Commercialappeal.com

Determined preacher arms himself with more than faith in violence-ridden Smokey City neighborhood

It’s Sunday morning and Eddie Brooks is on fire.

The graying preacher juggles many duties during the week: Night watchman. Shade-tree mechanic. Grandfather. Trusted neighborhood confidante.

But on Sundays, Brooks, a former sharecropper and gospel singer who once cut a record at Stax with Isaac Hayes, is in his element as pastor at Pillar of Jerusalem Bible Church.

“I keep thinking how we’ve turned away from God,’’ he says as he stands, all 6’ 7” of him, fretting chords on his weathered Ibanez guitar. Brooks, 73, wears many hats here, too: Music director. Preacher. Adviser.

This is a small church run from the stripped hull of an abandoned house. A window air conditioner hums as Brooks' tight, three-piece band leads 10 worshippers in a series of spirituals, and There’s hope ahead. Even ex-gang members are part of the patchwork of organic efforts to slow the violence. This is part five of Wounded City, a six-part CA investigation exploring the gun violence problem in Memphis. Miss a day? Catch up at commercialappeal.com/woundedcity for exclusive content, video, photos and podcasts.

When time comes to share testimonies, petite Vera Milton rises without hesitation.

“Folks were shooting out by me again last night,’’ she announces. “He let it pass me by. I thank Him for letting me see another day.’’

Prayers like this are heard often in Smokey City, a gritty neighborhood of frame homes and tree-lined streets abutting old Humes High School, where Elvis Presley attended, and just blocks from Manassas High, where Hayes got his