Keeping the Presbytery of Arkansas informed.
July 1, 2021
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The Retirement of Rev. Susan Gray |
Going forward, we plan to use the Update to highlight pastors and their ministry upon their retirement. Today, we honor the work of Rev. Susan Gray.
Rev. Susan Gray preached her final sermon at Vaughn Presbyterian Church on Sunday, June 27, after serving there for seven and a half years. This important occasion also marked Susan's retirement from ministry. General Presbyter Stewart Smith and Rev. Joyce Daniel (pictured) who is the Committee on Ministry's liaison to the Vaughn congregation, were present to be part of the festivities.
Susan attended Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, and was ordained at First United Presbyterian Church, Fayetteville, on December 4, 2005. She was first called to Mountainburg Presbyterian Church, and served there for eight years. In the years of her ministry, she especially enjoyed preaching and pastoral care. Read more...
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Pilgrimage: Three Days for a lifetime... |
Presbyterian Pilgrimage is a purposefully designed program for supporting individual faith renewal and growth. Pilgrimage is a short course in living the Christian faith and is designed to provide a framework for living as Christians in the local church and the world. It is a three-day weekend retreat filled with short talks, music, fellowship, small group discussions and much more. To learn more, go to www.pilgrimage-arkansas.org or click here.
The next Pilgrimage weekend is scheduled for October 14-17, 2021. Register online by clicking here. To register by mail, click here and download the online form.
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We are thrilled that we have heard from so many of you in church leadership on the Presbytery Support and Resourcing Survey, but there are still a significant number of you who have not added your voices. What you say on this survey is guiding our planning for fall and into the new year and we want to hear what you think.
Please click here and take a moment to complete the survey so that we can hear your voice. Thank you.
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July 9 Retired Pastor Meeting |
Join members of the Presbytery staff on Friday, July 9 at 10:00am on the Presbytery Zoom account for a time of sharing, laughter, and reflection.
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At the writing of this Update, our 6th through 8th grade youth are at Ferncliff for a week of creating new friendships, growing in their faith, and lots of outdoor fun!
Our 9th through 12th grade youth will take to the road July 18th through 24th, destination, Montreat.
We ask that you keep all of our youth in your prayers during this time as well as the staff and leaders who will be working with them.
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Your pastor needs a vacation, but who will fill your pulpit? The Presbytery has a regularly updated list of folks willing to help you out and we hope that we've made it very easy for you to find that list. Just go to presbyark.org and scroll to the bottom of the homepage where you will find four colored blocks that say "Congregations", "Pulpit Supply List", "Calendar", and "Youth A-Team". Just click on "Learn More" in the "Pulpit Supply List" block and there you are! Or, for now, you can just click here.
By the way, it's also in the password protected "Directory" you can click on in the upper right on the homepage.
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A Conversation With An Epidemiologist |
Dr. Jennifer Dillaha, an epidemiologist of the Arkansas State Department of Health, agreed to publicly share a presentation she did at Parkhill Presbyterian regarding COVID protocols for congregations in worship--quite specifically on masking and singing. Rev. Marie Mainard O'Connell says "I know each of us is in our own context, and have made and will make future decisions to the best of our ability, but Dr. Dillaha was incredibly thorough, kind, and willing to answer any questions we had, and the conversation really helped bring some additional members on board for our own strategy. She even went so far as to tell me that she's willing to take your calls too, in case you have specific questions regarding reopening and worship during COVID."
Click here to watch the edited 23 minute presentation and contact Marie at revmariemo@gmail.com for Dr Dillaha's contact information.
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Ministry Resource Highlights |
T he Presbytery website has a whole page of Ministry Resources that are broken down into categories to make it easy for you to find just what you are looking for. The categories contain webinars, workshops, podcasts, articles, studies and more to help you in your ministry. The page is updated weekly. Click here to check it out.
Resource highlights:
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First United Presbyterian Church is seeking an office manager who is energized to proactively support Christian ministry in a Presbyterian Church context. This is a part-time hourly position, normally not to exceed 30 hours per week Monday-Friday. The hourly wage is $17. For the full position announcement please go to www.fupcfay.org/positions-open.
To apply, please send a resume with contact information for at least three references to jobsearch@fupcfay.org.
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Presbytery of Arkansas
9221 N. Rodney Parham Road
Little Rock, AR 72227
501-663-2424
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