Our series on Creation Care and Stewardship continues this week with a conversation with Mia Madison, Executive Director of Memphis Tilth. Founded in 2015, Memphis Tilth's mission is to cultivate collective action for an economically sustainable, socially equitable, and environmentally sound local food system.

Learn more here: memphistilth.org

ABOUT MIA MADISON

Mia Madison (her/she) has served as an activist and community organizer throughout the Mid-South region and volunteers for a host of programs and projects focused on bridging the gap between people and the environment. Her passions are urban agriculture, environmental justice, youth advocacy, equitable access, and minority participation and engagement in urban affairs.

Mia holds a Master’s degree in Anthropology and a Bachelor’s degree in Geography both from the University of Memphis with concentrations in applied participatory action research of urban environmental affairs, and city and regional planning.

"Water is wonderful!" is the message of this episode of Faithfully Memphis! Emily Austin talks with Michelle Cowan, Director of Education for Clean Memphis, about Clean Memphis' new "Water Is Wonderful" curriculum sponsored by International Paper. The curriculum is designed to help elementary school students learn about water conservation in Shelby County and across the world. Their conversation also includes a discussion of how Clean Memphis and organizations like it help empower community advocates to take care of their neighborhoods. 

Learn more about Clean Memphis at https://www.cleanmemphis.org. 

Continuing our series on creation care and stewardship, Nick Wiggins joins Bishop Phoebe for a conversation about his work at the Wolf River Conservancy. Nick is a native Memphian and aside from being an avid naturalist and outdoors enthusiast, he is committed to protecting our natural resources here in the Mid-South for all future generations benefit. As the Community Conservation Manager, Nick joins the Conservancy to serve the users of our Greenway, to ensure the neighborhood feels connected to the Greenway, in terms of recreation, transportation or more.

Bishop Phoebe also talks about Saint Aelred of Rievaulx, whose feast day is celebrated on January 12. 

To learn more about the Wolf River Conservancy and engage with its programing, log on to https://wolfriver.org/. 

Happy Epiphany! Happy 2022! Happy everything! This week, we're delighted to kick off our first Faithfully Memphis series of the year - Creation Care and Stewardship - with a conversation with Cynthia McCarty. In addition to her role as Director of Children and Youth Ministry at Church of the Holy Apostles in Collierville, TN, Cynthia was a member of the Episcopal Church's delegation to the United Nations' Climate Change Conference in 2021. In this interview with Bishop Phoebe Roaf, Cynthia shares how her faith compels her to advocate for climate and creation care. 

MORE ABOUT CYNTHIA McCARTY

Cynthia was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas. As a lifelong Episcopalian, she was involved in EYC, served on the Diocesan Youth Commission, and was the Diocesan representative for the Province VII Youth Commission. After earning a B.S. in Health Sciences at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Cynthia moved to Memphis and worked as the Aquatics Director at the Olive Branch Family YMCA.

In 2007, Cynthia was called back to Little Rock and served at the Director of Youth and Young Adult ministries at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church.  During this time, she earned a Masters in Education in Middle Childhood Education.  Cynthia has worked the past four years as a middle school teacher for Shelby County Schools.

Cynthia is married to Chris and has two sons, Alex, 7, and Sam, 21 months.  They live in Germantown and have called Holy Apostles their church home for the last couple of years.

As the youth director, Cynthia wants to empower and equip the youth of the church with the resources they need to build onto their Journey of Faith.  .

To close out 2021 on Faithfully Memphis, we are delighted to bring you a service of Lessons & Carols, recorded live at Grace-St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Memphis, Tennessee on December 12, 2021. This service features the Grace-St. Luke’s Choir, Canterbury Choir, and The Memphis Boy & Girl Choir. The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols was first celebrated at King’s College, Cambridge on Christmas Eve, 1918.

Many thanks to the Reverend Ollie Rencher, Rector, and Dr. Patrick Scott, Director of Music and Organist. 

This episode has been edited for length. To hear the full service, please go to https://youtu.be/GaeA4rDVYDg.

In this very special episode of Faithfully Memphis, we are delighted to share with you the 35th annual Christmas at St. Mary's Concert, recorded live on December 5, 2021 at St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Memphis, Tennessee. The concert features the Rhodes College Women's Chorus, Rhodes Chamber Singers, and Rhodes Singers. Ellen Koziel and William Skoog, conductors. Dennis Janzer and Debbie Smith, collaborative pianists. Music of Rutter, Rachmaninoff, Durufle, Janzer, Bieble and more.

This episode has been edited for length. To hear the full concert, please go to https://youtu.be/DTPp4dpgHPM.

Join Bishop Phoebe Roaf for a conversation with Mark Hackett, Founder and Executive Director of Operation Broken Silence, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is building a global movement to empower the Sudanese people through innovative programs. He is one of only a handful of Americans who have been on the frontlines of the war in Sudan's Nuba Mountains.

Learn more about Operation Broken Silence at https://operationbrokensilence.org/. 

Read Mark's blog here: https://mchackett.medium.com/

In this episode of Faithfully Memphis, the Reverend Tom Momberg, priest in charge of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Memphis, Tennessee, is joined in conversation with his good friend John Ashworth for a discussion on the theme of "becoming beloved community one friendship at a time." The two met through their mutual work with the Lynching Sites Project of Memphis. Fr. Tom also talks about St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, whose feast day is observed on December 6. 

In addition, Emily Austin talks about "Longest Night" services, typically held during the Advent season. Also called "Blue Christmas" services, these worship services honor the feelings of loss and sadness that are often silently endured during the holiday season. Church of the Holy Communion in Memphis will offer a Service for the Longest Nights on December 19 at 5:30 p.m. Learn more at holycommunion.org. 

On this episode of Faithfully Memphis, Emily is joined in conversation with watercolor artist Bill Branch, and they talk about the season of Advent, art and spirituality, and Bill's new work that will be featured on the EDWTN Christmas card. A limited number of prints will be available for purchase at the inaugural Advent Arts Market on Saturday, December 4 at the Barth House Episcopal Center. Learn more about the event at https://edwtn.org/join-us-on-december-4-for-the-advent-arts-market/. 

Later in the show, Emily is joined by the Reverend Sarah Cowan, ministry associate for the Barth House, to share about the Advent Arts Market and all the exciting things happening in Episcopal college ministry. 

Connect with Bill on his website, https://www.billbranchstudio.com/, or on his Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/billbranchstudio1. 

To learn more about the Barth House Episcopal Center, connect on Instagram (@barthhouse) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/uofmepiscopal). To subscribe to email updates from the Barth House, go to https://edwtn.org/ministries/college-ministries/. 

Happy Thanksgiving! In this episode of Faithfully Memphis, the Reverend Jesse Abell is joined in conversation with Lj Abraham. Fr. Jesse is the Associate Rector for Pastoral Care and Adult Formation at Grace-St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Memphis, TN. Lj is founder of 901 Community Fridges, a community organization committed to fighting food insecurity in Memphis by partnering with neighborhoods to place fridges stocked with food and sundries in areas where it’s needed most. Get involved today!

Connect with 901 Community Fridges through their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/901communityfridges) or by emailing [email protected].