STRENGTH TO LOVE: A Night of Worship & Remembrance Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Name: STRENGTH TO LOVE: A Night of Worship & Remembrance Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Start: 2025-04-04T18:00:00-05:00
Location: First Christian Church of Tyler

Schedule

Fri, 04 Apr, 2025 at 06:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

First Christian Church of Tyler | Tyler, TX

Join Open Table Faith for a very special night of worship and remembrance in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., icon of the Civil Rights movement and one of the greatest nonviolent leaders in world history. The event will take place at First Christian Church in Tyler at 6pm on April 4, the anniversary of Dr. King's assassination. The evening will include:
* Musical performances by the Jarvis Christian University Choir and choir leader Donald Aaron III
* A powerful rendition of Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech by Rev. Nickalous McGrew, Senior Pastor of Higher Dimensions Ministry
* A sermon by the Rev. Alfred M. Walker, Regional Minister of Anti-Racism and Reconciliation for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Southwest Region
ABOUT DR. KING JR. (from thekingcenter.org)
During the less than 13 years of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s leadership of the modern American Civil Rights Movement, from December 1955 until April 4, 1968, African Americans achieved more genuine progress toward racial equality in America than the previous 350 years had produced. Dr. King is widely regarded as America’s pre-eminent advocate of nonviolence and one of the greatest nonviolent leaders in world history.
Drawing inspiration from both his Christian faith and the peaceful teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. King led a nonviolent movement in the late 1950s and ‘60s to achieve legal equality for African-Americans in the United States. While others were advocating for freedom by “any means necessary,” including violence, Martin Luther King, Jr. used the power of words and acts of nonviolent resistance, such as protests, grassroots organizing, and civil disobedience to achieve seemingly-impossible goals. He went on to lead similar campaigns against poverty and international conflict, always maintaining fidelity to his principles that men and women everywhere, regardless of color or creed, are equal members of the human family.
Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, Nobel Peace Prize lecture and “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” are among the most revered orations and writings in the English language. His accomplishments are now taught to American children of all races, and his teachings are studied by scholars and students worldwide. He is the only non-president to have a national holiday dedicated in his honor and is the only non-president memorialized on the Great Mall in the nation’s capital. He is memorialized in hundreds of statues, parks, streets, squares, churches and other public facilities around the world as a leader whose teachings are increasingly-relevant to the progress of humankind.
ABOUT OPEN TABLE FAITH
Open Table Faith is a ministry of First Christian Church in Tyler, TX, that creates safe and brave spaces for honest conversations about God, faith and life; and encourages spiritual exploration, theological imagination, and compassionate action in the world. Doubters, questioners and spiritual refugees welcome! Learn more at opentablefaith.com.