MLK observance in Youngstown today to feature California pastor

MLK observance in Youngstown today to feature California pastor

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Planning Committee of Mahoning County will sponsor a community worship service at 3:30 p.m. today at New Bethel Baptist Church, 1507 Hillman St.

Featured speaker will be Pastor Michael McBride of The Way Christian Center, West Berkeley, Calif. Pastor McBride, who has been in ministry for 20 years, also serves as executive director of Berkeley Organizing Congregations for Action, an affiliate of the national network of People Improving Communities through Organizing.

The service also will include music by the Emancipation Community Choir directed by Dr. Luke Shumpert and Scripture readings by representatives of Christian, Islam and Jewish faiths. The theme for the service and a community workshop on Monday is “Responding with King’s Passion in the Fight Against Poverty.”

The workshop will be from 9 a.m. to noon Monday at First Presbyterian Church, 201 Wick Ave., Youngstown, with Dr. Joseph Mosca, dean of Youngstown State University’s Bitonte College of Health and Human Services, speaking on the use and misuse of statistics on poverty. Pastor McBride also will speak. Workshop participants will break into small groups to focus on how the Valley responds to poverty from social/human services and social justice. Those attending are asked to bring nonperishable food items or cash donations for Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley. The service and workshop are free. The Rev. Dr. Lewis W. Macklin II is the convener. For information, call 330-746-3250, ext. 183.