Dear FUPC Congregation:

It is our great pleasure to announce that Reverend Stewart Smith has entered into a covenant agreement with FUPC to be our Transitional Senior Pastor.  We are so excited to welcome Stewart to our church!  He will be resigning as General Presbyter of the Presbytery of Arkansas in August and begin serving as our Transitional Senior Pastor on September 1, 2024.

Stewart Smith is a lifelong Presbyterian who was born as a preacher’s kid in Charlotte, NC.  He moved to Arkansas while in the first grade and grew up in the Graham Memorial Presbyterian Church in Forrest City.  He served on one of the earliest versions of the Presbytery of Arkansas Youth Council while in High School.  He graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio, TX with a degree in accounting and became a member of First Presbyterian Church in San Antonio where he was elected a deacon.

After several years of work with Diamond Shamrock Refining and Marketing Company he experienced a call to the ministry and attended Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.  While there he did a year-long internship at the St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Lynchburg, VA and served for a year as a student co-pastor at the Youngblood Memorial Presbyterian Church in Robinson, TX. After graduation from seminary Stewart served as Associate Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Fort Smith, AR for seven years.  In 2001 he accepted a call to become pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Springdale and served there until accepting the call to become General Presbyter in October of 2015.   In the Presbytery of Arkansas, he has served on the Camps and Conferences Committee, the Christian Education Committee, the Committee on Preparation for Ministry and the Committee on Ministry.  He served as Moderator of the Presbytery in 2007 and moderated the General Council in 2008.

Stewart is married to Laura, a teacher in Rogers and they have two sons, Ryan and Alex.  Their son, Ryan, and his wife, Alana, live in Pea Ridge and are expecting their first child in October. Their son, Alex, lives in Austin, TX. In his spare time, Stewart enjoys biking, jogging, golf, skiing and watching sports year-round.

We are grateful for your support and God’s presence with us during this time!

Many blessings,
The Transitional/Interim Pastor Search Committee
Mark Power, Chair
Steve Adair
Sara Eichmann
Michelle Price
Randy Werner