By By MIKE VOSS
Contributing Editor
Going beyond the dream of Martin Luther King Jr. is the challenge facing those who would carry on the civil-rights leader’s legacy.
That theme — Beyond the Dream of the Dreamer — was the message delivered during the greater Washington community’s 24th-annual memorial service for King. The service was conducted Sunday afternoon at Mt. Hebron Church of Christ (Disciples of Christ) in Washington.
The third Monday in January is the federal holiday for observing King’s birthday, which is Jan. 15, 1929.
“This is a meaningful day for everyone in this city and the nation at large,” said Washington Mayor Archie Jennings during the service, which lasted nearly two hours.
Jennings said King worked to unify people of all races, religions and cultures in a common cause — maintaining liberty and equality for everyone. Jennings praised King for “his commitment to nonviolence” during his fight for human rights. The mayor said there is no doubt that King was “chosen by God” to be a pivotal figure in the civil-rights struggle and fight for human rights for all mankind.
“All we have to do to see the dream fulfilled is to quit teaching hate,” Jennings said.
In his invocation, the Rev. Dr. E.R. McNair prayed to God: “Thank you for sending us a man to lead us — Martin Luther King. … Thank you for what he stood for. … Thank God we are living to see this day possible.”
Keith Keyes, a deacon at the church, said, “It’s important to have programs like these to teach our children what he (King) fought for. … He didn’t fight just for black people.”
Keyes noted that King fought against injustice against anyone, anywhere.
King was honored elsewhere Sunday.
In Washington, D.C., President Barack Obama honored King’s civil-rights work during an appearance at Washington’s Vermont Avenue Baptist Church on Sunday. King spoke at the church in 1956. Freed slaves founded the church two years after the Civil War ended.
“Calling King and those who fought for civil rights the ‘Moses generation,’ Obama urged his audience — those he called the ‘Joshua generation’ — to ‘get back to basics’ as Americans face the challenges of a new age,” The Associated Press reported.
On Sunday, Obama said he learned — as did the civil rights leader — to rely on his faith even as he felt the ‘‘sting of criticism’’ during his first year as president.
‘‘During those times it’s faith that keeps me calm,’’ he said at the church about a mile north of the White House