One celebrity is home in Little Rock for the weekend helping his brother get a brand new church off the ground. Wes Bently of films including American Beauty and Ghost Rider is an Arkansas native. And this weekend he's trading Hollywood for home.
It's a busy scene, members of the new canvas-community church working feverishly to get their home ready for service. But there's a familiar face in the crowd.
"I love being back in Arkansas. I haven't been back enough in the past 10 years," says Wes Bentley.
Born in Jonesboro and raised near Mountain Home and Little Rock, the actor is back in town to help his brother, Pastor Jamey Bentley, refurbish a space on 7th Street downtown. Wes said, "we grew up preacher's kids and I grew up in the church and I know the church."
"It's pretty fantastic. I have a family just beyond Wes. I mean there's 4 brothers," Jamey said, "that's exciting to have that support."
The building has been a furniture store, a Dr. Pepper bottling company, restaurants and now a church. When the folks who bought this building first got there, they knew they wanted to strip away the paneling, this facade, and expose the bare brick. It's representative of what they want to be: a church filled with true, open, honest Christianity.
Jamey said, "a lot of times churches adapt to the culture rather than embracing the culture, becoming part of the culture, and we're attempting to do that. The other piece is being a truly active part of the community."
That's why along with worship services they'll host art shows, music performances, and political discussions. And Wes is thankful to help get it off the ground. It's a welcome break from Hollywood.
"It can be very difficult to find reality and your home is your reality. And it's more than just the physical place of it, it's the people," Wes told us. And he plans to stay connected to this project and his roots. "I'll hopefully get to come back and do more."
The United Methodist Church gave CanvasCommunity the green light just last month. They're having services there now Monday nights but plan to launch officially October 19th. Click on the link to learn more about the
CanvasCommunity church.
