Service commemorates Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Published 7:47 pm Thursday, January 12, 2017
- CIVIL RIGHTS: Mt. Hebron Church of Christ will host its 28th-annual service honoring civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Sunday. Songs and speeches are part of the service open to the general public. Pictured, attendees celebrate at the 2014 service.
The man who used peace to break down the barriers of inequality will be remembered at a service on Sunday.
Mt. Hebron Church of Christ in Washington will host “Beyond the Dream of the Dreamer,” a service honoring the civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“It’s a time for people in the community to get together and fellowship. … It’s really a beautiful service,” said Betty Jo Moore, a member of the organizing committee. “And its’ a time where the young people of the community are shown how beautiful it is to work together, to do wonderful things for the up-building of the community. It’s a working together of community helpers: the churches and the schools and community leaders, working together to make it just a wonderful environment.”
For 28 years, the church has hosted the service that brings together church members, residents and city and county officials to remember a man who brought about change through passive protest and belief in God and his fellow man. It’s vital, especially to young people, to keep King’s memory and actions alive, according to Moore.
“I feel that it is very important to continue celebrating the life of Martin Luther King because he was definitely for nonviolence and he was for respecting people of all positions. He definitely believed in young people respecting each other and certainly respecting their leaders their teachers, their elders and the other leaders,” Moore said. “The legacy that he set continues to live on.”
Moore also pointed out the continued impact of King’s faith in the power of the Constitution.
“He believed in the Constitution being followed. I think it’s important for our young people to know the value of Constitution,” Moore said. “If they forget the work that he did when he was here, I think it will be detrimental to their progress all through life.”
The service will feature speeches and song and will be followed by refreshments. Moore said the public is invited, and in past years, many community leaders have attended—testament to a community that continues to work together.
“Working together as American citizens, we can get much more done than if we are divided. I believe that when we hold events like this, it teaches our own people the positive impact of teamwork,” Moore said.
Mt. Hebron Church of Christ is located at 210 W. Sixth St. in Washington. The Martin Luther King Jr. memorial service will be held at 5 p.m. Sunday.