on the Worship Design Studio website. All you have to do is create an account.

If your community is navigating the tension of differing opinions and conflicting expressions of core values, you may be struggling to find the words to articulate how we need to come together in this moment. At times, we feel a loss at what to say to bridge the divide when it seems we hold such oppositional views from our neighbors, friends, and family.

WDS created a free resource years ago called Table Talks: A Ritual for Facilitating Difficult Conversations. This collection of materials includes a full script for a worship service with communion or a love feast, depending on your context. This service was originally commissioned for a conference setting, but could certainly be undertaken in a church or a smaller group setting.