JONESBORO, Ark.- With only a few programs similar to it in the state of Arkansas, CityYouth Ministries plays an important role in the Jonesboro community and in the lives of the children who attend.
Located just inside downtown Jonesboro, CityYouth Ministries, is an after-school program for underprivileged children in first through sixth grade in surrounding school districts, with the hope to soon open their doors to the kindergarten center. Through various grants, partnerships from local churches, individual donations, and more, the program is able to be offered to the children and their families at no cost, which is unlike most other programs in Northeast Arkansas as they require families to pay to attend.
From left to right: Brooklyn Givans seven-years-old (first grade) and Ca’Linda Mucherson seven-years-old (first grade) paint some pictures for the upcoming Art With Heart Fundraiser (April 11th) Photo By Shamara Pittman
Though CityYouth is an after-school program they are also a ministry, which means Jesus is at the center of everything they do. Although many in the community may think it, CityYouth is not just a community center. It’s a place where the kids are exposed daily and possibly introduced to the Gospel.
“One of my favorite things about working at CityYouth is the worship and devotion time. A lot of these kids just haven’t heard the gospel, so it’s great to see them doing that every day,” Kelsie Harris, administrative assistant said.
While at the program the kids participate in a multitude of different academic and extracurricular activities including tutoring, speech therapy, yoga, arts and crafts, outside play, worship, and many more.
“My favorite thing is art because we get to make stuff… my favorite thing was the penguin we made at Christmas,” Karter King, an eight-year-old second grader, said.
The activities are chosen based on what season it is, when the weather is warmer the kids play tennis but once it gets colder they switch to a more appropriate activity.
Kelsie Harris
“My favorite thing to do at CityYouth is to go outside, I like to talk to all of my friends,” A’miyah McCauley, an 11-year-old sixth grader, said.
No two days look the exact same, but one thing that stays consistent is the worship and deviation time at the beginning of each day. Every day, all the kids arrive by 3:30 p.m. and they immediately have dinner. Once dinner is finished everyone, group leaders included, sing two to three worship songs, then grades split off to do a small devotional lesson. At 5:30 p.m. all the kids are picked up and group leaders clean up and get ready to do it all again the next day.
One of CityYouths biggest supporters is the community. It takes about $30,000 a month to keep CityYouth up and running and they’re able to continue their ministry through the abundant community support. Not only do different community members and organizations donate money so the program is free for the children, but they also donate their time and items CityYouth might need including Lysol wipes, toilet paper, band-aids, hand soap, etc.
Hannah Caddy
“The community is our backbone, we’re so thankful to have a community that rallies together, ” Hannah Caddy, Executive Director of CityYouth, said.
Some local businesses also donate meals for the kids. Once a week Lost Pizza Co. donates multiple cheese and pepperoni pizzas and a salad for dinner. Every Thursday, since October 2023 each kid, who signs up, gets to take home a drawstring bag full of food donated and packaged by the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, and every Thursday before the bags arrive at CityYouth at least one kid asks “do we get a green bag today?”
“The food is purchased by sorority members or donated to the sorority by community partners, and then members of the sorority pack the bags on the weekends,” Tiffany Mosley, co-chair of the Empower our Families initiative at the sorority, said.
CityYouth began from an idea between several church and community leaders that believed Jonesboro could benefit from having a youth center. Since opening their doors in 1999 CityYouth has been able to impact not only the 95 kids on the roster today, but the thousands of kids who have attended in the past 25 years.
Amelia Young is a Multimedia Journalism major in the School of Media and Journalism at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. She can be reached at amelia.young1@smail.astate.edu
NOTE: Feature Photo: From left to right: Makaylee Brisco-Ellis, 7, (first grade), Audree McCray, 7, (first grade), Brooklyn Siggers, 6, (first grade), and Judah Mhoon, 7, (first grade) eating Chick-Fil-A donated by Centennial Bank. Photo by Ashtyn Kimble
JONESBORO, Ark. – On June 14, the Southern Baptist Convention voted against allowing female pastors in churches associated with the convention during their annual meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, according to a press release from the Baptist Press. They have also voted to expel three churches that have female pastors from the convention.
While female spiritual leadership is becoming more and more prevalent in churches today across several denominations and sects, it’s still relatively uncommon in Northeast Arkansas.
According to the Pew Research Center, only certain denominations allow women to be ordained, the most relevant for this area being Methodists, Church of Christ, Episcopals, Lutherans, and Presbyterians. Southern Baptists generally do not allow female preachers.
While it’s still relatively uncommon, there are a few female pastors in the area. Reverend Kelly Giese is the head pastor at the First United Methodist Church in Newport.
She’s been serving as a pastor for twenty-six years and at her current church for two years. She’s originally from Arkansas and currently living in Newport.
Reverend Kelly Giese
She was drawn to community service growing up. After she graduated from high school, she was very involved in vacation Bible school and Sunday school.
She also started working with disabled children from a group home. She worked in education for twelve years and has a master’s degree in education. A friend of the people from the group home died, and she was asked to preach at the funeral.
“I got a hold of my pastor at the time, and I said, here’s what’s going on,” Giese stated. “And that person said, you can preach this service better than I can. You know this person…From there, I just started exploring ministry.”
She described her decision to pursue ministry as a “calling.” She followed one of the usual pathways to ordination.
Her church held a conference to verify that she had been called and voted to receive her. She was assigned a mentor and decided what path she was interested in. She went through a process to become licensed which made her a local pastor.
“There’s a lot of other avenues out of there. I just happened to choose to go to seminary and then work through towards ordination after that, but there’s other pathways,” Giese said.
She attended the Duke Divinity School in North Carolina which was founded by the Methodist Church. By that point, she said, it had become fairly common for women to go to seminary and become pastors.
“I graduated from high school in 1978, and I had never met a female pastor at that point,” she said. “From that time forward…it became much more common…All of the women who went before me helped me.”
“I graduated from high school in 1978, and I had never met a female pastor at that point,” she said. “From that time forward…it became much more common…All of the women who went before me helped me.”
– Reverend Kelly Giese, Head pastor at the First United Methodist Church in Newport.
Her duties as a pastor vary from day to day. While she of course preaches and leads worship, she also has many other responsibilities.
She does a lot of community service, like visiting people in the hospital or nursing home, mentoring children, or helping with the food pantry. In the church, she helps with ordering curriculum for Sunday school, preparing for worship, and church maintenance as well as administration.
“I can’t say that that’s my job, but it’s what’s needed by the congregation…” Giese said. “I’ve caught three birds, there was a possum in the toilet, and we caught a raccoon.”
Another pastor, Reverend Annie Jones, is the rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Newport. She’s been serving there since 2021. She’s been a priest since 2020 and is originally from Iowa.
Rev. Annie Jones
Like Giese, she also experienced a “calling.” Before she was a priest, Jones was working as an elementary school teacher.
“Callings are very interesting and tricky things…I tried to ignore it, and that didn’t work out well for me,” Jones said.
She felt called to ministry since she was thirteen years old, but in college, she chose to go a different direction because, according to her, first-generation college students are generally expected to choose a “safe” path–a career that’s stable and provides a comfortable living. However, when Jones went on a trip to Eswatini, Africa (formerly Swaziland), she could no longer ignore the call.
In Eswatini, Jones was listening to several speakers, and one speaker was talking about callings. Jones felt like she couldn’t keep running from what she felt was the “internal voice of God” telling her to become a priest.
She had to do three years of seminary to become an Episcopal priest. She attended Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, California. She also did clinical pastoral education, or CPE, which is 400 hours of hands-on chaplaincy work.
Most people do their CPE in hospital settings, but Jones had the opportunity to work with San Francisco Night Ministry where she walked the San Francisco streets from ten p.m. to two a.m. ministering to anyone who needed it.
Like Giese, Jones is expected to keep up with many duties as a priest. Jones said that because churches don’t usually have a large staff, pastors and priests are expected to be a jack of all trades.
It’s relatively common for women to be pastors in the Episcopal Church. According to Jones, they started ordaining women in the 1970s. In the diocese where she came from, the percentage of ordained women was well over fifty percent.
Here in this region, the percentage is much lower. However, Jones says that it’s changing.
Jones said that what she most loves about her job is the people.
“Being able to walk with people in the hardest and the happiest times, and being permitted to be in those spaces with them,” Jones stated. “And to help hold them and support them and pray with them and be an encouragement…we see the highest of highs and the lowest of lows in ways that many family members don’t actually even see of others, and that is a huge, huge responsibility, but also one of the amazing parts of the job.”
“Being able to walk with people in the hardest and the happiest times, and being permitted to be in those spaces with them,” …
– Rev. Annie Jones, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Newport
Captain Teri Smith is another local female pastor from the Salvation Army Church in Jonesboro. She’s part of a Protestant sect called the Salvationists, who have similar beliefs to Methodists.
Captain Teri Smith
She has been working with the Salvation Army since 2010 and has been an ordained minister since 2015. She was working as a youth pastor before she was ordained.
Smith and her husband, Captain Charles, decided to pursue ministry together. In the Salvation Army, both husband and wife have to become ordained together, not just one of them. Furthermore, if a single person is ordained, they can’t marry anyone unless the other person is also ordained or in the process of becoming ordained.
To become ordained, Smith attended the Salvation Army’s training center in Atlanta, Georgia, where she studied for two years. It’s similar to a seminary, but also teaches how to run a shelter and other practical aspects of working with the Salvation Army.
As a minister, Smith is also considered one of the commanding officers of the Salvation Army’s Jonesboro region. She and her husband direct eight counties. Her duties depend on how many volunteers and employees they have at the moment.
Currently, Smith’s duties include administration, like human resources and finances, and she and her husband share the duties of preaching. She also oversees Safe From Harm, which is a child protective training program that all of the volunteers and teachers in their church have to undergo.
In addition, Smith is the director of the women’s and youth ministry program. She teaches the lessons most of the time. She also is a part of the disaster services unit; whenever and wherever there’s a disaster, Smith is deployed with a team of other officers to assist.
“There are a lot of arms. As commanding officers, we are charged to ensure that things will run smoothly and sometimes, that means we are the ones that have to head it up,” Smith said. “Other times, we hope to train someone, or help encourage others to be a part of that, and then we just oversee it, but if there is no one to fill in that duty, as I’ve had to do right now with our finances…I’m having to fill that duty.”
“There are a lot of arms. As commanding officers, we are charged to ensure that things will run smoothly and sometimes, that means we are the ones that have to head it up,” Smith said.
– Capt. Teri Smith, Salvation Army Church in Jonesboro
Additionally, as officers, Captains Teri and Charles Smith can be deployed or moved at any time. They’re currently living in Jonesboro, but if they get called to move to another region, they will have to leave. Teri is originally from Ohio.
Similar to other denominations, women ministers are very common in the Salvationist Church. In their doctrine, they believe that it’s better for married couples to be ministers together. The couple is supposed to act as a unit.
“There’s no difference between male or female in that,” Smith said. “If you feel called, that is something that the Salvation Army will pursue.”
In the 1800s, when the Salvation Army was first established, Catherine Booth, the wife of the founder, felt the call to ministry. She wrote many articles, pamphlets, and books advocating for female ministers.
However, Smith still faces much prejudice as a female minister. According to her, it’s still not widely accepted in many circles for women to be ministers. For example, it’s difficult for her to be part of ministerial alliances where there are many ministers that don’t believe women should be ministers.
“My job isn’t to make anyone feel uncomfortable,” Smith said. “If that’s where I feel God has called me, then no matter if people agree or disagree, I don’t need that affirmation…”
Smith said many people believe that women shouldn’t be pastors because theological beliefs and certain interpretations of the Bible. However, Smith believes that because there were some women in the Bible who were in positions of authority, women are permitted to be ministers.
Additionally, some people even refuse to acknowledge her authority as a commanding officer of the Salvation Army. In her experience, sometimes people will ask for the captain, and when she says that she’s a captain, they’ll ask for “the man.”
However, at the end of the day, Smith said that “our heart is to be able to help people.” Because of the nature of her work, sometimes when people come to them, it’s because they’re having the worst day of their lives. What she truly wants is to help people, and the hardest things are the occasions when she’s unable to help.
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Avery Jonesis a junior in the Department of English and Philosophy at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. She can be reached at: avery.jones@smail.astate.edu
JONESBORO, Ark. – Two churches have recently begun meeting on the Arkansas State University campus for their weekly services. First Methodist Church and Word Baptist Church have had to move out of their original buildings, but for different reasons.
First Methodist Church, formerly a part of the First United Methodist Church, now meets at the Fowler Center every Sunday morning. The children’s Sunday school service is held in the Cooper Alumni Center. Their regular Wednesday night service is resumed on September 13th in the Cooper Alumni Center.
Lead Pastor Jamar Andrews of Word Baptist Church preaches. The church meets on the campus of Arkansas State University.
Additionally, their Wednesday night youth group meetings are now held in the Wildflower Event Venue in town. Breaking Bonds Ministry also meets in town at the Southwest Church of Christ on Tuesday nights.
They were forced to leave their original building as a result of the current nationwide schism in the United Methodist Church. The Church is split over the theological issue of the legitimacy of LGBTQ+ marriage and ordination.
In July 2022, 900 members of FUMC Jonesboro voted to leave the Arkansas Conference of the United Methodist Church, almost 70% of the church. However, the conference denied their disaffiliation request.
As a result, the conference took control of the original building on 801 S. Main, and the group who wanted to disaffiliate filed a lawsuit against them. However, the Craighead County Circuit Court determined that the loyalists should get the building while the disaffiliates need to leave.
The members in favor of disaffiliation were told to leave by August 1. They’re currently still in legal dispute over the building and will continue to use the Fowler Center until further notice. Pastor John Miles has anticipated that the dispute could potentially go on for years.
“I was seventeen years at the church,” Miles said. “When that judge threw us out weeks ago, I thought we were done for. It’s just worked out so great.”
Miles had his ordination removed by the Conference and is officially no longer a part of it, even though he’s still leading the church at the Fowler Center. Even before they left, they had teams of people calling around and searching for a new temporary home. They were very happy when A-State agreed to let them use their building.
They’re currently paying $3,000 per week to rent it. However, for a large church such as theirs that receives a lot of donations, that’s much cheaper than maintaining an entire city block like the building on 801 S. Main St.
“Riceland Hall has worked out really well for us…we’re having a good time there,” Miles said. “We’re not in any hurry to rebuild. We can hold out to see what the courts decide.”
“Riceland Hall has worked out really well for us…we’re having a good time there,” Miles said. “We’re not in any hurry to rebuild. We can hold out to see what the courts decide.”
– Pastor John Miles,
Word Baptist had to move into the Student Union because they’re outgrowing their original building at 416 Calion St. They have been in that building since 2013, but felt that they needed a bigger building to continue growing.
They needed a space that was close to their original home and was big enough to house everybody, with the right facilities for children as well. They already had an established relationship with the university, too.
“We felt like in order to continue to grow in a healthy way that the Union would be a good place to help us with that,” Jamar Andrews, the pastor, stated. “And then also we just felt like not only the space would be great, it would also give us an opportunity to make connections, be in proximity for students to be able to walk over…”
They’re currently building a new church near their former one. During the construction, they’re planning to remain at the Union until they’re finished. However, if things continue to go well, they might continue meeting on the campus in some capacity.
They’re also planning to keep their original building. During construction, they’re using the building for their food pantry, children’s space, women’s worship night, counseling center, and tutoring for which they partner with Jonesboro public schools.
They also want to help start a Spanish and English bilingual church in the original building. When the construction on their new building is over, they hope to keep the original building and continue to use it.
“We want to use this facility to be a help to the community,” Andrews said. “We would love to see this become a place where students can come and be together. We’d love to use it to help train up the next generation of missionaries.”
“We want to use this facility to be a help to the community.” “We would love to see this become a place where students can come and be together. We’d love to use it to help train up the next generation of missionaries.”
– Lead Pastor Jamar Andrews, Word Baptist Church
According to Andrews, the move has been relatively smooth. They hold two services in order to fit everyone. They’ve been able to get a storage unit in the garage to hold all of the things they need for the children.
They have to get there usually around 6:30 in the morning in order to set up. The worship, media, and sound team need to set up the instruments and speakers. Additionally, unlike the Methodist church, it costs more for them to rent that space than it does to maintain their current building.
However, as Andrews said, it’s not uncommon for churches to meet in unconventional places. The space is needed and has been working out great for them. They’re not eager to move out anytime soon.
“We’ve already had an opportunity to see just the impact of being on campus. We have students and individuals from South America, North America, Asia, Africa, and Europe,” Andrews. “Out of the seven continents, five of them in one room…was really special. That’s a big part of why we decided to be there.”
Avery Jonesis a sophomore in the Department of English and Philosophy at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. She can be reached at: avery.jones@smail.astate.edu
Note: Feature photo shows members of of First Methodist Church worshipping on the campus of Arkansas State University.
JONESBORO, Ark. – On Monday, in Sacramento Cali., David Mora Rojas walked into The Church in Sacramento and killed his three daughters, Samarah Mora Gutierrez, 9, Samantha Mora Gutierrez, 10, and Samia Mora Gutierrez , 13, along with their court appointed chaperone, 59-year-old Nathaniel Kong, before killing himself.
Rojas had a restraining order at the time of the shooting, which did not allow him to see his children without supervision. Currently, no clear motive has yet been discovered or confirmed.
Earlier this year, in Colleyville, Tx., 44-year old Malik Faisal Akram, a British citizen had taken a rabbi and three other hostages at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue. Akram demanded the release of convicted terrorist Aafia Siddiqui who was being held at Carswell Air Force Base near Fort Worth. After a 10-hour long standoff, the hostages were rescued and Akram was dead.
Central Baptist Church in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Photo by Garrett Hatcher
According to an FBI database, in 2020 around 1244 cases of anti-religion hate crime incidents occurred in the United States with anti-Jewish crime having 683 incidents alone. An earlier FBI report, stated crime against places of worship have surged by 34.8% between 2014 and 2018.
With increased crime against and on the grounds of many religious institutions, people of faith have decided are deciding be more proactive by taken preventive measures. In northeast Arkansas many churches have turned to the police and specialized training for protective measures and security.
According to Patrol Sgt. Rodney Smith of Jonesboro Police Department some churches have contracted off duty officers to serve as “traffic control officers and figureheads of force” at local places of worship. Local churches such as First Baptist Church of Jonesboro, Journey, Central Baptist, First United Methodist Church, Highland Drive Nettleton Baptist Church and Southwest Church of Christ contract off-duty officers. The contracted officers are typically members of their respective congregations. JPD Police Officer Patrolman First Class Colton Brown attends Central Baptist and is one of the rotating officers for Sunday and Wednesday worship services. Smith said that Brown, along with the officers, are paid by their places of worships.
Don Blackmore, adult discipleship pastor at Central Baptist Church in Jonesboro.
Central Baptist takes their security a step further with more elements of security along with cameras and contracted officers. According Adult Discipleship Pastor Don Blackmore, the church may have up to six rotating non-paid safety teams made up of off-duty officers, former military, paramedics, doctors and civilian members of Central Baptist. Known as a safety team, the group also undergoes training by local instructors from JPD, Craighead Sheriff’s Department and Black River Technical College.
“We try and prepare them for knowing what to look for, how to respond, how to deescalate and how to manage things properly,” said Blackmore. He said that the volunteers must go through periodic training before and after becoming part of the safety team.
Central Baptist also hires the Stop the Bleed organization to train people to learn how to stop and control serious bleeding. Central Baptist volunteers undergo an extensive background checks and must fill out a questioner before being accepted for training.
Members attend service at Central Baptist Church in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Photo by Garrett Hatcher
“I don’t know if anyone takes it more seriously than we do. The safety of our congregation and making sure that we want to do everything we can to ensure a safe worship environment,” Blackmore said.
“I don’t know if anyone takes it more seriously than we do. The safety of our congregation and making sure that we want to do everything we can to ensure a safe worship environment,” Blackmore said.
– Adult Discipleship Pastor Don Blackmore, Central Baptist Church
As for how others feel about the safety team, Senior Adult Pastor Jay Jacobs stated, “I think they feel very safe also, our security team not only gets just people that come in, but also handle emergencies and when you see a team of people going to somebody’s aid, its makes us feel very secure.”
Members also feel secure and support from the volunteers while in attendance. “Generally, I think most of the members appreciate the fact there’s greeters and we always feel very supported,” said Central Baptist member and volunteer.
Fullness of Joy Ministries has a similar system when it comes to their security as they also have a volunteer training program. The volunteers are instructed and trained by a local police officer on what to look for and how to handle certain situations.
According to Pastor Adrian Rodgers the security volunteers are allowed to conceal and carry firearms. However, volunteers must undergo a background check and have a valid gun permit if they wish to conceal and carry at Fullness of Joy Ministries.
“I think it’s sad that we’re in the place now where we have to have them, but I do understand that we are in the place where we have to have them, but I certainly do think it’s sad,” said Rodgers. “I certainly wish that we did not have them.”
Religious institutions may have varying ways of defending and securing the safety of their members and institutions from manmade threats, but they all do pray for a day they won’t have to anymore.
Note: Featured Photo shows JPD Patrolman First Class Colton Brown standing watch at Central Baptist Church in during worship service. Photo by Garrett Hatcher
JONESBORO – Zachary Stephen Williams, commonly known as Zack Williams, treated fans to songs from his latest album ‘Rescue Story‘ at the First National Bank Arena, Jonesboro on Oct. 24.
Excited fans started flocking the venue as early as 5 p.m. Fans stood in the isles to get a glimpse of the rock star in the pact arena.
One of the event organizers, Mitchell Cole of By His Grace Entertainment, said his job was to bring the locals and the lost community to attend the concert.
“We are 80 tickets short of selling out there were 2,300 available, so, over 2,000 sold. We want to bring the community together to know there is a personal Savior out there and he could be even here tonight,” Cole said.
Micah, who is a strong fan of Williams’ music said she bought her ticket a month earlier and was just waiting for the day of the concert. She said she started listening to Williams songs a year ago and the songs have a positive influence in her life.
“I haven’t heard any of William’s music that I don’t like. My favorite right now is ‘Rescue story’; it’s on repeat all the time,” she said.
Micah said she was excited to watch Williams perform the ‘Rescue Story’ live. Her mother and daughter accompanied her to the concert.
Williams’ branded merchandise, which included T-shirts and all his albums saw a large volume in sales at the merchandise tables near the entrance as fans flooded each table trying to buy something.
While fans settled in the concert hall, Chef Paul Fields prepared food for the rock star and his team of 50 VIPs. Fields travels with the Zack William’s crew wherever the crew goes. The menu consisted of smoked pork ribs, barbecue beef, grilled chicken, potatoes, vegetables and salad. Fields said there are always four shows a week; every night in a different city.
“Williams likes to nibble on the ribs,” he said. Fields specializes in smoked ribs.
The concert hall burst into cheers when Williams hit the stage. Williams is an Arkansas Native, grew up in Bono although he now lives in Nashville, Tennessee with his wife and children.
Williams said he was terrified when he first signed his first record label because of fear from a constant reminder of his past.
He said he had this idea of the song he wanted to sing, a song that would put a face on fear and that’s how his hit song; ‘Fear is a liar’ was born.
His other hits included ‘Chain Breaker‘ and ‘Rescue Story‘, which he launched this year and is on tour to promote.
“I was the kind of guy you would shut your stores when you saw coming,” Williams said.
He struggled with alcohol and drug addiction. He said he is now a changed man.
Several policemen at every corner of the arena offered tight security during the concert.
Jim Brown, the director of the First National Bank Arena said, “We take security very serious for all our events and this is one of those events.”
They did not allow bags of any kind into the concert hall.
He said the University employs different security techniques for different shows depending on what’s going on with the elements of the show.
“I think we will be fine,” Brown said. “We have several events coming; the women’s basketball is still on, the Globetrotters are coming in February, we just announced a Broadway play for kids called the ’12th Night’ is coming, and Acoustic Rock Show is coming in February 4 as well.”
“Tonight, we could have a senior in high school come to the concert and say, ‘I like what Arkansas State has to offer; I want to make that the university I go to.'”
Williams closed the show but not without singing his hit song ‘Chain Breaker’ as the crowd applauded and sang along.
“The concert was fabulous,” David Specking, a fan at the concert said. “I could not wait; I bought the tickets the first time I heard Williams was coming to Jonesboro. I wanted to hear him sing the ‘Chain Breaker’ live.” His wife Ginger helped him ride his wheelchair as they leave the concert venue.
Williams said he never imagined playing music at the Convocation Center. He said it was good to come home and see the faces he hasn’t seen in many years. He has an extensive tour schedule to promote his new album “Rescue Story”. His next stop to perform was Austin, Texas.
JONESBORO – In a fully packed Wesley Hall at the First United Methodist Church in Jonesboro, Dare To Be ministry held its first conference in Jonesboro on Oct. 3. Multi-Dove and Grammy Award winner Natalie Grant and author and Pastor Charlotte Gambil founded the ministry which seeks to empower women of all ages.
Shirts are displayed while on sale during the Dare To Be ministry concert.
Grant performed at the sold-out event and it was the first time for Gambil, who lives and pastors the Life Church in England, United Kingdom, to visit this part of the United States of America.
Gambil, together with Grant, started the ministry to empower women and to help them reach their potential and be whom God has called them to be. They do so through the ministry of music and preaching. “In the eye of the storm, there is calmness,” Gambil said.
Compassion International, a humanitarian organization helping needy children from developing countries, organized the concert. The theme of the event was “Speak to the Storm”.
Gambil gave a story of Eliezer, a 4-year-old Rwandese boy now a grown man in his 20s and a member of her church in England, whose parents and grandparents were slain by rebels during the Rwandan genocide at his watch.
Profile packets of children seeking sponsors are on display during the Dare To Be ministry concert.
Eliezer’s mother asked him to climb a tree and keep silent should the rebels come to attack his family. When rebels finally did, Eliezer climbed the tree and observed as both his parents and grandparents were hacked to death by machetes. He did not say a word and hid on the tree for two days. When he finally came down, he walked to the street; someone saw he was a child walking alone and took him to Compassion International, where Eliezer was adopted.
That story inspired Gambil. Gambil said she saw in her storm; she was able to help someone else in their storm. Gambil’s storm was lack of a child. She struggled with infertility. When she realized the possibility of adopting a child through Compassion, she saw a way to saw a seed for a miracle she was asking God for, so she became a sponsor.
Grant implored the audience during the concert to support Compassion International by contributing $38 a month to sponsor a child. Profiles of children from several countries laid out in a packet on a table at the entrance, which she asked the volunteers to distribute to those who raised their hands.
“If you take a packet, this is a no-pressure deal. We just want to make you aware and invite you to be a part of it, but we don’t want to strong-arm you into it or anything,” Grant said. “So, if you take a packet and you are like, ‘you know what, I just don’t think I can do this right now,’ we just need the packet back. This is why, every packet represents a real-life, so if you accidentally take it home or slip it in your bag and it gets lost, it takes months for that child on the packet to go through the system and get back on the packet, to have an opportunity to get sponsored again,” Grant said.
Volunteers passed packets; some people in the audience wrote checks.
The lead organizer from Compassion International at the Jonesboro Concert, Rachel Knoop 25-years-old, from Minnesota, said, her organization is in partnership with the Dare To Be ministry to help reach out and support less fortunate children in the developing countries.
Rachel said Compassion International was founded in 1952 by Everette Swanson, a preacher who traveled to South Korea to preach the gospel to the Army troops during the war. In his travels, Swanson encountered children orphaned by war and started the organization to raise funds to help the children with a little money every month to survive on.
Rachel said she has worked for the organization for some time.
“We are in 25 countries; recently, I was in Tanzania, Africa. I have also been to the Dominican Republic,” she said.
She said the organization is taking a holistic approach to eradicating poverty, providing clean water, nutrition for kids and their families, education and catering for the health costs.
“Compassion International is releasing children from poverty in Jesus’s name,” she said.
Rachel said the organization works with the local churches to recruit children to the program. Before, they used to hire a local staff member to do the recruiting. She said the local staff knew which children are most vulnerable. Now, it’s open and children can apply directly at compasion.com. She said they must meet critical poverty guideline, which is living on a $1.25 or less per day.
Rachel said they take in children from birth and the sponsors stay with them until they graduate out of the program at ages 18 to 22.
Once a child gets connected to a sponsor, they write each other letters back and forth. They get to know each other.
Sheila Hinson, a volunteer at the organization, handling a table where an array of profiles of children were spread out, said she has sponsored a child for the past 12 years.
Hinson started sponsoring Martha Wanjiru from Kenya when Wanjiru was only 6-years-old. She said when she picked Wanjiru’s packet, she was the only child left on the waiting list who had not found a sponsor. She said every month she spends $38 on Wanjiru and has done so for the past 12 years.
She said Wanjiru talks a lot about education. She said she hopes she can help make her dream come true and is in a place where she hears about Jesus.
Wanjiru is now 18 years old and pursuing a career in nursing. Smiling broadly, Sheila said she was also in the medical field for a long time. She sends her birthday cards and Wanjiru writes to her at least four to five times a year.
Erick Bush, 52, from Memphis, another Compassion International volunteer at the event. Bush said the organization sponsors children from South and Central America, Asia and Africa. He said to sponsor a child you pick out a packet, on the package are a photo of the child, information about the child, the child’s specific needs, their birth date and the community from where the child originates. There is a place for the sponsor to include their name and their credit card numbers. He says anyone interested can go online on Compassion.com, fill out their information and become a sponsor.
Bush is sponsoring two children from Ecuador. This is his eighth year since he started sponsoring them and plans to continue until they are out of the program. Bush sponsors the children providing food, shelter and medical services. He said he is sponsoring the children as an overflow of gratitude to Jesus Christ for the grace. When he is not volunteering for compassion International, he runs a restaurant in Memphis.
Knoop said a graduate of the program, Jonathan Almonte, ran for a political office in the Dominican Republic. Almonte is also a founder of a ministry that provides leadership training to local churches in the Dominican Republic.
Faith Benson from Nashville, Tennessee, the merchandise manager for “Dare To Be” oversaw the sales team selling branded T-shirts, jackets that read, ‘Peace is Power,’ necklaces that read, ‘Faith over Fear’ and devotional books authored by Gambil and Grant.
Benson said every night in the course of the tour, they have an honoree moment, where women at the previous event give offerings which they use to bless a woman at the next concert. Volunteers passed baskets around in the concert hall and people made their offerings.
The Jonesboro event honored Tiffney Turner, a breast cancer survivor who has recovered from drug problems and is helping men and women who have drug problems beat the addiction through her ‘Breaking Bonds’ Ministry, was the Honoree. She received flowers, a black handbag made by women fighting addiction, and a two-day paid vacation at a hotel so she could celebrate her wedding anniversary, which fell on that same day and a 15-seater van to help transport the men and women in her ministry.
Gambil closed the event with a call on the audience to come forward and receive Christ Jesus, as Grant led the audience in a chorus of the song: ‘Whom you say I am,’ by Hillsong Worship.
The duo, together with their crew, headed to Dallas, Texas, for their “Dare To Be” performance the following day and after that to San Antonio, Texas.
POCAHONTAS, Ark. – For the first time in the history, the Randolph County Courthouse lawn was the venue of a three-day Christian revival, which ran Sept. 16- 18, 2019.
The Northside Freewill Baptist Church organized the multi-day gathering that attracted more than 150 people. It was the first attempt by event organizers to reach out to the community and lawmakers through their ‘Bringing America Back to God’ revival.
Pastor Jerald Dean, whose church organized the event said, “Members of Congress are not doing what is right. They do not pray before making decisions. They are enacting laws that do not represent the will of God but to please the electorate for the sake of votes.”
Quoting George Washington’s farewell address to the nation and founding father Patrick Henry, Dean said, “Let no one claim trick you of American patriotism if they attempt to remove religion from politics. Patrick Henry said, it could not be emphasized too strongly or too often, that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians, not on religion but by the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Dean said Christians in America are facing persecution for preaching what they believe and are in fear that lawmakers will label them as teaching hate crime. “America was a country founded under God and lawmakers must come back to the Church to seek guidance to save America,” he emphasized.
Dean said America should base the foundation of the nation on the word of God because when the pilgrims came to America, they came for religious freedom- to serve God freely. He said they (Christians) are still able to do so; however, there is still much persecution against them. “When they teach and preach the word of God as it says from the pulpit, the lawmakers turn around and blame them for preaching hate crime,” he said.
Joy Swift, the lead organizer of the event and a member of the Northside Freewill Baptist church, said the Republicans and Democrats are not working together for the good of the people but witch-hunting on each other. She said there is a falling away in the church and there is no outpouring of the spirit. Swift said no one stepped forward to get saved during the three-day event. She said Christians are facing persecution; they cannot preach against what the Bible says is sinful.
“If the Bible says it’s a sin, it’s a sin; homosexuality, fornication and adultery are sins. Christians have abandoned Christian values,” she said.
Pocahontas resident Missy Philips, an attendee at the event, said everyone needs to come together as one under God, and it’s unfortunate that even schools no longer teach children the old bible stories and from where humans came.
Her husband Ricky Philips said all churches are dwindling; there is a big falling away, there aren’t many young people to replace the old generation that is dying because no one is teaching the young people about God in their homes anymore.
One of the guest speakers Pastor Terry Miller of the Assembly of God church in Pocahontas said, “America is one generation away from being a Godless society, which is the leading cause of violence.” Miller said that unless there is a spiritual awakening, America is slipping into a wave of darkness.
The County Judge David Jansen said he had tried to put up the Ten Commandments at the courthouse but faced opposition. He said lawyers argued that placing the Ten Commandments at the county courthouse would appear as mixing the state with religion. It would also bring controversy where other faiths including the Satanist, would want to put up their statues in the same place, as was the case in Oklahoma where Satanists requested to place their figures next to the Ten Commandments at the State Capitol.
Referring to Thomas Jefferson’s address to the Baptist, Dean said, the first amendment created the wall of separation between church and state, but that wall is a one-directional wall, keeping the government from running a church but making sure that Christian principles will always stay in government.
By giving the go-ahead to the Northside Freewill Baptist Church to hold an event at the courthouse lawn at no cost, Jansen said he might have given every religion and non- religious groups a pass at utilizing the county lawn for their gatherings. He said that though his personal beliefs may conflict, such as deciding not to preside over marriages because his belief does not allow him to preside over same-sex marriages, he is still a public servant and can not discriminate against any faith that decides to use the county lawn.
However, the Mayor of Pocahontas Kevin Sutton was quick to add that the lawn was open for everything positive. Sutton said the event was a great thing for Pocahontas.
Jansen said the County holds prayer meetings quarterly at the courthouse and there was a prayer meeting scheduled for September 26 that would take place at the lawn. He said it would be the first prayer meeting that he has missed because of prior commitments.
Dean said that the revival was non-denominational and others such as Pastor Aaron Winfrey of O’Kean Freewill Baptist Church and Pastor Dewayne Smith, the Regional Overseer of Assembly of God Church also preached during the last two days of the event respectively.
Dean said they were not planning to hold the revival in any other venue anytime soon. Swift said they wished other pastors would hold a similar revival in their counties; she hoped to make the revival an annual event.
Editor’s Note: Featured photo shows crowd attending three-day Christian revival on the lawn of the Randolph County Courthouse. Photo by Christine Miyawa
POCAHONTAS, Ark. — A new priest is leading parishioners of the local Roman Catholic Church through Lent this year.
The Rev. Mariadas Vallapaneni said the congregation of St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church reflects deeply on its faith during Lent in preparation for Easter. Preparation includes reciting the rosary as the faithful observe the Way of the Cross. It also includes not eating meat every Friday for seven weeks following Ash Wednesday to Good Friday just before Easter. This year’s Lent period continues through April 20.
Vallapaneni has served in the parish for more than a year after spending time as associate pastor at Jonesboro’s Blessed Sacrament Church. He served in India before Bishop Prakasam posted him to the United States for 10 years under the request of Bishop Anthony Basil Taylor of the Diocese of Little Rock.
Fr. Mariadas Vallapaneni (photo by Christine Miyawa)
Born in Sidda ya palm, India, Vallapaneni grew up among nearly 150 families of mostly farmers. He said the villagers, who number close to 1,000 residents, do not allow any churches apart from Catholics to occupy the area.
“Growing up, I struggled with learning,” Vallapaneni said. “I strongly believed that God called me to service. I was a dull student; I struggled to study. One day my teacher encouraged me to pray, and when I started to pray more and more, I got better and did better than other students. Then I started cooperating more with God. I felt that God was calling me to the priesthood. I went to different seminaries, but the main was Hyderabad in India.”
Vallapaneni said he was happy to serve the church in the United States.
“I like being here; this is the top-most country,” he said. “I like the different atmosphere. I like working with different people. I want to do something new; I want to help the parishioners.”
When he arrived in 2015, he found it difficult to eat American food — he said it took five months to get used to it. Vallapaneni said he was lucky because the parish he served in Jonesboro as an associate pastor had a chief pastor of Indian origin who made Indian food.
However, his greatest struggle is knowing what to do.
“I have to stick to myself because I do not know the rules,” Vallapaneni said. “In India, I know if I do something it’s right or wrong; here, I don’t. I always feel my home place is the best place. Being an alien, you are not free; you don’t know something, you feel like you are outside. However, when I am in the parish, I feel good. People here love me. They understand that we sacrifice everything to come here — we leave family and friends — so they are good and friendly to me.”
Although his church in India does things a little differently, he does not want to make many changes to this church because the congregation is used to what they have.
“Coming from a different background is not easy for me to implement new things,” he said.
Vallapaneni added one mass at 12:15 p.m. on Thursdays so parishioners on lunch break can come to pray. He said people are cooperating with him and although his way of thinking may be different, he must fit in the local culture because he is the one coming into their community.
Jason Liebnaber, who has attended the church since childhood, was at the church reciting the rosary with other faithful observing the Way of the Cross — a prayer commemorating every tribulation Jesus went through right before Easter.
“I don’t know Father Vallapaneni well, but he’s nice,” Liebnaber said. “He’s doing pretty good with Lent schedules and lots of Station of the Cross. They are having it here in the church every Friday for the children and the school, and again in the evenings for the community. I have not seen any major changes implemented yet, but we love our new priest.”
A lifetime member of St. Paul’s, Karen James said it’s sometimes hard to hear what Vallapaneni says due to his accent, but she finds the sermons lively. She and her husband moved back to Arkansas recently. She said she missed going to church for sometime when she was in Texas. She said negative rhetoric about the church on social media has affected the younger generation of congregants most, including her sister, Sue, whom she said is doing a lot of internet research and is currently torn over which church to attend.
“Sue used to be a staunch Catholic,” she said. “We both were but now she goes back and forth, she is not decided. Sometimes she tries other churches. I’m older and I think we, the older generation, are pretty much settled in our ways. Before we didn’t hear of such scandals and now it’s all over, things have really changed.”
Liebnaber discussed the scandals over sexual misconduct by Catholic priests.
“These scandals have happened over the decades, and they go in circles,” he said. “They affect some people and it’s sad. The priests need to learn better standards of morality.”
Vallapaneni said Pocahontas has a majority of Catholics — about 400 families — so he is not worried about declining membership even with the scandals in other Catholic parishes.
“First, all those priests who were involved in these scandals are dead and the recent ones do not belong to our diocese,” he said. “Secondly, people need to pray and then see the priests who are culprits in the context of family, as if this was your brother or child or relative.”
Vallapaneni noted the diocese had held conferences to reach out to the community and find healing from the scandals.
JONESBORO — Church bells ring every 15 minutes from the bell tower at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. During the Easter season, the church bells and purple decorations provide an important aspect of worship.
Members of the congregation gathered to prepare the church for a tradition practiced on the first day of Holy Week, Palm Sunday. Each member of the congregation wore a palm cross made by members of the congregation to acknowledge the first day of the sacred week.
“Our church is rich in pomp and circumstance,” church historian Janice Kroeter said. “We are a church full of tradition.”
The Rev. Hannah Hooker learns to make palm crosses with members of her congregation. Hooker has led the congregation for less than a year. (photo by Destini Lattimore)
The church services at St. Mark’s began in 1894. The Rev. C.H. Lockwood organized the congregation and started a mission in 1895. Rev. Hannah Hooker, a North Little Rock native, came to St. Mark’s in July 2016 after completing seminary in Virginia. She grew up Episcopalian.
“My dad was Episcopalian and so was his mother,” Hooker said.
When assigned to the St. Mark’s congregation, however, Hooker was only supposed to work as a curate, an assistant to the current priest.
“To everyone’s shock and surprise, the rector ended up leaving right after I got here. I was supposed to be an intern and now I’m the only priest here,” Hooker said.
Hooker said the most challenging thing she’s faced as priest at St. Mark’s was being placed into a congregation with such a long history.
However, the young priest said the most rewarding part of her time at the congregation has been the moments she’s been able to share with the members. Hooker acknowledged the time they were spending making palm crosses as one of those invaluable moments.
“Things like this are rewarding,” Hooker said. “I love gathering with my folks and just being a part of the church.”
A few characteristics set St. Mark’s Episcopal Church apart from many other congregations and denominations. A branch of the Catholic church, Episcopalian churches have some similarities to the Catholic faith. Yet key differences exist in the way they view communion and the leaders in the church.
The church doubles as a day school. During the week, children attend classes at St. Mark’s. On Wednesdays, Hooker holds chapel with the children. Another important feature of the church is its community service. Every Saturday, teams of church members take turns cooking and serving meals to anyone who is hungry.
“We are very giving,” Children’s Minister Rose Mary Latanich said. “Our church is very community-oriented.”
One of the most important features that differentiate the Episcopalian faith from other faiths is their views on the LGBTQ community and same-sex marriages.
“If you want a place that is accepting, where you can feel the word of God and the presence of Christ in the worship, then St. Mark’s is the place,” said St. Mark’s member Lyse Cater, who has been a member since 1961. “No matter your race, creed or whatever, you will be welcomed here.”
In the early 2000s, the Episcopal church published a service to use for the same-sex blessings, to which they were referred at the time since same-sex marriages were not legal yet. Once the marriages were made legal, the priests were authorized to perform same-sex unions, as well.
“It’s been tricky because not too many churches do them and it’s even trickier in a place like Jonesboro,” Hooker said.
Because the decision to perform these unions is sometimes on a church-by-church basis, St. Mark’s has received a reputation as the only congregation who performs the unions.
There is also another catch to the unions. Priests are supposed to marry same-sex couples within their congregation. So, those who wish to be married must be members of the congregation first.
“We encourage weddings to be done with your church family,” Hooker said. “I am technically only approved to perform ceremonies for members of my church.”
She makes exceptions for people who are willing to do premarital counseling with her.
“We try to be as helpful as we can to people who don’t have anywhere else to go,” she said.
As far as membership, Hooker said she wants the LGBTQ community to know they can find a church home at St. Mark’s.
“Give us a shot. Come on by. We would love to worship with you,” she said.
Members of the congregation gather together to prepare a meal for anyone in need. The church provides free meals every Saturday to the public. (photo by Destini Lattimore)
St. Mark’s member, Donald Mankin said he has always felt the love and acceptance of those around him. Mankin became a member of the congregation in 2012.
“Everybody has been very friendly. Everybody seems to get along. Everybody’s welcome. We don’t look down on people,” Mankin said.
St. Mark’s holds services every Sunday at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. and Wednesday at 6:15 p.m.
Delta Digital News Service 