Ben Thomas Surber, 84, of McKenzie, Tennessee, died January 6, 2020. He was an elder at McKenzie First Cumberland Presbyterian Church (West Tennessee Presbytery) where he had been a member for 75 years. Ben ran his family’s considerable farming interests. He served as a commissioner of Carroll County for 44 years. He was born in […]

The Reverend James A. Ryan, Jr., 69, of Mabelvale, Arkansas, died January 6, 2021, of COVID-19. Ryan, known to most as Jack, was pastor of Crossroads Cumberland Presbyterian Church (Arkansas Presbytery). A chaplain, he retired a colonel from the U.S. Army in 2011 after 30 years and two months of service. His father, who survives, […]

The Reverend Dwight Jess “Skip” Shanley, 76, associate pastor of Crossroads Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Little Rock, Arkansas (Arkansas Presbytery), died January 11, 2021, of COVID-19. Dwight was born May 8, 1944 in Rome, New York to Dwight Ralph and Alma Rosland Shanley and was raised in Hillside, New York, in the United Methodist Church. […]

1/14/2021: Janie Stamps, stated clerk of Arkansas Presbytery of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church reports the Reverend Jack Ryan, pastor, and the Reverend Dwight Shanley, associate pastor, at Crossroads Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Little Rock, Arkansas, have both recently died because of COVID-19. Several members of the congregation also have the disease. This article is incomplete. […]

Martin Luther King Jr. and the Witness of the Church by the Reverend T.J. Malinoski Beyond a peripheral understanding from television documentaries and a day off from school, I was in my teen years before I was really exposed to the life and ministry of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  My introduction came from […]

Focus Let yourself become open to God and the knowledge that comes from the Word. Ask God for a peace at this time. Read Exodus 30:22-38 New Revised Standard Version 22 Then the Lord said to Moses, 23 “Take the following fine spices: 500 shekels[a] of liquid myrrh, half as much (that is, 250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels[b] of fragrant calamus, 24 500 shekels of cassia—all […]