Blog

Back in the days when we had physical church directories, they were sometimes produced by Olan Mills, a chain of commercial photographers. This company produced church directories from 1932 to 2019, and families could have their family portraits taken along with the photos for the directory. One year, they used the photos of all the… Read more »

Crosses turn up in many places at FUPC. We currently use a digital directory, but for many years we had a physical directory people could keep with their phone books (remember those?). The physical directories had photos of the church on the cover, and of course the photos included the striking cross on the roof… Read more »

These button-trimmed crosses are on the wall in Knox building, in the children’s Sunday School area. Two of the crosses are the familiar Latin cross shape, and two have the pointed ends found on the Byzantine cross. Spiritual growth programs for children have been important at FUPC from the beginning. Currently, we have two Sunday… Read more »

For this Lent’s theme of “Lift High the Cross,” we have been celebrating all the crosses at FUPC. Today, Jan wore this cross-bedecked Lenten vestment — possibly for the last time. She mentioned this after the Palm Sunday sermon, clearly moved by the thought. Jan Butin, alongside her husband Phil Butin, has been pastor at… Read more »

Pastor Phil sent this photo of a fabric cross prepared for Palm Sunday in Comayagua, Honduras. Phil Butin, who came with his wife Jan as co-pastors in 2010, has been deeply involved with the Honduras mission. The Presbytery of Arkansas and the Presbytery of Honduras made a covenant in 2014, and FUPC has been involved… Read more »

Are the crosses in the FUPC walkway really crosses? That is, were they built with an intention to convey the symbol of the cross? Sometimes we may get meaning from something that was not intended to communicate that meaning. That may be the case here. However, we can clearly see here the Greek cross, repeated… Read more »

What’s the difference between a cross and a crucifix? The cross is the symbol we’ve been looking at all through Lent this year, with our theme, “Lift High the Cross.” A crucifix is the cross, with the image of Jesus suffering crucifixion. While the crucifix is often seen in Catholic Churches, it is less often… Read more »

Seeking all the crosses at FUPC, we found one on the Community bulletin board. Did you know that FUPC has eight bulletin boards in Calvin building alone? Bulletin boards used to be a primary means of sharing information, much as social media is today. People would share interesting things they had read, ask for help… Read more »

First United Presbyterian Church of Fayetteville has been active in Fayetteville since 1830. As we prepare for our 200th anniversary celebration, it can be satisfying to look back on the history of the church and community. One of the best tools is the church history book, A Light on the Hill: The Journey to Presbyterian Hill… Read more »

FUPC doesn’t always keep a cross on the altar, but there is a tradition of using the cross on the altar to mark the progress of Lent. The church history book reports that a deepening of Lenten traditions was led by Pastor Stephen Carl, who served FUPC in the 1990s. The tradition of Maundy Thursday… Read more »