MLK Day events planned in Valley in Youngstown

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Planning Committee of Mahoning County will commemorate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a celebration highlighted by a Community Service of Worship 3:30 p.m. Jan. 16 at Tabernacle Baptist Church, 707 Arlington St.

There also will be a community workshop from 8:30 a.m. to noon Jan. 17 at First Presbyterian Church, 201 Wick Ave. Both programs will examine Dr. King’s teachings that all people should be empowered to engage in meaningful community service and social action nonviolently.

The worship service will feature Bishop Durant K. Harvin III, senior pastor and spiritual officer of The Assemblies of The Emmanuel Church in Baltimore.

Bishop Harvin received his bachelor’s degree from Hampton University in Virginia in 1988, and his master of divinity degree from Colgate Rochester Divinity School/Bexley Hall/Crozer Theological Seminary in Rochester, N.Y.,in 1991.

In December 2005, he earned his doctor of ministry degree at Samford University Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Ala., and completed postdoctoral studies at the Harvard University.

Bishop Harvin is involved in a variety of community and clergy groups and is a national speaker.

In addition to his remarks, the ecumenical worship service will feature presentations by the local Emancipation Community Choir under the direction of Dr. Luke Shumpert, as well as Scripture readings by representatives of the Moslem, Christian and Jewish faiths.

The Monday workshop will feature community activists as it addresses Dr. King’s teaching that there is no time to wait to act in support of a broad social-justice agenda.

Bishop Harvin will deliver additional remarks, followed by a presentation by Gordon Wean, chairman of the board of the Raymond John Wean Foundation, on his family’s commitment to fund social action and social-justice projects in the Valley.

The workshop will include a panel discussion featuring Dr. Sherry Linkon, a Youngstown State University professor; Janae Ward, a Chaney High School junior; Jimmy Pugh, Project Gridiron Club, Warren City School District; as well as representatives from the Alliance for Congregational Transformation Influencing Our Neighborhoods and the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative. There is no charge for the events.

The Rev. Dr. Lewis W. Macklin II, pastor of Holy Trinity Missionary Baptist Church, Youngstown, is the convener of the King Day planning committee. For information on the activities, call 330-746-3250, ext. 183.