Dear Central Family:

As we have entered the late summer and fall season, the activity level at the church campus is picking up.  Junior high students are meeting on Wednesday nights.  Senior high students are meeting on Sunday nights.  KidsLife (3^rd-6^th graders) are also meeting on Wednesday nights.  Central Children’s Academy pre-school, which resumed in August, is going well.  We even have a few adult classes meeting on campus as well.  Of course, much of church life remains digital and is conducted through Zoom meetings.  So far, all the protocols and guidelines put into place by our Board of Trustees seem to be working very well.  Our highest priority is maintaining safety for everyone who comes to church. 

Worship services have been underway since early August and we cannot begin to express the joy we have at seeing people sitting in the pews and chairs of our worship venues again.  Today, we are excited to share some upcoming changes with you regarding in-person worship and a few other brief updates. 

Worship Schedule Change.  Beginning Sunday, October 4, we will be shifting the Contemporary Service from 10:45 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.  So, our worship schedule will look like this:

In-Person Worship

9:30 a.m. Contemporary Worship (Activities Center)

10:45 a.m. Classic Worship (Sanctuary)

Online reservations required to attend in-person worship

 

Online Worship

9:30 a.m. Contemporary Worship (Central website and Facebook page)

10:45 a.m. Contemporary Worship (Central website)

10:45 Classic Worship – live-stream (Central website and Facebook page)

 

Nursery.  Also, beginning on October 4, we will resume offering childcare for children age Pre-K and younger during Sunday morning worship services on the first floor of the Student Ministries Building.  An option will be included with online worship registration to reserve a spot for your child(ren).  COVID protocols will be in place, so please allow a little extra time for drop-off.  We encourage those coming to 9:30 contemporary worship to drop off your children around 9:15 and to pick them up between 10:15-10:30 immediately following the service.  Those attending the 10:45 classic service should drop off around 10:30 and may pick up your children immediately after the service.  We appreciate your help and flexibility in the process as we seek to put safety first. 

Worship Seating.  When we resumed worship in early August, we were limited to a cap of 50 people for worship services by Arkansas UMC Conference guidelines.  We are pleased to report that this cap has been lifted and that we are now only restricted by a room capacity that allows 36-square feet for each person or household unit.  This will allow us to seat approximately 150 people in both the Activities Center and Sanctuary.  All COVID protocols remain in place including the requirement to wear a mask.

Genesis Church.  Our Genesis Campus will resume meetings of Celebrate Recovery on Wednesday, September 30.  In the near future, we also expect to share details about resumption of in-person worship at Genesis Church resuming in October.  And, in case you have not seen it Genesis Church worship is now on TV each Sunday morning on KXNW channel 34 and channel 14 with Cox Cable. 

Christmas Eve.  We recognize how important our Christmas Eve services are in the life of our church family and in the Fayetteville community.  Please know that we are working diligently on preparing both in-person and online experiences that will be very meaningful and provide ample options.  We will announce further details on this later in the fall.   

Giving.  Your support for the missions and ministries of Central continues to humble us and we want to express our gratitude to each of you who are doing so much to help us through these challenging times.  The year-to-date giving is on a historical record pace which is allowing us to maintain our ministries, mission partnerships both locally and internationally, our operational requirements, and our staffing levels.  Thank you Central!

Serving Christ with you,

Dr. Jan Davis
Senior Pastor 

Dr. Steve Pulliam
Executive Pastor

Brian Swain
Executive Director