By Jon W. Sparks –

The Baron Hirsch Congregation celebrates its 150-year history this year by looking to the past as well as the future.

Now, 150 years may not be much within the scope of the great Jewish narrative that spans more than 3,500 years. But in Memphis, not yet 200 years along, any institution that has survived and thrived for a century and a half has made its lasting mark on the community.

It’s been a long-enough period that there are four distinct eras in the congregation’s history, “each with its own special identity,” said Andy Groveman, chairman of the 150th anniversary celebration.

A series of exhibitions, titled “Connecting to Our Past — Building for Our Future,” is being held this year at the synagogue at 400 S. Yates.

The congregation’s beginnings came in 1862, in the middle of the Civil War. In the early years, the faithful would meet on the second floor of a bookstore at Second and Jackson.

Belz Enterprises CEO Jack Belz grew up in the Baron Hirsch community and, at age 85, is an expert on the congregation’s history. His grandfather came to Memphis in 1904 as did many immigrants in the years before and after.

“Most of the members were from Eastern Europe,” Belz said, “having fled to the United States for freedom of religion and freedom of opportunity. Poland was a big source of immigrants, as were Hungary, Romania and Germany.”

Memphis has gone through boom and bust periods, and the congregation has suffered and succeeded accordingly. The 1870s were a terrible time for Memphis, with thousands of people dying from yellow fever outbreaks. Residents fled — some 25,000 in one four-day period — and the congregation was reduced to only two families, Belz said.

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By Andy Groveman –

Imagine a young man from New York, who attended services maybe three times a year, marrying a Memphis girl whose family has a five-generation connection to their synagogue?

In 1977, my wife Jan and I were married at Baron Hirsch synagogue, then located at Vollintine and Evergreen, in one of the most magnificent sanctuaries in the country. I grew up with only a limited knowledge of what effect a strong synagogue could have on one’s life. On that day, I had no conception of what a profound role Baron Hirsch was to have on not only my life, but also the lives of our children and grandchildren.

My wife’s parents, Marilyn and Jack Belz, and her grandparents, Ruthie and I.E. Hanover and Sarah and Philip Belz, were all intimately and inextricably tied to their faith, family and friends. At the center of their lives was Baron Hirsch Congregation.

Only three months after moving to Memphis, I lost my mother of blessed memory. As our Jewish tradition teaches, I began to go to shul to say kaddish at morning, afternoon and evening services. It was during this time that I first began to understand the meaning and importance of what Baron Hirsch represents.

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By Chris Davis –

Faith in action was the recurring theme for the Renewing Faith in Public Education conference held Tuesday.

The event, hosted by Shepherding the Next Generation-Shelby County, brought together more than 100 pastors and ministry leaders — from both the city and the county — to discuss the role churches can and should play in improving academic outcomes for students in local schools.

A panel of educators and child advocates offered insight into existing challenges related to increasing student achievement rates in Memphis and Shelby County, and explored opportunities for involvement from members of the faith-based community to help solve them.

Nicole Baker Fulgham, president and founder of The Expectations Project — an organization based in Washington, D.C., that mobilizes people of faith to take action on addressing key education issues — was the keynote speaker for the conference.

The panel discussion, which included Tennessee Teacher of the Year Allyson Chick, opened my eyes to the potential we have to truly transform our community if we put aside our differences in background, socioeconomic status and denomination to focus on a common purpose.

Each of us has a moral obligation to protect the best interests of children.

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By Peggy Reisser Winburne –

Vicki M. Johnson had already suggested that someone create a program to help teenage African-American girls achieve. Then she heard the poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou speak at The Cannon Center for the Performing Arts last August about changing the lives of others, and she knew she had to do the job herself.

“That night, I had such chills that went through my body,” Johnson said. “Her speech changed my whole attitude for my living, for my purpose…. I knew that this was the assignment and the purpose God had for me.”

In less than a month, she created Pinky Promise International, a program for girls that promotes abstinence from sex and substance abuse. Its motto is “Abstinence, Faith & Focus.”

And on April 21, 40 girls in grades 9-12 from various area high schools dressed up in rhinestone-studded, pink ball gowns and were presented at an elegant event before 900 family members, friends and supporters at Memphis Cook Convention Center. They took an oath to uphold the principles of Pinky Promise and received pinky rings to seal the commitment.

“Although our open door is abstinence, we are a full, comprehensive program that deals with the total being of each girl emotionally, physically, academically and socially,” said Johnson, former director of housing and convention services for the International Church of God in Christ, and now CEO of Pinky Promise International.

Meetings are twice a month and have included ACT prep, sessions with a certified life coach, lessons in self-defense, a career fair, discussions with mentors in various career fields and some frank talk about sexually transmitted diseases and outcomes related to teen pregancy.

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As Sycamore View Church of Christ pastor Josh Ross spoke Sunday morning, many people in his congregation weren’t dressed in their normal Sunday best.

Jeans, boots, hats — church attendees were ready to get their hands dirty, including Jim Hinkle and his family, who left their dresses and button-downs behind in favor of shorts and T-shirts.

“We were ready to get out there,” Hinkle said.

After shortened worship services Sunday morning, the Hinkle family and about 500 others fanned out across Memphis on Sunday for the church’s first “Restore Day,” a community outreach effort that challenged participants to “get outside their comfort zone,” Ross said.

Participants created and delivered care packages to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital and the Memphis Fire Department, cleaned up neighborhoods surrounding the church, and wrote and delivered letters for the elderly, among several other projects aimed at mobilizing the congregation Sunday.

“The heart of scripture is that God wants to restore all things,” Ross said. “That’s not just for the individual. We believe that God cares about cities, and God wants to redeem cities. So just getting people in a church… Jesus seems to want a lot more than that.”

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At College 101, Collierville High School senior Zach Vaculin got spiritual as well as practical advice. He learned that it’s best to make a church connection early in his time on campus, and he learned how to make a grilled-cheese sandwich in a dorm room with an iron.

About 35 high school seniors attended Collierville United Methodist Church’s recent College 101 program. The church has hosted the event for the past 10 years to help prepare students for life after high school, said Kris Konsowitz, the church’s youth director.

Co-chairwomen Michelle Perry and Brenda Schingle said students seem to respond better when they hear information from someone other than their parents.

“I thought it was especially good to hear from some of the younger adults who have been through the same process very recently,” said Vaculin, 18. In addition, he learned about dorm-room grilled cheese from University of Mississippi senior Alyssa Tucker, who also attended

College 101 when she was a high school senior, and he won a miniature refrigerator for his college room at the event.

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