*culture is not optional, in its role as a participating member of the Three Rivers Area Faith Community (TRAFC), is co-hosting a celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday, January 20. Join us at 5:00 at Three Rivers City Hall for a commemorative march from City Hall to First Presbyterian Church of Three Rivers (shuttles will be available if you’d like to park at the church first). We’ll then enjoy a potluck meal together at 5:30 before gathering to honor the work of Dr. King at 6:30.
This year’s celebration will feature Pastor Barbara Brown from Grant Chapel, local poets from the First Thursdays Open Mic at Lowry’s Books, the Brandenburg Concert, New Jerusalem praise band, DJ Mitchie Moore, and the Ambassadors for Christ Praise Dancers. A free will offering will support TRAFC’s annual Back to School Celebration at the Huss Future Festival, which supplies free school supplies and bags to area children.
Thank you to all of the participating TRAFC churches and organizations (see below) for making this event possible!
The City of Three Rivers is also hosting a Community Participation Event earlier in the day. Citizens can help guide decisions and strategies for the future of Three Rivers by participating in this interactive gathering to provide feedback and share your thoughts on topics including downtown development, recreation, housing, local aesthetics, and overall city growth.
The work of Dr. King is not finished and his words and actions still resonate strongly more than 50 years after his assassination. Our *cino staff has a tradition of re-reading “Letter from Birmingham City Jail” every year to remember the radical witness of Dr. King, but digging deeper into his speeches and writings is always challenging and rewarding. In his speech “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence (April 4, 1967),” Dr. King speaks as though he is speaking directly into our current situation:
I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a “thing-oriented” society to a “person-oriented” society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.
If you’re looking for a great collection of Dr. King’s work to dig into, we highly recommend A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. And, of course, it is always worth hearing Dr. King’s own voice, which you can do by searching YouTube for various speeches and interviews. Here’s a great place to start:
TRAFC Participants
- Ambassadors for Christ Church
- Bridges Community Church
- Center Park United Methodist Church
- *culture is not optional
- First Presbyterian Church of Three Rivers
- First United Methodist Church Three Rivers
- New Jerusalem Baptist Church
- St. John’s Lutheran Church
- Trinity Episcopal Church
