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Martin Luther King ‘the conscience of his generation’

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FARMINGTON – The Farmington Area Ecumenical Ministry held its annual observance for the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. today, at a small service held in the Old South Fire Congregational Church.

Held on the third Monday of January, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a celebration of the life of the reverend, who was a central figure in the civil rights movement in the 1950s and ’60s. King was assassinated in 1968 in Memphis.

Rev. Cathie Wallace, of the Old South Church, began the service.

“Welcome to this service and celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr.,” she said.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Wallace and other local ministers read poems, excerpts of King’s work, quoted articles and lead the assembly in song and prayer. Rev. Richard Waddell, a member of the Old South Church, quoted the citation which accompanied the Presidential Medal of Freedom King posthumously received in 1977.

“Martin Luther King, Jr. was the conscience of his generation,” Waddell quoted. “He made our nation stronger because he made it better.”

“His life informed us and his dreams sustain us yet.”

Waddell went on to read part of King’s commencement speech given to Lincoln University in Pennsylvania on June 6, 1961.

“I believe, as never before, in the power of nonviolent resistance,” King had said. “In the long run of history, destructive means have never brought about constructive ends.”

King then asked the graduating class to involve themselves within their county and community.

“…Not to be detached spectators,” King said, “but involved participants in this great drama occurring around the world.”

The Farmington Area Ecumenical Ministry churches consists of the Old South First Congregational UCC, the Henderson Memorial Baptist Church, St. Luke’s Episcopal, St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic, Fairbanks Union Presbyterian, Shorey Chapel UCC and the Trinity United Methodist.

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