My Brother’s Love Memphis native and “My Brother’s Love” film producer William Edwards held a red carpet film premiere and after party on Saturday, November 16, 2019, at Brinson’s Downtown Chicken Lounge, an after hours spot located at 341 Madison Avenue, Memphis, TN 38103. Edwards wrote and produced the love story about everyday life for a young couple living in Memphis. The hour-long, global film premiere production began at 3 PM. Admission was $10/ person. For more information or to book the production at your venue, please call (901) 208-0471. POP TOP MINISTRY ITEMS 48 Vienna Sausages ($12): https:// www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr… 12 Sardines ($18): https:// www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr… 12 Crackers ($12): https:// www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr… 14 Chips ($21): https:// www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr… 12 Mixed Fruit Cups ($12): https:// www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr… Deacon Drew Woodruff (far left), Mother Georgia King (center) and Patricia Thompson (second from right) are joined by volunteers at St. Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral for a Pop Top Fundraiser. Mother Georgia King (901) 650-7321 Patricia Thompson (901) 443-3731 Deacon Drew Woodruff was ordained in 2007 although his ministerial work began long before that time. Woodruff oversees the Pop-Top ministry at St. Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, 700 Poplar Ave, Memphis, TN 38105, (901) 527-3361, where he’s been a member since 1978. Organized in 1857 as a mission church, St. Mary’s was the cathedral church of the old statewide Episcopal Diocese of TN in 1871 and, with the creation of three dioceses, it became the Cathedral of the Diocese of West TN in 1983. Located near Poplar and Orleans in what is now a part of downtown Memphis with modern-day food desert characteristics, St. Mary’s was officially dedicated on Ascension Day, May 13, 1858. The church played an important roll during the yellow fever epidemic that occurred in the late 1850s in Memphis. Known as the “Martyrs of Memphis” or “Constance and Her Companions,” Episcopal nun superior, Sister Constance, three other nuns, and two priests risked their own safety to stay in Memphis to care for the sick and dying. Woodruff, a modern-day martyr in his own right, carries forward this work through St. Mary’s Pop Top and Shoe ministries and by being a liaison to the church’s Haiti Partnership. Following in the steps of several members of The Order of the Daughter’s of the King, Woodruff has provided more than 5,600 bags of food containing more than 150 cans of Vienna sausages over the past 15 years. Unfortunately, the dwindling congregation that boasted over 800 members in earlier years, has a struggling 250 active members today which, along with Woodruff’s retirement-only income, makes providing free bag lunches much more difficult. Recent collaborations with Patricia Thompson, Executive Director of One Mouth At A Time and Mother Georgia King, who has sponsored the MLK50 food drive for the past three years, has provided some assistance in meeting the needs of an ever growing population of hungry elderly and homeless persons. “I became a deacon to help those whom God sends to our cathedral seeking help,” said Woodruff who loves St. Mary’s and wants her to continue being the beacon of hope she has always been to the poor and marginalized in Memphis. “The ultimate goal I would like to achieve is for people to not be hungry; then, there would be no need.” 23
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