An Easter Message of Hope from our Transitional General Presbyter, Jim Poinsett:

But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.

Luke 24:12

In Luke’s telling of the resurrection, we read that when Peter saw the empty tomb, “he went home, amazed at what had happened.” (Luke 24:12)

That word—amazed—says a lot. It’s not just wonder or awe; it’s the stunned recognition that God has done something no one expected. Something that changes everything. Read more...

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 take part in around this meeting that you will have to click on this page to discover all of the fun!

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

Introducing Town Square Collaborative - The University of the Ozarks is dedicated to supporting rural congregations, communities and their leaders and we are excited to do this work from the geographical heart of the Presbytery of Arkansas. In 2021 the university received its first grant from the Lilly Endowment for Religion to support rural pastors in the Presbytery of Arkansas. Since then, the university has received two other grants, the first to support rural congregations in the Presbytery of Arkansas, and the most recent, to empower rural congregations throughout the region and across denominations to embrace their role as an anchor institution in their community. With this in mind, we want to introduce you to the Town Square Collaborative! The TSC will be the forward facing brand for all of our programs. We invite you to explore our website. In the coming weeks you will hear more about our offerings, some of which will be familiar to you, like REM, and others, like the Rural Ideas Conference, which will be new. We are so excited to do this work, and we look forward to a long and fruitful collaboration.

The Presbytery Nominating Committee needs your help! The committee is putting together the new Innovation and Incubation Committee, formerly Future of the Church. This nomination form has a description of the committee as well as an easy way to submit names (including yours perhaps!).



If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to a member of the committee. Our contact information is in the presbytery directory at presbyark.org. Nominations will be open until April 10 or until all positions are filled.

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. This is an event you do not want to miss!

At this workshop, experienced leaders will conduct workshops focused on integrating fun and play into ministry. This workshop will be invaluable for pastors, educators, children and youth leaders, and volunteers. Participants will gain practical tools and ideas on creativity, teamwork, and spiritual growth to implement in worship, Bible study, fellowship activities and more. Click here to learn more and register!

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. 

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 May 18 deadline! Get a group together or just bring your family. See you there!

Around the Table Initiative - Application Deadline: May 2, 2025

At the table, we celebrate and sustain life’s most meaningful moments. It’s a place where we connect with our stories, our tradition, and one another, reflecting God’s presence among us. Around the Table is a Lilly Endowment Inc.-funded initiative in the PC(USA) that nurtures Christian faith development for children and youth within their households. It provides coaching and resources to faith communities, parents, and caregivers, helping them foster intergenerational connections that nurture young people's faith and cultivate their spiritual growth in God through Jesus Christ. They offer a variety of resources, cohort learning, and guidance for church leaders to enrich faith at home that ultimately transform their communities. For more details, please contact Rev. Neema Cyrus-Franklin, Project Coordinator: neema.cyrus-franklin@pcusa.org.

Click here for more information and to register.

Sharing Faith Initiative - Austin Seminary, through a Lilly grant, is excited to officially open applications for the second Lay Preacher Cohort which begins in September 2025. We are looking for lay preachers at small mainline Christian churches to join a 1-year cohort of 15-20 peers. The cohort will meet online with one another and a preaching coach, with the goal of cultivating more faith-full preaching. Through discussion and sermon sharing, Lay Preachers gain a community of peer-coaches who can encourage and support one another.

Click here for more information and to register! Application deadline: June 1, 2025.

Learn more about the Sharing Faith initiative.

We welcome the Rev. Jim Freeman back to the Presbytery of Arkansas! As of April 1, Jim is serving as First, Batesville's pastor. Jim has spent the past 13 1/2 years as pastor of Broadmoor PC in Shreveport, Louisiana. Prior to that he served 4 congregations in Arkansas Presbytery in Pine Bluff, Little Rock, and Searcy as an installed pastor or as an interim. He was ordained at Central PC in Pine Bluff in 1990.

Jim has been married to Paulette for five years. She is one of a dozen family members to have attended the University of the Ozarks over the years. Between them, Jim and Paulette have 4 adult children and three grandchildren.

Jim received his M. Div. from Union Theological Seminary (now UPS) and his D. Min. from Columbia Seminary. His hobbies include reading and creative writing. Jim's daughter, Lindsay Freeman-McCarthy, does social media content for the Synod of the Sun. Jim and Paulette are thrilled to be in Batesville and look forward to being a part of the community.

Everyone is invited to attend the Annual Good Friday Service planned by the Arkansas Black Presbyterian Caucus. 

What:  Good Friday Service

When:  Friday, April 18, 2025 at 6:00pm

Where: Faith Presbyterian Church, 

        913 University Drive, Pine Bluff, AR

The service will include good music, fellowship and food for the body and spirit. Spread the word!

In Memoriam: Rev. Burle Dean Mattingly (1937–2025) 

“Blessed are those who die in the Lord . . . they will rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.” — Revelation 14:13

With gratitude for a life well lived, the Presbytery of Arkansas shares news of the death of Rev. Burle Dean Mattingly, who entered the Church Triumphant on April 11, 2025. A fourth-generation Presbyterian minister and proud Marine veteran, Burle was ordained by this Presbytery in 1970. Over the decades, he served several congregations including Horseshoe Bend, Mountainburg, Mena, and Norman, before being Honorably Retired in 2004.

Rev. Mattingly was known for his deep faith and genuine care for others. Those who knew him often praised his attentive and compassionate way of noticing those who stood alone in a crowd and helping them feel included—a consistent hallmark of his ministry.

Rev. Mattingly was laid to rest with military honors at Fort Smith National Cemetery. We give thanks for his witness and service, and we hold his loved ones in prayer.

The Enneagram With Suzanne Stabile - First, Ft Smith is hosting the "Enneagram Godmother" for a 2-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.

How To Plan For Emergencies In Your Church - The Insurance Board is offering an free webinar on How to Plan for Emergencies in Your Church on Apr 29, 2025 1:00PM CDT. Click here and register today!

Upcoming PRC (Practical Resources for Churches) Webinars:

• Doing Justice: Innovate Solutions Through Partnerships

Wednesday, April 23, 2025

1:00 - 2:00 PM

• The Singular They

Tuesday, May 20,

1:00 – 2:00



Going Public: How Biblical People Help Us Find Our Voice for Public Life by Jeff Cover (Outskirts Press, 2024) - What do arguments at the dinner table over religion and politics, attending school board and town council meetings, volunteering in your community and issues of church and state have in common? They are all aspects of public life. We might expect Scripture to have something to say to us about this controversial part of life, and indeed it does. But we have to dig a bit for its guidance. Turns out, all sorts of Bible characters were called by God out of private life into the challenges of public life—from slaves to prophets, from shepherds to judges, from peasant girls to beauty queens, from learned rabbis to unlettered fishermen. Most of them did not go willingly! Bible characters have much to teach us about trying to be faithful to Jesus Christ now in the world he came to love, serve and bring back into relationship with God. This book explores their adventures of faith and invites us to have some adventures of our own. Whether for personal reflection or group study, “Going Public” will get you thinking about and acting on your beliefs in new ways, giving you resources you didn’t even know you had for being a person of faith in a democracy today. Click here to learn more.