ST. JOHN AME CHURCH, 1117 W. Pullen St., will host its 31st annual Friends and Family Pew Rally virtually at 3 p.m. Sunday. The program will honor Irene Green, Gwendolyn Cooper, Artelia Henry, Mary Lee, Ulysses Grant, Bunia Baxter, Mildred Cross (posthumously) and Vanette Johnson. The speaker will be the Rev. Artis Fletcher Sr., a member of St. John. Fletcher has been pastor of the Mt. Holly Circuit in the Camden/El Dorado District for five years. The East Arkansas Conference Women’s Missionary Society presented Fletcher with the “Mighty Man of Valor” award in 2019. He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from GMOR Theological Seminary in religious studies. He retired as an operations supervisor from Entergy and is vice president of the Optimist Club of Pine Bluff. He and his wife, Sharon Fletcher, have three children and five grandchildren. The Rev. Cecil L. Williams Jr., is the pastor of St. John. To attend the virtual service, visit www.stjohnamepinebluff.org or https://www.facebook.com/rev.cwilliams or Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83190449221 or by audio at 1-312-626-6799.
NEW COMMUNITY CHURCH, 321 N. Birch St., will host its Kingdom Building program at 6 p.m. Sunday. The speaker will be Timothy Aaron Hayes, the music minister at the church. The community is invited to attend. Also, New Community holds services at 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sundays. The pastor/apostle is Patrick Lockett.
NEW COMMUNITY CHURCH, 321 N. Birch St., will celebrate its 64th anniversary at 11 a.m. Sunday, March 6. The guest speaker will be Elijah Carpenter, pastor of New Hope Missionary Baptist Church at Watonga, Okla. The theme is “Moving On.” The community is invited to attend. New Community still practices social distancing and has masks available. Hand sanitizer stations are located at the front doors.
GRAND AVENUE METHODIST CHURCH at Stuttgart will hold the World Day of Prayer at noon Friday, March 4. St. Alban’s Episcopal Church is hosting the program prepared by the women of England, Wales and Northern Ireland and the luncheon at 12:30 p.m., a spokesman said. Everyone is invited to World Day of Prayer. The event is being held at Grand Avenue church due to renovations in progress at St. Alban’s.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
FIRST TRINITY CHURCH OF GOD IN CHRIST, 800 S. Catalpa St., will give away food in a drive-thru session from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 2. Food will be given away on a first come, first served basis until all the food is gone. All participants are encouraged to remain in their vehicles and wear masks during this event, according to a news release. The monthly community-wide distribution is in partnership with the Arkansas Food Bank. Details: First Trinity office, (870) 534-2873.
Church news is printed in The Commercial on Fridays. The deadline to submit church announcements is noon Wednesdays. Pastors, ministers or others interested in writing for the Devotional Page may also submit columns for consideration. Column writers should have connections to Southeast Arkansas. Articles should be submitted by email to shope@pbcommercial.com. Details: (870) 534-3400, ext. 5.
Rev. Artis Fletcher Sr.