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By United Methodist News Service
A United Methodist pastor from Arkansas and his wife, both now deceased, have given gifts totaling more than $1.6 million to three institutions of the church.
Rev. David P. Conyers served as a minister of United Methodist churches in the former North Arkansas Conference for more than 37 years. He retired in 1980 and died in 1997 at age 82. His wife, Mary Helen Conyers, 88, died in late 2003. The estate was recently settled in Benton County, Arkansas.
The couple, who had no children, provided $562,000 to Hendrix College in Conway for scholarships. An equal amount was been designated for scholarships for students attending Philander Smith College in Little Rock. A third gift, also totaling $562,000, was given to the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference to be used for ministries with American Indians.
“That’s quite a legacy,” said Jim Argue Jr., executive director of the United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas, which serves as trustee of the Conyers Family Scholarship Endowment Fund benefiting Philander Smith College.
David Conyers was born in Sidney, AR, and graduated from Duke University Divinity School in 1943. Conyers served United Methodist churches in the former North Arkansas Conference for more than 37 years. His pastorates included Elm Springs/Harmon, Judsonia, Ozark, Central Avenue-Batesville, Morrilton, Clarksville, Helena, Lakewood-North Little Rock, Newport, Jacksonville and Cherokee Village. Upon his retirement in 1980, he served as associate pastor of the Cherokee Village church and was later named Pastor Emeritus.
Mary Helen Harrison Conyers was living in Rogers, AR, at the time of her death in November 2003. A native of Corinth, MS, she lived most of her life in Arkansas and was a graduate of Hendrix College. She and Rev. Conyers married on Sept. 30, 1945, in Bentonville.
“David and Mary Helen were a very warm and generous couple who had a passion for church-related higher education,” said Rev. Rock Jones, executive vice president and dean of advancement at Hendrix. “Their gift, which affirms the important role United Methodist church plays at Hendrix, will help us make sure that all qualified students have access to the benefits of a liberal arts education that Hendrix provides.”
“We are extremely pleased to help link the generosity and stewardship of this couple to the hopes and dreams of future generations of deserving students at Philander Smith College,” said Roger Bryles, vice president and chief financial officer of the Foundation.
Rev. David Wilson, superintendent of the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference, said he was “flabbergasted and amazed” at the gift, which came as a complete surprise. “Outside of the support we receive from General agencies, this is the biggest contribution that an individual or group has ever made to OIMC. It is pretty amazing.”
While a final decision for use of the funds has yet to be made, Wilson said one possibility is establishing an endowment fund to supplement pastors’ salaries in the conference. “Our base salary right now is $20,580, and everybody starts out at that amount,” Wilson said, adding that 99 percent of the clergy are Native Americans. “The average salary of our pastors is $23,000, which is about half the national average. That makes it very hard to recruit and retain clergy leadership. I can see this gift being the seed money for an endowment fund,” which he described as “a dream we’ve had” for many years, “but we’ve never had the resources to get it started. This is a great gift for this conference.”
“David was the consummate pastor and the consummate gentleman,” said Rev. Philip Hathcock, who followed Rev. Conyers as senior pastor at Cherokee Village UMC and entreated him to extend his ministry there after retirement. “There was no one finer. David just had a heart for people. They were both extraordinary, gracious people.”
Of the three recipients of gifts from the Conyers estate, “each has a unique mission,” Hathcock said, “and those would align with David’s heart. He loved the United Methodist Church.”
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