A Martin Luther King Day service was hosted by Friendship Missionary Baptist Church on January 20 at 11:00 am. The service began with the Negro National Anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing. Bishop Melvin McCluster, the pastor of Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, gave the opening prayer. Malachi McCluster read from Mathew 5:43. The Sumter County Middle School Choir sang several stirring selections, and dancers from United Holiness Church performed to Lead Me On.

Kamille Cutts welcomed those gathered. “I, along with the Americus Divine 9, would like to extend a hearty welcome to each to the annual MLK Day of Service, of celebration, where this year’s theme is Mission Possible: Game Changers. As the scripture states in Psalm 133 verse 1; ‘behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.’”

Fourth grader and active member at Union Tabernacle Baptist Church, Laila Haugabook, read the occasion. She spoke of King’s legacy. “Let’s think about how his legacy calls for us to be game changers. Stop, look, and listen. Stop to remember and celebrate not just a man, but a man who dedicated his life to justice for all. Stop to remember how his works encouraged us to believe that we have the power to be a change and become game changers. Look. Look at the areas of everything we have achieved as a result of Dr. King’s vision. Look at the dreams that have been realized.” She pointed out ministers, educators, doctors, lawyers, and politicians in the crowd. “Now our job is to listen to everything that is said here today and listen to understand what happened in the past and how it impacted the present, and what it means for the future.” She challenged the young people in the audience. “The world is watching and waiting for us. We are the next generation of game changers.”

Minister Kaleb Green gave the keynote address, speaking of the importance of faith in Dr. King’s life. “I’m reminded of the words of St. Augustine, that African bishop, he said; ‘Thou hast made us for thyself, and our souls are restless until they find their rest.’ Somebody here this morning is still trying to find themselves. Well, let me tell you what Jesus said. He said; ‘if you try to save your life, you will lose it, but if you give your life over to me, you will discover everlasting life.’ Doctor King shall never die because He gave his life over to something and somebody who is bigger than his life.”

Kaleb spoke on Hebrews Chapter 11, which lists several saints, and is known as the hall of faith. He stated that the resume of each began with the same two words. “The plaque simply reads: by faith. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. By faith, Moses left Egypt when some folks wanted to go back.”

He compared King’s faith to those listed in Hebrews. “If I could get an audience this morning with the divine council I would seek to be recognized by the chair, and then recognized by the chair I would move that the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King be added unto this distinguished list.”

He recounted his accomplishments. “By faith, Martin Luther King Jr. stood up when Rosa Parks decided to take a seat. By faith, he left the comfort of a pulpit and made the whole world his parish. By faith, he taught us to meet brute force with soul force.”

Kaleb spoke of importance of bringing Earth into alignment with Heaven. “I believe that democracy is the political enactment of the spiritual idea that all of us were created in the image of God, that we have a spark of the divine and so democracy is about perfecting that idea. It is about pushing us closer towards that ideal.”

Kaleb challenged the audience. “I dropped by this morning to say, on Dr. King’s National Holiday, let’s recommit ourselves to building a better country. Don’t give in to the negativity. Don’t give in to the gun violence. Don’t give in to social media, but understand that people who have no vision, traffic in division, but let’s all stand together and build a better country.”

After the service, several attendees shared their reactions. Alice Green described it as a wonderful experience. “It’s a chance to reflect on the life and legacy of MLK and then be encouraged to continue the legacy.”

Green gave her personal highlight. “The highlight of the service today, for me, is seeing the young people being involved.” She credited youth groups associated with organizations like the Divine 9 for high youth involvement.

Greg Archie, with Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, served as an usher. He stated it was the first church service he had been to in years. “It was a nice experience to see all these people come out, come together, and seeing all the groups come out and just really celebrate MLK.”

Archie gave the highlight. “I’m gonna go with the speech that Laila gave. That was a good speech.”

Hollie Walters, second term president of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, spoke of hosting the event. “This is our fourth time hosting, putting on the MLK program here.”

She described organization efforts. “It is a lot of work trying to put it together, trying to get the right people on the program, but we use a team approach, so we get the Divine 9 to help us.”

In addition to the Divine 9, she listed Masons, Shriners, and Eastern Stars among those represented at the service.

Chasity King, a sixth-grade math teacher at Sumter County Intermediate, was also in attendance. “I had an amazing time. I brought a group of my girls from Sumter County Intermediate School, the Charms group. It’s a mentoring group where we focus on hospitality, academics and respect for ourself.”

She gave her students’ reactions. “They actually liked it. They want to participate in the black history programs we have coming up, and they want to do a lot more in the community as well.”

King shared her favorite parts of the service. “The praise dance for sure, and the middle school chorus was great, it was phenomenal. I did love the speaker, especially because he’s still enrolled in Georgia schools, and it looks good to see our public-school kids involved in the community and showing our other kids what to do.”