HISTORY - 2022 Salem Camp Meeting - 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM each night July 31 - August 4

1647 Salem Road, Benton, Arkansas 72019

Videos of the 2022 camp meetings are online. Links in the Guest Preachers section of this page may be broken due to Facebook changes . Have you seen our current web page?

We welcome everyone to join with us to worship God and carry on the tradition of many generations of Christians who have gathered together every year for camp meeting. You are invited to attend our old-fashioned church services under the historic open-air arbor (tabernacle).

arbor

View Larger Map and get directions

The Salem Campground is about 4 miles north of Benton, Arkansas. We no longer camp out for a week or two in tents or cabins, and we only have one service in the evening instead of three or four meetings throughout the day, but we still enjoy worshiping God and celebrating the tradition and memories of camp meeting.

The open arbor (tabernacle) where camp meetings are held is a tangible and functional reminder of the days when people actually camped for a couple of weeks in the fall after the crops were harvested. Although the arbor is owned by the Salem United Methodist Church, we hope that everyone will feel welcome to come to camp meeting and worship God as a community the way our forefathers did. We still need and desire to experience God's forgiveness and life-changing power.

The congregation will sing the old hymns led by Randy Mason and accompanied by pianist Kathleen Dockery and the Salem Praise Band.

Water will be available, and a lemonade stand will be taking donations for "The Call," a foster care organization.

If you cannot tolerate the afternoon heat, you are welcome to view the services on TV in the air-conditioned fellowship hall on the East side of the church.

Guest preachers;

Rev. Keith Dodson
Rev. Keith Dodson - FUMC Benton - Sunday, July 31, 2022 - Video - FUMC quartet - special music

Brother Dodson has a heart for Christ and building relationships with others. His passions in ministry include Discipleship, Missions, and age-level ministry. His energy and enthusiasm are infectious and create a Spirit-filled culture!

Rev. Dodson is married to Lori, and together they have two children, Rebekah and Joshua. He enjoys spending time with his family and in God's creation.

Rev. Mark Norman
Rev. Mark Norman - Highland Valley UMC - Monday, August 1, 2022 - Video - Salem Praise Singers - special music

Rev. Mark Norman is a native of Little Rock, Arkansas. He has served as a pastor in the United Methodist Church since 1992. He is a graduate of Philander Smith College with Bachelors of Arts in Philosophy/Religion. He went on the receive a Masters of Divinity from Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri. Mark enjoys preaching, worship leading, various kinds of music, bible study and mission.

Brother Mark has been blessed to serve at St. James-Lonoke, Swope Park-Kansas City, Wesley Chapel-Little Rock, Saint Paul-Maumelle, Rossville UMC Kansas, and Associate Pastor at Benton First. Before being appointed to Highland Valley he was the District Superintendent of the Southeast District in the Arkansas Conference.

In 2016 and 2020 Mark was elected to be the lead clergy delegate to General Conference. He a member of the executive team of the South Central Jurisdiction Episcopal Committee. Rev. Norman has been blessed to be married to Rev. Natasha Murray for 23 years. They are the proud parents of Kelly Murray-Norman and Mylas Murray Norman.

Rev. Nathan Kilbourne
Rev. Nathan Kilbourne - Jacksonville UMC - Tuesday, August 2, 2022 - Video

Pastor Nathan is currently serving as the Pastor of First UMC Jacksonville and is starting his 7th year of ministry with the great people of Jacksonville. Prior to coming to Jacksonville he served as pastor of Vilonia UMC and associate of Asbury UMC LR. Though not originally from Arkansas (East Tennessee is home for Nathan), he met his beautiful wife in seminary and learned to call the hogs like her. She also serves as an elder in the Arkansas Annual Conference and is currently appointed to an extension ministry as the Director of Development of the Methodist Foundation of Arkansas.

Nathan and Lynn have two children, elegant Eleanor and lovely Lydia.

Rev. Todd-Paul Taulbee
Rev. Todd-Paul Taulbee - First UMC Sheridan - Wednesday, August 3, 2022 - Video - Sheridan choir - special music

Rev. Taulbee was appointed as senior pastor to First UMC of Sheridan in June of 2018. Since graduating from Hendrix College (B.A.) in 1994 and Duke University (M.Div.) in 1997, Rev. Taulbee has served as associate pastor at Trinity UMC, Little Rock; started a new church (Foundery UMC) in Lowell; as pastor of Lakeside UMC in Lake Village; as senior pastor of First UMC of Bryant; as senior pastor of First UMC of Morrilton; and as senior pastor of First UMC of West Memphis.

He has been married to Elizabeth, (an English and Oral Communications teacher at Sheridan High School) for 26 years and they are proud parents of Sara, a sophmore at Sheridan High School. Together the Taulbees enjoy their Labrador Retrievers, Quinn and Dawkins, traveling, watching Sara play soccer, and Duke basketball.

Rev. Susan Ledbetter
Rev. Susan Ledbetter - FUMC Bryant - Thursday, August 4, 2022 - Video - Randy Mason - special music

Rev. Susan Ledbetter has served as a United Methodist Elder in the Arkansas Conference since 2007 and started her ministry at First United Methodist Church in Bryant on July 1, 2018.

Susan has always been an active member of a United Methodist Church. Growing up at First UMC in Colorado Springs, children and youth choirs, domestic and international mission trips and multiple Bible studies steered her in the direction of a call toward ordained ministry. Once God placed the call to serve Christ as a United Methodist minister, she pursued it with joy and enthusiasm. As a church leader, Susan desires to be an encourager and place emphasis on Biblical humility, hope and hospitality.

Susan and Justin, who is host pastor for the camp meeting, have served in a variety of churches in Northwest and Northeast Arkansas. For four years, Susan served as a District Superintendent aiding the Bishop and the Conference in leading strategic initiatives and deploying pastors to share the love of Christ with congregations throughout the state. Prior to that, Susan served Arkansas congregations in Benton, Fayetteville and Bentonville.

Susan and Justin's pride and joy is their daughter Sadie, who is entering her freshman year at Bryant High School.


The camp meetings are organized and run by the Salem Camp Meeting Association. All who are interested in providing input or volunteering are invited join the association by attending the annual meeting. At that meeting the association elects officers and a board which meets several times a year to conduct camp meeting business. The camp meeting association pays all expenses of the camp meeting including maintaining and improving the arbor.

Volunteers set up the piano and sound system every evening prior to the service and tear it all down afterwards -- it cannot be left under the open arbor. Special thanks to Mike Green for providing an excellent sound system for camp meeting. Volunteers also work prior to camp meeting making plans and arrangements for the next upcoming meeting, fixing up the arbor, and praying for God's blessings on the camp meeting and everyone who attends.

The arbor is freshly painted this year thanks to Joel Turpin who donated the labor, and Sherwin-Williams which donated the paint - 60 gallons!

You can view and share camp meeting pictures on our Facebook page. If you search for the "Salem Camp Meeting" group in Facebook instead of clicking this link, you may need to click the "groups" link near the top of the page to see all posts, photos, and albums. This will also allow you to post to the group if you are a member.

Have you seen our current web page?
You can read a summary of the origins and history of the Salem Camp Meeting here.

If you are looking for church campgrounds that still has campers in the summer as well as nightly services under an open arbor, check out;

Several other church groups have campgrounds with rich histories, but many of those have evolved to mainly summer camps for children and youth.

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