In Karen Pulfer’s Focht’s latest Expression of Faith video, Pastor Ricky Floyd, from The Pursuit of God Church in Frayser, walks the streets of his declining neighborhood saying prayers. Frayser has some of the highest rates of poverty, crime, teen pregnancy and infant mortality in the Memphis area. However, there are many forces at work [...]

Which Memphis-area house of worship do you find most beautiful, spiritual, sacred? And why? Be best if you would choose one you don’t work for. But you also can name two.

Which Memphis-area house of worship do you find most beautiful, spiritual, sacred? And why? Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints worship on Sundays at their local chapel but their highest form of sacred worship takes place in their Temples, one of which is located in Bartlett. These buildings are modestly beautiful from [...]

Some of you attended ‘A Taste of Hunger’ event Sunday evening at Anshei Sphard Beth El Emeth Congregation, where we learned more about the issues of hunger and food insecurity in Memphis and across the country. The events was sponsored by MIFA, the Mid-South Food Bank, the Memphis Jewish Federation, Balmoral Presbyterian, among others. We [...]

What should we – individually and collectively – be doing differently about hunger issues in our community? It would seem that the roots of hunger in America are varied and complex, including such factors as the crisis in the economy, the rise of unemployment, public and private neglect if not abandonment of the inner city, the [...]

What should we – individually and collectively – be doing differently about hunger issues in our community? First and foremost, it’s a call of justice — not charity alone — that children, and all the hungry, have “food security.” That’s clear for people of faith. As far as responsibility for this crisis, there are many who [...]

What should we – individually and collectively – be doing differently about hunger issues in our community? During the election there was great emphasis on the middle class. What was rarely mentioned was “the poor.” America has the best dressed poor people in the world thanks to thrift shops. No one truly starves because of soup [...]

What should we – individually and collectively – be doing differently about hunger issues in our community? What better time than a Presidential election to remind ourselves of the challenge of balancing individual initiative and interest with the common good? If we see those forces as opposing each other, we will waste our energy in grandstanding [...]

What should we – individually and collectively – be doing differently about hunger issues in our community? It is a vexing problem, needing action on multiple fronts. At St. Luke’s our MIFA food pantry supported by the University Council of Congregations plus Saturday and Sunday community meals feed hundreds every month. However, we know that this [...]

By the time Brittany Smith arrived Tuesday afternoon, the 476th hour of the Midtown Prayer Collective, the prayer room’s “graffiti wall” and the “wailing wall” were filled with prayers for Memphis. “Holy Spirit, fall on Memphis.” “Grace like rain over this city.” “Show us how to seek justice for our city.” “Lord, teach me to [...]

As Election Day 2012 approaches, seems like a good time to give voters AND candidates some neighborly counsel. Regardless of who wins . . . If you were addressing the nation on Wednesday, Nov. 7, the DAY AFTER the election, what would you say? What advice would you offer to your fellow Americans about the next [...]

If you were addressing the nation on Wednesday, Nov. 7, the DAY AFTER the election, what would you say? What advice would you offer to your fellow Americans about the next four years? “Now you can admit that the ‘other side’ has a real case to make. If you are a liberal, watch, listen to and [...]

Dr. Scott Morris, founder and executive director of the Church Health Center, videotaped this interview with the dying Dr. Raza Dilawari, a cancer surgeon at the University of Tennessee, and his daughter, Asma, a medical oncologist, in the hopes of encouraging families to discuss end-of-life health care. The video of their discussion will also be [...]

How do you define dying well? Dying well involves answering the questions in the Aging with Dignity document Five Wishes in consultation with family, clergy and medical doctor. This allows the individual to articulate his or her values and wishes concerning end-of-life issues, and to legally document a Living Will and Medical Power of Attorney. This [...]

This week’s topic comes from Dr. Scott Morris, founder of Church Health Center. The CHC’s 2012 Faith & Health: Making the Connection Conference for Clergy and Lay Leaders will be 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thursday, November 1. The subject of this year’s conference is Dying Well. Participants will explore practical ways congregations and [...]

By Scott Morris Special to The Commercial Appeal When I was 19 years old, my mother died of ovarian cancer. She was 42. Rather than sitting by her bedside at home or holding her hand in the hospital, I was encouraged to go to the movies, which I obediently did. I was alone, watching a movie, when [...]

By Bill Sorrell While it is not in the script, it is part of the storyline. Since Jill Neiss began directing Judgement House at Warren Community Church six years ago, there have been “incredible adversities” every year. “We totally understand and have faith that Satan doesn’t want it to happen,” she said. From cars catching on [...]

What are your views on the fact that Protestants are no longer the majority religion in the U.S.? Now this is America. An African-American, two Catholics, and a Mormon — three of the most despised and marginalized communities in American history — are filling out both presidential tickets. If you’ll pardon the hyperbole, our current circumstances [...]

What are your views on the fact that Protestants are no longer the majority religion in the U.S.? Historically, the Christian Church has grown fastest and transformed culture most effectively when it was in a position of weakness. At the end of the Roman Empire, a bloated Christianity was in ascendency, protected by political and cultural [...]

What are your views on the fact that Protestants are no longer the majority religion in the U.S.? The shift in Protestant numbers represents a long term trend. In part this represents the growing diversity of our nation, and the fact that we have no state sponsored church. In industrial nations that have a state church, [...]