Committee on Nominations Needs Your Input

The Committee on Nominations has begun their work for the Class of 2029 for presbytery committees and ministries. The committee counts on nominations from across the presbytery to help fill positions and ensure diverse effective representation among the 42 vacancies to be filled.

Nominations may be made using the QR code or clicking the Nominations form button below. You may also email nominations to committee chair MWS Robert Lowry at robert@WHPCLR.org and copy Kim Palmer at the presbytery office at kim@presbyark.org.

The committee especially encourages the nomination of young (21-35) and middle (36-50) adults, candidates of color, first time nominees, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community. If you or someone you know has talent and gifts to share, you are encouraged to fill out a form today, your presbytery needs you.

The Book of Order requires Leadership Training for elders every three years. More important than the requirement, however, is that Leadership Training provides an opportunity for meaningful conversations within sessions about how churches can create safe, welcoming, and transparent communities.



Our presbytery has been recommending the PRC (Practical Resources for Churches) video series of short video modules on a variety of topics. This year's list includes four new videos as well as suggestions for a number of online webinars. Click here to see the list.

Innovation & Incubation Committee Updates

If you were at the March Presbytery meeting you heard about the ways this committee wants to serve your church.  In particular they would love to invite you to step into two areas:

• New Worshipping Communities: If you have a vision for a new expression of ministry, we have the processes and resources to support you with matching grants

• Property Repurposing: The I&I committee will help you explore how your church properties can be repurposed for sustainable and revenue-generating ministry. We will guide you through a 7-step process to think differently about your assets.



If you’d like more to learn more contact scott.pontier@ministryarchitects.com to take the next steps.

Top 5 Insurance Questions For Churches, a Video. Recently, our GP, Jim Poinsett, sat down with Preston Kelso of James Greene Insurance and had a conversation about the rising cost of church insurance, and ways to address it. Basically, the discussion surrounded ways to mitigate risk, make a congregation look more attractive to an insurance company, and how to prepare for the rising cost of insurance.

This video and a helpful handout are now available for your viewing on the homepage at presbyark.org.

New Policy for Using the Presbytery Zoom Account Recent Zoom updates now place all participants in a waiting room until the account’s designated host logs in and admits them. As you can imagine, this creates significant challenges for committees and other groups using the Presbytery's account.

To address this issue, all Zoom meetings must now be scheduled through the Presbytery office.

If you need to schedule a meeting, please contact Kim at kim@presbyark.org, or ask your committee’s staff representative to schedule the meeting for you. A Zoom invitation will then be provided for you to share with your committee.

2026 Older Adult Ministry Conference sponsored by POAMN (Presbyterian Older Adult Ministry Network) will take place September 16-17 in Knoxville, TN. This annual conference will be an inspiring gathering focused on spiritual depth, resilience, and continued fruitfulness—themes that matter deeply for leaders walking alongside older adults through seasons of transition.

Mission Trip Scholarships are available from the Mission of the Church committee. These scholarships are available to applicants who are affiliated with a church or ministry of AR Presbytery/PCUSA. 

Grants for NWCs - Eligible new worshiping communities in our network are encouraged to apply for available grant funding from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which has invested funds for innovative new ministry projects for generations. Our grants team reviews applications on a rolling basis, typically four times per year.

Honduras Spring Break Mission Trip Update: Building More Than Walls

Rev. Jesse Gonzales and Leigh Woodruff, Co-Moderators of the Sub-Committee on Honduran Ministry, recently guided a mission trip to Honduras during Spring Break from March 21 to March 28. Read more to see great photos from the trip and read all about it!

Presbyterian Village is seeking a dynamic, mission-driven Director of Development to lead and grow our fundraising efforts in support of the seniors and families we serve. This key leadership role is responsible for designing and executing a comprehensive development strategy to strengthen donor relationships, increase philanthropic support, and advance our long-term sustainability. We are looking for a proven fundraising professional who is strategic, organized, relational, and passionate about making a difference. 

Up Your Hospitality Game! All over the world, we see amazing worship experiences with helpful preaching and inspirational music. And yet, more often than not, these excellent worship services are not growing!

I have worked across five different decades helping churches to respond effectively to worship guests. The times have shifted, but great hospitality has not changed much. About twenty years ago, workshops proliferated across North America training churches to welcome newcomers. Yet many of the leaders who attended those workshops are no longer in active ministry. A new generation of pastors is (as a group) remarkably clueless about how to welcome guests. It isn’t their fault: we largely stopped talking about it. They came along and missed the memos.

Here are the core components in building a hospitality system which may double a church’s retention of guests. Lay persons are perfectly capable of customizing all these components into a system appropriate to each context. Read more...

Around The Table Podcast & Discussion Guides

These discussion guides were written to help small groups review and discuss the content of each episode of Season 1 of the Around the Table Podcast. There is an introduction to the entire season and a guide for each episode. Each episode guide includes: a summary of the episode’s topic, a brief introduction to the guests, an icebreaker opening question and opening prayer, a summary of topics discussed, questions to help respond to the content, a response activity, and links to resources.

Upcoming PRC webinars you don't want to miss! Remember, PRC webinars are always available on demand once they have taken place.

• When your church experiences deep hurt: practical steps toward healing, Apr 21, 2026 01:00 PM

• When Bylaws Become Barriers, April 23, 2026, 1:00 PM



• Effective Budget Planning, May 5, 2026 2:00 PM