Tuesday, January 28, 2020
Attention college and seminary students!
We have partnered with the United Methodist Higher Education Foundation (UMHEF) to offer the United Methodist Dollars for Scholars program. This scholarship begins with $1,000 from your local church, which is matched by UMHEF as well as participating UM-related schools and The Methodist Foundation for Arkansas for a potential award of up to $4,000.
Learn more about eligibility requirements, participating schools, and how to apply...
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Posted by
Haley Klein
at
Tuesday, January 28, 2020
Monday, January 13, 2020
Rev. Ben Crismon, Senior Pastor, FUMC, Benton, was the keynote speaker at the 2019 Bishops' Club Luncheon on Friday, November 15, 2019 at the Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock. The Bishops' Club Luncheon is an annual event hosted by the Foundation to honor our donors. Rev. Crismon's words were so heartfelt, we wanted to share them with you. Below, please find the text of his address:
"Good Morning, it is an absolute honor to be with you all...
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Posted by
Haley Klein
at
Monday, January 13, 2020
Thursday, March 28, 2019
March 26, 2019
The United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas
Statement following General Conference 2019
Greetings to the United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas family.
Following the 2019 General Conference in St. Louis, please know that the actions of General Conference have not altered the UMFA’s mission to “create and administer permanent charitable endowment funds to strengthen and expand United Methodist ministry in Arkansas.” We continue to foster...
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Posted by
Haley Klein
at
Thursday, March 28, 2019
Thursday, March 14, 2019
Posted by
Haley Klein
at
Thursday, March 14, 2019
We hope you will enjoy reading our December 2018 Legacies newsletter. Read about our new President and CEO, Rev. J. Wayne Clark on the cover. Page two highlights our new home and Wesley Chapel UM Church, Little Rock. We hope you will come by our new building for a tour anytime! Wesley Chapel UM Church recognized their college students who received scholarships through the Dollars for Scholars program. Your church could benefit your students as well.
In Foundation News, on page three, you...
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Friday, November 2, 2018
Rev. J. Wayne Clark, Associate Vice President for Development and Dean of the Chapel at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas has been named President and CEO of The United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas and will begin his new role in January 2019.
“I am excited for the opportunity to serve The United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas in this capacity,” said Clark, who has been a member of the Foundation’s Board of Directors since 2015. “Since beginning my ministry in...
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at Friday, November 2, 2018
The Board of Directors of The United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas voted to name their new headquarters building in honor of the CEO who served the organization for more than 35 years. The James B. Argue, Jr. Stewardship Center is almost ready for occupancy, and signage is going up soon. A formal dedication of the building in Argue’s memory is planned for early 2019.
“The James B. Argue, Jr. Stewardship Center perfectly reflects the focus of The United Methodist Foundation...
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The United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas partners with Wespath Investment Management, a division of the not-for-profit Wespath Benefits and Investments, an agency of the United Methodist Church, to meet the Foundation’s investment goals.
With more than $23 billion in managed client assets, Wespath is the largest reporting faith-based investor in the United States. “Their size gives them clout and a seat at the table that offers benefits that wouldn’t otherwise be...
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Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Check out the September 2018 Legacies newsletter.
Our cover story features a wonderful opportunity. It is a win-win-win! Sound too good to be true? The article explains some of the benefits of a Charitable Gift Annuity. The wins- 1. an immediate tax-deduction; 2. guaranteed, fixed income for life; and 3. at death, the remaining funds in the Charitable Gift Annuity go to support United Methodist ministry.
On page two, learn how Wespath Investment Management and UMFA partner...
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Posted by
Haley Klein
at
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
LITTLE ROCK, ARK. (Aug. 22, 2018) –The Board of Directors for the United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas is soliciting applications for the position of President and Chief Executive Officer.
The President and Chief Executive Officer, in collaboration with the Board of Directors and the staff, implements the mission of the United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas; ensures that the Foundation fulfills its fiduciary duties; provides strategic vision and leadership; promotes development...
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Posted by
Haley Klein
at
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
Three Lydia Patterson Institute (LPI) interns are working in Arkansas congregations this summer thanks to $1,500 grants to support each internship from the United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas. The interns are students or recent graduates of the college preparatory school in El Paso, Texas, supported by our South Central Jurisdiction. “Without the support of United Methodist congregations, the students who are flourishing there would be on the streets in Mexico,” said LPI...
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For the Good of All
Former United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas Board Member Joyce Peck believes the Foundation works for the good of all United Methodists in Arkansas. She cites the work they do for local churches throughout the state — like offering free information on building endowments and providing Provide and Protect estate planning workshops.
A Texas native, Joyce came to Arkansas with her late husband Cliff Peck to start an automobile dealership as the 1960s were...
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This video tribute to Jim Argue was shown during the 2018 Annual Conference of the Arkansas Conference of The United Methodist Church. Jim served as the UMFA CEO for over 37 years before his sudden passing in May 2018.
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Monday, June 25, 2018
UMFA Partners with Hendrix College to Initiate The Center for Calling and Christian Leadership
The Center for Calling and Christian Leadership at Hendrix College recently received a $137,500 grant from the United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas to create a strategic focus in cultivating the culture of God’s calling in the lives of young people for lay and clergy leadership in the Arkansas Conference. The Center will be a part of the Hendrix Miller Center for Vocation, Ethics, and...
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Posted by
Haley Klein
at
Monday, June 25, 2018
Friday, June 8, 2018
Sam Gibson of Benton, Rev. Lynn Lindsey of Little Rock, and Gary Nutter of Texarkana recently were elected to the United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas Board of Directors. The Foundation manages $164 million in endowment funds and other charitable assets that benefit local churches and United Methodist ministries.
“A major key to our success in creating endowments to benefit United Methodist ministries in Arkansas is an active, engaged board of directors,” said The Honorable...
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Posted by
Haley Klein
at
Friday, June 8, 2018
Sam Gibson, a member of First United Methodist Church, Benton, has been elected to the United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas Board of Directors. He previously served on the board from 2007-2015. The Foundation manages $164 million in endowment funds and other charitable assets that benefit local churches and United Methodist ministries.
“A major key to our success at creating endowments to benefit United Methodist ministries in Arkansas is an active, engaged board of...
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Gary Nutter, a member of First United Methodist Church, Texarkana, recently was elected to the United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas Board of Directors. The Foundation manages $164 million in endowment funds and other charitable assets that benefit local churches and United Methodist ministries.
“A major key to our success at creating endowments to benefit United Methodist ministries in Arkansas is an active, engaged board of directors,” said The Honorable Beth Deere, UMFA...
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Rev. Lynn Lindsey, a retired staff member at Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church, recently was elected to the United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas Board of Directors. The Foundation manages $164 million in endowment funds and other charitable assets that benefit local churches and United Methodist ministries.
“A major key to our success at creating endowments to benefit United Methodist ministries in Arkansas is an active, engaged board of directors,” said The Honorable...
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The board members and staff of The United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas are deeply saddened by the death May 3 of long-time President and CEO Jim Argue, Jr. after a brief illness.
“Jim’s career goes far beyond his 35-plus years of service at the helm of the United Methodist Foundation,” said Clarence Trice, Senior Vice President and CFO. “His continuing national leadership on education issues, his long-term leadership in the Arkansas General Assembly, and his local...
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Ben Queen of First United Methodist, Morrilton, wanted to honor the faith and service of his late wife Anne Crofoot Queen. What better way than to create an endowment in her name at the United Methodist Foundation that would benefit her local church forever?
Ben, an Arkansas native, moved back to his home state from Lufkin, Texas, where he was a retired oil company executive. He and his late first wife had three sons. Anne and her late first husband had been friends with Ben and his late...
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Rev. Roy Beth Kelley had a dilemma. After receiving a call to ministry, the Russellville attorney served as a local pastor for several years. Then she felt a deeper calling from God to attend United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio full time.
“I knew I couldn’t be a pastor, work at my law practice, and go to seminary full time. So I quit working at the law office, wrote a big check for my first semester of seminary, and took a leap of faith,” Roy Beth recalled....
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“We’re not grateful because we are happy, we are happy because we are grateful.” Rev. Adam Hamilton, founding pastor of The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, quoted a Benedictine monk to begin his luncheon speech November 17 at the 2017 Bishops’ Club Luncheon in Little Rock.
Rev. Hamilton spoke of cultivating a rhythm of gratitude and working to keep from slipping into a habit of lament. He gave examples of studies that have shown that...
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LITTLE ROCK, ARK. (Nov. 14, 2017) – The United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas recently made an additional $10,000 grant to the help complete the $225,000 chapel at the Ouachita River Correctional Unit in Malvern. Previously the Foundation made a $25,000 grant to the program.
“The UMFA Board of Directors are pleased to have a part in the building of the chapel,” said Jim Argue, UMFA President and CEO. “John Wesley’s dedication to prison visitation and...
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When UMFA Seminary Scholar Lynn Cross met Nathan Kilbourne at Duke Divinity School, congregations in the Arkansas Conference received a double measure of grace. In 2009, Lynn and Nathan graduated from seminary, married and began serving local churches in Arkansas.
Rev. Nathan Kilbourne previously served at Asbury UMC, Little Rock, and Vilonia UMC. He is now senior pastor at First UMC, Jacksonville. Rev. Lynn Kilbourne's ministry has taken her to First UMC, Bryant, and...
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Rev. Katie Goss Pearce glows when she talks about the legacy First UMC, Morrilton, receives from the late Lt. Gov. Nathan Gordon's endowment through the United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas.
"In the past, some thought it would have been better to have the $500,000 gift in a lump sum," said the senior pastor. "But after all these years the principal is still making money for us and we receive around $21,000 each year to support church ministries. That makes the interest...
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LITTLE ROCK, ARK. (Aug. 18, 2017) – Martha Sowell of First UMC, Little Rock, has created the Historic Arkansas Methodist Museum Endowment to support the work of the museum that displays, collects, and preserves historical materials from the Arkansas Conference.
The initial gift of $20,000 from the Sam and Martha Sowell family will be invested and annual distributions will be used for essential operations of the museum. The museum’s board of directors will determine the best use...
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LITTLE ROCK, ARK. (July 14, 2017) – Four Lydia Patterson Institute (LPI) interns are working in Arkansas congregations this summer thanks to grants from the United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas. The interns are students of the United Methodist college preparatory school in El Paso, Texas, sponsored by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church.
“We should all be proud and thankful for the UMC’s ministry at Lydia Patterson,” said Jim Argue, Jr.,...
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LITTLE ROCK, ARK. (July 14, 2017) – The Methodist Museum of the Arkansas Conference recently received a $6,275 grant for one-time capital improvements at its location in the basement of First UMC, Little Rock. The grant was made to purchase track lighting, install high definition digital monitors and facilitate proper display and storage for historic quilts.
“We are pleased to make the experience of visiting the museum better through these improvements,’ said Jim Argue,...
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LITTLE ROCK, ARK. (July 13, 2017) – A $1 million gift from John and Becki Lusk of El Dorado will fund the Lusk Training Center at the new 9,400-square-foot headquarters building of the United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas. The building will be conveniently located just off of Chenal Parkway in west Little Rock’s The Villages of Wellington development, a tranquil, wooded multi-purpose neighborhood. The building is expected to be completed in early 2019.
“God wanted me to...
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LITTLE ROCK, ARK. (April 20, 2017) – Rev. Adam Hamilton, founding pastor of The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, will be the featured speaker at the 2017 UMFA Bishops’ Club Luncheon Nov. 17. He will also lead a conversation for young pastors while in the state.
“We are excited that Adam will be joining us in November,” said Jim Argue, Jr., UMFA President and CEO. “Adam is one of the most influential leaders in the United...
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LITTLE ROCK, ARK. (May 15, 2017) – A total of 49 Arkansas students recently were named recipients of the Dollars for Scholars scholarships by the United Methodist Higher Education Foundation. For each recipient, the students’ local churches give $1,000, and the United Methodist Higher Education Foundation matches that contribution. Then the United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas gives $1,000, and the student’s selected college contributes $1,000 for a $4,000 award.
...
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LITTLE ROCK, ARK. (April 24, 2017) – The United Methodist Foundation recently awarded a $15,000 grant to Methodist Family Health (MFH) to allow youth from eight therapeutic group homes throughout Arkansas to attend the Rev. Robert Regnier Memorial Summer Camp at Camp Tanako in Hot Springs.
“This is a great partnership between three Arkansas United Methodist ministries. Methodist Family Health provides its wonderful ministry to children, Camp Tanako provides a great...
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LITTLE ROCK, ARK. (April 17, 2017) – A total of 47 pastors aged 58 plus and some of their spouses participated in a Pre-Retirement Seminar sponsored by the United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas on April 3 and 4.
“As people retire, they have many productive years left,” said Rev. Mackey Yokem, UMFA Grants Administrator who also works on leadership development ministries for the Foundation. “Our goal with the seminar was to help pastors and their spouses determine how...
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Bailey Faulkner grew up a Presbyterian and joined Pulaski Heights UMC when she married Will Faulkner in 2009. A friend told her about a job at Ozark Mission Project, and Bailey sensed immediately that OMP was a part of God's plan for her life.
Today she leads Ozark Mission Project, a United Methodist affiliated ministry that transforms lives through worship, fellowship, and hands-on mission. The United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas provided a matching grant that allowed OMP to expand...
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Tuesday, March 21, 2017
at Tuesday, March 21, 2017
A Lifetime of Serving and Giving
Brigadier General Bill Webster, USAFR, knows more about trusts and annuities than most of us will ever know. After 25 years of serving in the military, including in World War II, he led trust departments in Texas, Kentucky, founded the Trust Company of Florida and then moved to Little Rock to head the trust department at Union Bank. After a second retirement he worked for the United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas for 25 years.
So when he says...
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LITTLE ROCK, ARK. (March 17, 2016) – The United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas is announcing an anonymous gift of $25,000 from a Little Rock family to help renovate the facility at Canvas Community Church at 1111 West 7 th St., Little Rock, to house clinics for a homeless healthcare initiative led by the UAMS College of Nursing.
“The clinics will save lives,” said Rev. Carter Ferguson, Senior Pastor at Canvas Community Church. “But they also allow Canvas...
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Friday, December 9, 2016
Posted by
Katie Holley
at
Friday, December 9, 2016
Each year Rev. Jimmy and Lorraine Mosby choose to make a second mile gift to support the United Methodist Foundation and to honor the bishops of the Arkansas Conference, past and present, through their membership in the UMFA Bishops’ Club.
“I believe in the Foundation because of the good it does for the Conference. Being a Bishops’ Club Annual Member is my small way to be a part of the Foundation’s worthwhile ministries like seminary scholarships,” said Jimmy....
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“How to translate God to the world.”
That’s the lesson Rev. Dr. Michelle Morris values most from her years at Perkins School of Theology in Dallas as a United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas Seminary Scholar.
Michelle is the solo pastor of two churches in Fort Smith, Wesley UMC and Cavanaugh UMC. She loves the joy and challenge of serving two loving churches who have two different missions and histories. She also serves the larger church by teaching Course of Study for...
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Thursday, September 22, 2016
at Thursday, September 22, 2016
Thursday, September 1, 2016
LITTLE ROCK, ARK. (Aug. 26, 2016) – The United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas recently announced a total of $5,015 in grants to support the 2016 Youth Ministry Cohort and the Equip youth ministry training event Sept. 10.
“Providing accessible, affordable one-day training for youth ministry workers and making it possible for five churches to take a deep dive into a six-month youth ministry training cohort both fall in line with our United Methodist Foundation grants goals of...
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at Thursday, September 1, 2016
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Anthony A. “Tony” Hilliard, President Elect of the Arkansas Bar Association and former Chancellor of the Arkansas Conference, believes the UMFA-sponsored annual gathering of United Methodist lawyers helps Arkansas lawyers, local churches and the Conference.
“It’s free CLE to help Methodist lawyers give free legal advice to their churches and the only continuing education I know of that serves Communion,” Tony said. “I find it interesting how many attorneys...
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at Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Monday, August 8, 2016
LITTLE ROCK, ARK. (August 8, 2016) – The United Methodist Higher Education Foundation recently named 40 Arkansas students as recipients of the Dollars for Scholars scholarship. For each recipient, the students’ local churches give $1,000, and the United Methodist Higher Education Foundation matches that contribution. Then the United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas gives $1,000, and the student’s selected college contributes $1,000 for a significant $4,000 award.
“We...
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at Monday, August 8, 2016
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
LITTLE ROCK, ARK. (July 20, 2016) – The United Methodist Foundation recently awarded a $15,000 grant to Methodist Family Health (MFH) to help fund the Rev. Robert Regnier Memorial Camp hosted every year by MFH at Camp Tanako in Hot Springs.
“This is an opportunity for our kids to experience fun camp activities like their peers. Time spent in an outdoor ministry setting like Camp Tanako provides unique experiences that are valuable for the youth in our care,” said...
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at Wednesday, July 20, 2016