Here’s an innovative idea from the Arkansas Annual Conference for putting the vision statement announced last May by the United Methodist Council of Bishops and the Connectional Table to “love boldly, lead courageously and serve joyfully.”
Arkansas is hosting a social media contest from October 13 to November 7, 2025, that will award a personalized billboard to two local churches that have the most posts with the correct hashtags and that use the #FollowingLovingSharing logo for their church's profile picture, according to a press release.
The contest is open to all Arkansas United Methodist congregations and United Methodist xampus ministries within the Arkansas Conference with a Facebook account. While individuals are also encouraged to use the #FollowingLovingSharing hashtag across multiple platforms, this competition is for congregations, only using Facebook.
Thanks to the generous donation from and Mrs. Rush Harding of First UMC in Little Rock, the conference will be able to provide a billboard for the church with the most hashtags with a town population of 2,499 and below, and a billboard for the church with the most hashtags with a town population of 2,500 and above.