After traveling more than 2,000 miles on six bus trips lasting more than 50 hours over five days, a Mexican mother was reunited with her ailing baby boy in Memphis Monday afternoon. Dolores Posada had been trying to get back to Memphis since last Thursday , when she was granted a rare 90-day Humanitarian Parole by U.S. Customs [...]

Elaine Pagels, the controversial author and biblical scholar, is scheduled to speak at 7 p.m. March 21 at Church of the Holy Communion. Pagels, the Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion at Princeton University, will discuss her newest best-selling book,  Revelations: Visions, Prophecy, and Politics in the Book of Revelation. She also is…[Read more]

The First Ladies of  Tennessee Headquarters Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Church Of God In Christ presented a check for $5,000 to the Memphis Family Shelter last month. The ladies held a benefit dinner Dec. 15 at the Double Tree Hotel, led by Dr. Mary Portis Hall, group president and wife of Bishop David Allen Hall. The shelter is [...]

Since the Dec. 14 shooting massacre in Newtown, “gun sales began to skyrocket” and state and federal officials “have been overwhelmed with the demand for guns.” Americans have more guns that anyone else – 270 million privately held firearms. They also have the highest gun ownership per capita rate in the world, with an average of [...]

Jay Bakker, son of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, will speak at Heartsong Church Jan. 13. Bakker, co-pastor of Revolution Church in New York City, a church that meets in a bar, will speak from 5-6:30 p.m. Jan. 13 at the church, 800 N. Houston Levee Road in Cordova. When Bakker was 11, his parents’ PTL [...]

This is the season of hope and light. It also is a time of local and national mourning.  Please share your thoughts and reflections as we remember the 27 mass murder victims in Newtown, Conn., as well as Officer Lang in Memphis.

Downtown’s Calvary Episcopal Church will toll its bell 28 times at 8:30 Friday morning , once for each person who was killed during last week’s school shooting rampage in Newtown, Conn. Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has proclaimed Friday a day of mourning in his state and asked Connecticut residents to toll bells and [...]

It’s a gift-giving time of the year.  If I could, I would give Memphis the Gift of …..

15 for Frayser These 15 people won’t determine the future of Frayser and its more than 40,000 residents. But there aren’t 15 people in the world who are working harder for Frayser’s future, who care more, or who ultimately will have more of an impact on the beleaguered Memphis neighborhood. Each person here represents a key [...]

Sister Deb Troillett, a Sister of Mercy from Little Rock, says, ““We don’t have a budget crisis in this country. There’s plenty of money. We have a values crisis, a priorities crisis.”

Do you agree or disagree and why?

For the second time in just over a year, Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church is getting a new priest. Rev. Anthony Cook, who was assigned to the parish in November 2011, is returning to his Michigan home to lead a parish in Southgate, Mich. Last Sunday was his final day at Annunciation. He will be replaced [...]

Not long ago, Charia Jackson had a date with a young man who had moved to Memphis from California. He said he would pick her up. She told him she lived in Frayser. “He said, ‘Oh, no. I’m not coming up there. Ever,’” said Jackson. “I could not get him to come to Frayser. We met [...]

Former city and county elected official Shep Wilbun has been hired to direct a federally-funded planning effort to revitalize Frayser. Wilbun will be site director for Community LIFT’s efforts to help Frayser residents and advocates develop a long-range improvement plan. The former city councilman, county commissioners and Juvenile Court Clerk…[Read more]

By David Waters waters@commercialappeal.com ST. LOUIS — Memphis gained a big vote in COGIC’s leadership Tuesday when Bishop Brandon B. Porter was elected to the 12-member General Board. Porter, pastor of Greater Community Temple COGIC in Hickory Hill, will be the first Memphian on the board since Presiding Bishop G.E. Patterson died in March…[Read more]

Rev. Michael Ellis, pastor of Impact Baptist Church in Frayser, was elected vice president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention on Tuesday, becoming the first African-American to serve in such an executive role for the group.

Read reporter Clay Bailey’s story about the historic election.

ST. LOUIS — Memphis gained a big vote in COGIC’s leadership Tuesday when Bishop Brandon B. Porter was elected to the 12-member General Board. Porter, pastor of Greater Community Temple COGIC in Hickory Hill, will be the first Memphian on the board since Presiding Bishop G.E. Patterson died in March 2007. The 53-year-old son of [...]

Rev. Dr. Frank Thomas, who is stepping down as pastor of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church this year, will lead a new institute for African-American studies at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis. The institute’s name, Thomas’s role and other details will be formally announced at a news conference Tuesday afternoon. Christian…[Read more]

About 200 community leaders gathered at Anshei Sphard Beth El Emeth Congregation in East Memphis Nov. 4 for an event called ‘A Taste of Hunger.’ The event was held to raise awareness about issues of hunger and food in Memphis. It was co-sponsored by the Mid-South Food Bank, MIFA, the Memphis Jewish Federation and Balmoral [...]

No convocation without representation. That isn’t Bishop Brandon Porter’s official campaign slogan, but it neatly summarizes his main campaign platforms. Porter is one of 23 candidates for the 12-member General Board of Bishops of the Church of God in Christ, and the only candidate from Memphis. There hasn’t been a Memphian on the Memphis-based…[Read more]