12A Helping for the holidays
January 6, 2012
Members of Trinity UMC Little Rock serve lunch to clients of Methodist Family Health’s Arkansas CARES program.
COURTESY PHOTOS Many United Methodist
congregations provided something special for clients of Methodist Family Health facilities this Christmas. Here are just two examples of the giſt s a congregation can give.
Christmas luncheon At Trinity UMC Little Rock’s
“Miracle Team” on Dec. 10 hosted its annual Christmas luncheon for women and children in the Arkansas CARES (Center for Addictions Research, Education and Services) program of Methodist Family Health. Children at Brady Elementary, the church’s partner in education created decorations and special placemats for the event. Aſt er enjoying a bevy of holiday
dishes and desserts, the children played with toys until Santa Claus arrived. Each child had a photo made with Santa. And before leaving, the children got to select a giſt of a hat and gloves or mittens. T ere’s a special connection
between this church and the program it helps: Trinity UMC’s Miracle Team is led by Cynthia Crone, founder of Arkansas CARES.
Bicycles for girls T e Ophelia Polk-Moore home
near Helena is another ministry of Methodist Family Health. Holly Grove UMC, a nearby congregation
with an average attendance of 14 people, provided an early Christmas giſt : On Dec. 8, they delivered nine brand-new bicycles to the home— enough for each of the residents and one for a supervising adult—and placed giſt cards for each of the girls under the Christmas tree. Some Holly Grove members
have volunteered at an orphanage in Guatemala and worked building homes in Mexico. “T is time we decided we
wanted to do something that would help others locally,” said Don Dearing, a Holly Grove member. “So we visited with [teaching parents] Jessica and Shane and asked what the needs of the group home were. T ey said the girls could really use and enjoy some bicycles. So that fi t the bill for us.” T e Holly Grove church is one
of several local groups that show generosity to the youth at the Ophelia-Polk Moore home, including First UMC Helena, West Helena UMC, Marvell UMC and several non-United Methodist organizations. Methodist Family Health
operates group homes around the state, Methodist Behavioral Hospital in Maumelle, residential treatment centers, a therapeutic foster care program, emergency shelters, therapeutic day treatment programs, community- and school-based counseling clinics, Arkansas CARES and Kaleidoscope Grief Center.
Faith Funds Spirit-filled Service
Rev. Heather Spencer Clawitter felt the spirit of God as a young adult during a church service at Bryant United Methodist Church. “In that pew I realized I wanted to spend the rest of my life working full time for God, and nothing else would do.”
Now senior pastor at Bismarck United Methodist Church, Heather left her corporate job to attend Perkins School of Teology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. While exploring ways to meet the financial demands, her mentor and then pastor Bud Reeves suggested she apply for the United Methodist Foundation Seminary Scholarship.
“I had loans from undergraduate studies at Hendrix, and the United Methodist Foundation
Seminary Scholarship enabled me to go to Perkins, take a full 12-hour course load, spend all my time on my studies and not have additional debt,” Heather said.
Initially Heather pursued Deacon’s orders to focus on teaching and pastoral care. “As an Elder in my first appointment, I’ve come to understand that preaching is a part of pastoral care, and I’ve felt the Spirit of God affirm and encourage my gifts for preaching,” Heather said. “Today I feel I am steadily becoming the woman God created me to be.”
The United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas
5300 Evergreen Drive Little Rock, Arkansas 72205 501-664-8632 Toll free 877-712-1107 Fax 501-664-6792
www.umfa.org
Holly Grove UMC members present gifts of bicycles to residents of the Methodist Family Health Ophelia Polk-Moore girls home.
Arkansas United Methodist
www.arumc.org
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