Rabbi Micah Greenstein and Rev. Sam Teitel have been buddies since 2017. They share a love of scripture, a belief in social justice motivated by faith, and an aversion to weak coffee. Micah is the senior rabbi at Temple Israel; Sam is the minister at The Church of the River. They are thrilled to be collaborating on this sermon together for LPS and hope to multiply the life of a sermon by the power of two!

Mr. Geoff Calkins

Columnist, The Daily MemphianThursday, April 7Geoff Calkins is the sports columnist for The Daily Memphian and hosts The Geoff Calkins Show on 92.9ESPN. He has covered eight Olympics, a dozen Super Bowls, and more Memphis football and basketball games than he could possibly count. But he has always been less focused on the games than on the people who play them, and on the stories those people have to tell. In that way, he takes inspiration from his great uncle, the Rev. Raymond Calkins, who served as the pastor at First Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts, from 1912 to 1940 — and who preached his last sermon at First Church in 1964, at the age of 95. “I was fond of people,” Rev. Calkins wrote. “Fonder of them than of books or anything else in the world. To be with them, to learn from them, to share with them, this I discovered to be the deepest interest in life."

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Musician: Michelle Vigneau, Associate Professor of oboe, The University of Memphis

Associate Professor of oboe and member of the Memphis Woodwind Quintet, Dr. Vigneau has performed with orchestras and chamber ensembles throughout the United States and Mexico and spent three years playing in the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra. She joined the faculty of the University of Memphis in 2003.

Mr. Justin Pearson

Community activist and co-founder, Memphis Community Against the PipelineFriday, April 8Justin J. Pearson is the fourth son of teenage parents who went on to careers in the ministry and education. His life journey has been marked by a restless pursuit of justice ranging from educational equity to access to environmental justice and liberation. He was one of the founders and leaders of Memphis Community Against the Pipeline (now Memphis Community Against Pollution, or MCAP), which successfully blocked the Byhalia Connection Pipeline. He is also the special assistant to the CEO at Year Up, an organization that furthers employment equity for young adults. Pearson has an unwavering commitment to social and racial justice for Memphis and for this country. He hopes his life preaches a sermon that will glorify God and honor his ancestors.