Bits from Beth

February 5, 2026

 

Dear Friends:

While I was enjoying mild summer weather in New Zealand, you were experiencing ice, snow, and sleet! Our Leadership made the right decision not to have church on January 25th because it was not safe to get out of your house much less to drive on the streets. Our District Superintendent, DeeDee Autry, was scheduled to preach then meet with our Leadership Team to build a profile for what this church needs in their next pastor. Her visit has been rescheduled for this Sunday, February 9th. She will be able to worship with us and attend Souper Bowl Sunday luncheon. This will also be our first Lunch and Learn of 2026. One of the things she will find helpful is our core value assessment you did two years ago in one of our early Lunch & Learns. Just in case you have forgotten those Core Values, here is a reminder:

Mission - Striving to fill the physical & spiritual needs of our community

Hospitality - Making strangers feel welcome accepted

Fellowship - joy, enthusiasm, & optimism in worship, music, & service

Love – Growing in compassion & kindness

Spiritual Growth - Prayer, stewardship, education, & service

 

Remember to let us know what soup you will be bringing Sunday so we can have labels on the walls letting people know the various kinds of soups. We will have a dessert table plus some people have said they will be bringing crackers or bread sticks. If you are new to our church, we serve the soup in small cups and people are given a tray or cup holder to use. There will be a basket for monetary donations to our Food Pantry.

 

Tate Wunnenberg, our Mission Coordinator, is developing a new text message system for our neighbors who utilize Sue’s Table and our Food Pantry. Last week, we could not serve our neighbors on Monday or Tuesday due to icy conditions. Many times this past year, the Arkansas Food Bank gave us large quantities of fresh vegetables and fruit that had to be given out quickly. We will be able to notify our neighbors that we are having an extra giveaway time, usually on Thursday afternoons. We are working with the Arkansas Food Bank on many other innovations as well. As we know more, we will pass the information on to you.

 

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent and this year Ash Wednesday is February 18th. We will have a service Wednesday evening but we may do an interactive service rather than a traditional service. We will have more information on that next week.

 

We hope for good weather this weekend! See you Sunday!

 

Grace and peace,

Beth