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Anshei Sphard Beth El Emeth Rabbi Joel Finkelstein (left) and synagogue vice president Linda Joffre take inventory of the Torah scrolls on Wednesday, Oct. 7. The 50-year-old synagogue in East Memphis has been sold and is closing for good next week. (Mark Weber/Daily Memphian)

Anshei Sphard Beth El Emeth Rabbi Joel Finkelstein (left) and synagogue vice president Linda Joffre take inventory of the Torah scrolls on Wednesday, Oct. 7. The 50-year-old synagogue in East Memphis has been sold and is closing for good next week. (Mark Weber/Daily Memphian)

Faith

Jewish congregation mourns Closing, remembers blessings of their ‘Disco Shul’

Sale of East Memphis property leads to another move

David WatersOctober 12, 2020

Father Nicholas Vieron dressed for Fourth of July lawn visitors. (Photo by Paul Vieron)

Father Nicholas Vieron dressed for Fourth of July lawn visitors. (Photo by Paul Vieron)

Faith

Father Vieron’s long, lovely farewell from his front porch in Memphis

In the final six months of Father V’s blessedly long and loquacious life, the coronavirus pandemic and his frail body conspired to confine him...

David WatersOctober 8, 2020

Father Nicholas Vieron led the benediction for a Tigers Touchdown Club meeting in September 2019. (Ziggy Mack/Daily Memphian file photo)

Father Nicholas Vieron led the benediction for a Tigers Touchdown Club meeting in September 2019. (Ziggy Mack/Daily Memphian file photo)

Faith

Father Nicholas Vieron, beloved priest, Memphis icon, dies at 94

He challenged and charmed generations of Memphians of all faiths.

David WatersOctober 3, 2020

Faye Smith ran Idlewild Presbyterian Church’s kitchen for 29 years, a tenure longer than any senior pastor in church history. (Photo by Carl Awsumb)

Faye Smith ran Idlewild Presbyterian Church’s kitchen for 29 years, a tenure longer than any senior pastor in church history. (Photo by Carl Awsumb)

Faith

Idlewild loses another ‘pastor’; church kitchen was Smith-Redditt’s pulpit for 29 years

“Faye’s kitchen was a refuge — a confessional and a safe zone.”

David WatersSeptember 5, 2020

Memphis Theological Seminary president Rev. Dr. Jody Hill gets a socially distanced update from recruiter Felecia LaVant while preparing for the upcoming semester on Wednesday, Aug. 19. “The seminary exists to serve congregations, and, in dark times, it becomes clear how essential that work is,” said Hill, who became the seminary’s president in January. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)

Memphis Theological Seminary president Rev. Dr. Jody Hill gets a socially distanced update from recruiter Felecia LaVant while preparing for the upcoming semester on Wednesday, Aug. 19. “The seminary exists to serve congregations, and, in dark times, it becomes clear how essential that work is,” said Hill, who became the seminary’s president in January. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)

Education

Seminary accepts challenge of protecting students while teaching them to serve those with potentially fatal virus

“We are not the first people of faith to have lived in a time of pandemic.”

David WatersAugust 21, 2020

Sumita Montgomery carries her father’s ashes alongside the Rev. Anne H.K. Apple at Steve Montgomery’s funeral service on Friday, Aug. 7. (Courtesy of Craig Thompson)

Sumita Montgomery carries her father’s ashes alongside the Rev. Anne H.K. Apple at Steve Montgomery’s funeral service on Friday, Aug. 7. (Courtesy of Craig Thompson)

Faith

Reflections, hymns pay tribute to Montgomery’s pastoral, prophetic voice

Family, friends and fans of the Rev. Dr. Steve Montgomery held a private, socially distanced, spiritually diverse funeral service Friday afternoon to celebrate his...

David WatersAugust 11, 2020

The Rev. Dr. Stephen R. Montgomery and family. (Fran Doggrell)

The Rev. Dr. Stephen R. Montgomery and family. (Fran Doggrell)

Faith

Rev. Steve Montgomery, 1951-2020: “What makes us human is not our mind but our heart”

Retired Memphis minister dies from injuries received while riding bike.

David WatersAugust 2, 2020

Rev. Dr. Steve Montgomery, seen here when he retired from Idlewild Presbyterian Church in May 2019, is in critical condition after he was hit by a car while riding his bike . (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)

Rev. Dr. Steve Montgomery, seen here when he retired from Idlewild Presbyterian Church in May 2019, is in critical condition after he was hit by a car while riding his bike . (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)

Faith

Retired pastor Steve Montgomery critically injured in bike accident

Congregation, community praying for Idlewild Presbyterian minister

David WatersAugust 2, 2020

A Team Rubicon volunteer from Boston holds a COVID-19 test in the emergency room of the Kayenta Health Center on the Navajo reservation in Kayenta, Ariz., on April 23, 2020. The Navajo reservation has some of the highest rates of coronavirus in the country. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

A Team Rubicon volunteer from Boston holds a COVID-19 test in the emergency room of the Kayenta Health Center on the Navajo reservation in Kayenta, Ariz., on April 23, 2020. The Navajo reservation has some of the highest rates of coronavirus in the country. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Faith

Memphis woman moves to Navajo Nation to battle COVID-19: ‘It’s not what I do but why’

Public health official follows science and faith to center of pandemic

David WatersJune 7, 2020

Rebecca and Brooks Ramsey (Submitted)

Rebecca and Brooks Ramsey (Submitted)

Faith

courageous memphis minister, Brooks Ramsey, dies shortly after losing his wife of 75 years

Stood by MLK in Albany, Ga., against segregation in Memphis

David WatersMay 5, 2020

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