Bits from Beth

April 15, 2026

 

Dear Friends,

In 2018, our church averaged 137 souls in worship every week but much has changed since then. In 2018, gasoline was $2.74/gallon but today it is $3.95/gallon. If you wanted to rent a two-bedroom apartment in 2018, the national average was $1,109/month while today it is $1,698/ month. A loaf of bread was $1.97 and today it is $2.75 on average. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, prices for new cars were 22.19% higher in 2025 versus 2018 (a $3,328.64 difference in value). In the last eight years, we have experienced a worldwide pandemic that killed over seven million people.

 

Camden continues to change as well. The peak population of Camden was in 1990, when its population was 14,943. In 1990, Camden was the 1,781st largest city in the US; now it has fallen to the 3,135th largest city in the US according to Arkansas State demographics. Camden has shrunk 22.3% since the year 2000. Camden Arkansas's growth is extremely below average. 98% of similarly sized cities are growing faster since 2000. Our poverty is among the highest in Arkansas. For children under 18, the poverty rate is over 33%. For seniors over 65%, the poverty rate is 22%.

 

These are hard facts and this is our mission field. It isn’t an easy one. Yes, we have an industrial park nearby with a steady workforce but many choose to live in other communities. They send their children to schools outside of our city limits and they attend churches outside our city limits.

 

Our church has met the challenges of our mission field even though we have experienced internal challenges as well. Our trustees chose to follow all the guidelines regarding COVID. The building use may have been limited but the activities of the church are not limited to a building. The church is the people. As soon as COVID was in the background, disaffiliation began. Due to many outside influences, South Arkansas was affected more by disaffiliation than any other area of the state. Our church took an early vote and 86% of those voting said they did not wish to disaffiliate. As a result, we were able to avoid the painful experiences so many of our neighboring UM churches endured. In addition, we have had seventy-eight church member deaths since 2018 plus many of our beloved members have retired and moved away from Camden to be closer to family.

 

So we have been called to do more with less. Our leadership has done miracles in caring for our facility and making certain we have the resources to do what God continues to ask us to do. Our Food Pantry, our Preschool, and Sue’s Table continue to thrive. This week our VBS team set the dates for another great week – VBS will be June 8th – 11th. For most of those seventy-eight deaths, our bereavement team has honored the family with a lunch or reception. We cannot do all things but God has not asked us to do all things. God has asked us to feed and love our neighbors, especially the children and the vulnerable. Your faithfulness is the reason we have been able to do more with less.

 

We are grateful for all the new faces that have begun to refill our pews and we pray that God will continue to help us see opportunities for growth. Thank you to all of our volunteers, all our people who step up and teach, all of the compassionate people who care for the families of the bereaved, all the cooks, all the musicians, all the leadership, our devoted staff, and all the people who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Grace and peace,

Beth