Offertory “Hear My Cry, O God”

Anthem “Hear My Cry, O God”

Offertory “Dear Lord and Father of Mankind”

It is with great excitement that we announce our new Youth and Young Adult Director, Brandon Bates. This is an incredible opportunity for both FSFUMC and Brandon to advance and grow our youth ministry.

Brandon born and raised in Beebe, AR, (Your Dream Hometown) and grew up being active at FUMC in Beebe. After high school he attended Hendrix College, earning a degree in History and an almost minor in Secondary Education. It was at Hendrix where he more deeply discerned his call to youth ministry, aided by being hired as the summer youth minister at Goddard UMC after his freshman year of college. Since then he has served as youth minister at various churches throughout Arkansas, while also serving in leadership as a District Youth Coordinator, the Conference Youth Coordinator, and as a delegate to Jurisdictional Conference. With God’s help and guidance, Brandon’s hope is to bring youth closer to Christ, for them to be in fellowship with one another and to be led by the Holy Spirit in service with God’s people and creation.

The funniest Bible verses to Brandon are     Acts 20:8-11 and Matthew 4:2 and in his spare time he likes to travel, enjoy a good nap, play trivia, have a good meal, attempt tennis, and laugh.

Brandon will be joining our staff on August 28^th. You can reach out and welcome Brandon at bbates@fsfumc.org.