Posted: February 12th, 2010 Ken Garfield

Two Charlotte houses of faith that long have stood for reconciliation will swap pastors this weekend.

At around 11:10 a.m. Saturday (February 13), Dr. Ricky A. Woods of First Baptist Church-West will preach at Sabbath worship at Temple Israel. The following morning, Rabbi Murray Ezring will share his heart with the congregation of Woods’ African American congregation at the 11 a.m. Sunday service.

In his 15th year at First Baptist-West on Oaklawn Avenue, Woods has led the 800-member congregation out of the sanctuary and into the community – and into a growing friendship with Temple Israel that has included sharing Hannukah and Kwanzaa services.

As part of a sermon exchange that’s challenging clergy and congregations to step out of its comfort zone, Woods will preach at Sabbath worship at Temple Israel on The Complications of Faith: In the same way that God tested Abraham by asking him to offer his son, Isaac, as a sacrifice, God tests us in terms of the depth of our devotion to our faith.

Life, Woods will preach, is fraught with challenges, complications and risk.

“Holding nothing back,” he says, must be our response.

In his 16th year at Temple Israel, Rabbi Murray Ezring has done inspiring work leading the south Charlotte congregation of 750 families closer to neighbors of other faiths. The Conservative synagogue in Shalom Park has nurtured lasting relationships with Park Road Baptist, Myers Park and Providence United Methodist, St. Gabriel Catholic, Unitarian Church of Charlotte and the Masjid Ash-Shaheed Islamic community. Ezring has even given the very ecumenical pregame prayer over the PA system at the Carolina Panthers games.

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Posted: February 11th, 2010 Tonya Jameson

They were Jewish, Christian, Catholic, Muslim and undecided. They were mothers, fathers, youth directors and spiritual leaders. They reflected the changing face of faith in Charlotte, and Wednesday, Feb. 10, they met for lunch to talk about those changes.

They are us — the collection of transplants and natives who call this growing New South city home.

The discussion at Sonoma Modern restaurant was part of the ongoing Xchange Sermons program. For more than a hour, nearly two dozen people met to talk about their spiritual journeys as well as attitudes regarding difference in faith.

“It’s good to hear about other people’s beliefs,” said Robert Ferrin. “A lot of people think Charlotte is whitewashed. There really is a lot of dynamics in this city. Being involved in something like this, you get to see what the city is about.

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Posted: February 10th, 2010 Meaghan Clark

On Wednesdays, Crossroads Charlotte Correspondent Meaghan Clark will give you a round-up of community-building news and events (click items for full stories):

1. Admission of disparity in Advanced Placement courses between poorer, inner-city schools and wealthier suburban schools raises eyebrows.
2. Charlotte is one step closer to the major leagues, with the purchase the American Hockey League team the Albany River Rats. Score!
3. North Carolina judge rules Wachovia shareholders get no dollars and no recourse.
4. More displaced and frustrated workers gather to discuss unemployment in the Queen City.
5. You're invited to listen in as a panel imagines Charlotte as the “new energy capital."

Posted: February 5th, 2010 Greg Lacour

The Echo Foundation, a humanitarian and educational organization in Charlotte, exists because of Elie Wiesel.

It was founded on Wiesel’s suggestion after the internationally renowned professor, activist and Holocaust survivor visited Charlotte in 1997. Since then, The Echo Foundation has hosted prominent humanitarians and developed educational programs for students.

This year, the foundation is preparing for the release of perhaps its most ambitious project: “In the Footsteps of Elie Wiesel,” a 56-minute documentary that follows a group of 12 Charlotte high school students who traveled to Europe during the summer of 2007 to learn about Wiesel’s life. Over 12 days, they traced Wiesel's journey from his birthplace in Romania to the concentration camp at Auschwitz in Poland to Versailles, where he was given refuge after World War II, to Berlin, where new generations of Germans are trying to atone for the sins of their forebears.

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