INTRODUCTION & OVERVIEW

A co-op of urban ministries serving together in greater Little Rock

PV fully supports Don Williams and Keith Lape as urban missionaries through the River City Church. The larger collaborative network they work with includes eight, Christ-centered ministries. They endeavor to glorify the Lord by being faithful and effective ministers of reconciliation among people who chronically struggle with poverty and dysfunction. Their aim is to reconcile people to God and all His resources intended for human flourishing.

Ministries

  • River City Ministry (RCM) – homeless day resource center, food & clothing distribution, daily hot meal preceded by a 30 minute devotional service (Mon-Fri), Sunday meal & devotional service (provided by outside groups), housing assistance, medical care, pharmaceutical assistance, dental care, vision care, mental health services, chemical dependency assessment & rehab referral, case management, utility assistance.
  • River City Church (RCC) & Silver City Church (SCC) – providing church family and culturally connected worship within the urban poor context, disciple-making, youth tutoring, youth ministry, Christian youth camping, limited material & financial help, spiritual counseling, family enrichment, breaking down barriers of race and class, and cultivating Kingdom-covenant-community.
  • River City Church – peace-making, advocacy, spiritual covering, oversight, and investment in HopeWorks and Hand Up Housing.
  • Silver City Church – youth-mentoring ministry.
  • HopeWorks (HW) – life-skills training, vocational encouragement, adult-coaching & encouragement.
  • Hand up Housing (HUH) – high-accountability, transitional, temporary, transformational housing for men and women.
  • Elim House – long-term, residential, recovery ministry that seeks to provide a place of healing and restoration for women.
  • Internships & Apprenticeships – Raising up the next generation of Kingdom workers is woven into the fabric of our shared DNA. We, therefore, are always eager for interns and apprentices to serve and learn and grow with us for a season. The globe is now dotted with faithful and effective servants of Christ who have passed our way.

Funding

Given that each of our entities are mission efforts, all of them rely on some funding from outside sources. The four nonprofit entities are funded by a combination of individuals, churches and grants. The two churches run their basic operations largely from their own regular weekly contributions; however, to support their special initiatives, most of which are centered around ministering to disadvantaged youth, they rely on support from outside sources. Each of the five entities can address the specifics of their funding and finances accordingly.

Involvement

Download: Interest & Involvement Survey

How can I get involved? There are a number of ways. Pray, we covet your prayers. Ask, and we can give you a prayer list. Given the nature of our work, funding is always a need. So, if you are able and are so inclined, we’d gladly receive your support. There is also a shortage of manpower. There are always many opportunities for personally investing in the lives of people. It is most impactful when those investments can be regularly recurring in order to cultivate Christ-centered, transformational relationships. We find that mentoring provides a good environment for this to happen. Such opportunities are had with both youth and adult mentoring.

And, although group service projects are not the primary thrust of our ministry endeavors, they can be an important and helpful secondary support to our efforts. So, on a case-by-case basis, we can occasionally accommodate groups in a wide variety of ways.

Please let us know if you’d like to learn more about any of these opportunities.

Contact Information

Websites

River City Church Promotional Video Links

River City Church Staff & Funding

River City Church is blessed to have a team of four on our staff. None of them are funded significantly by River City Church.

  • The two evangelists, Don Williams and Keith Lape are sponsored, overseen, and supported by the Pleasant Valley Church of Christ in Little Rock.
  • Our Youth and Children’s Minister, Kyndra Thomas, is sponsored, overseen, and partially supported by the Central Church of Christ in Little Rock. The remainder of her support has to be raised each year, and is usually a combination of individuals and churches.
  • Laura Lape is our office manager, and is supported mostly by individuals. She is paid out of one of our two major accounts, the Staff Work-fund Account.
  • The Staff Work-fund Account is also used to cover some of our work-fund needs as a staff. A host of individuals, and on occasion, churches, provide the funding for this account. Some contribute regularly, others sporadically.
  • Our other major account, the Church Operations Account, is the one wherein our members’ contributions are deposited, and out of which the regular church expenses are paid for our regular ongoing operations.
  • Special Initiatives, beyond what we as a church can afford, require special funding and usually go into a dedicated account. One such on-going initiative with its own account is our Student Ministries. Given that our church is made up of a high percentage of those who are financially disadvantaged, we are not in a position to fund all the youth and children’s ministry endeavors for which we plan. We make pleas as needed, with a big push before the summer, to fund these efforts. The monies usually come from individuals.
  • Some of the churches who have been especially helpful over the years are the Pleasant Valley Church of Christ, the Levy Church of Christ, the Central Church of Christ, the Sylvan Hills Church of Christ, the Chenal Valley Church, and the Downtown Church of Christ.