The Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration at St. Paul's' promises to be another inspiring program filled with music, the teachings of Jesus, Words of Dr. King and we will feature three local speakers from our local community, and the presentation of the Percy and Lileah Harris "Who is My Neighbor” Award. The 11Th annual award will be presented during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration at St. Paul’s UMC on January 18, 2009 at 7:00 pm.
Instead of one keynote speaker at this year’s event, we decided to highlight Who Is My Neighbor through the stories of Tom Darden of Bethel AME Church, Courtney Ball and Clint Twedt-Ball of Matthew 25 Ministries and Tom Moore of the African American Museum of Iowa. All these people and/or organizations have been impacted or involved in flood recovery from the historic Flood of 2008.
Plan to attend this year's celebration - to be inspired by this year’s message from our community; to hear the music of the Gospel Choir of Johnson School of the Arts and of Mt. Zion's Men's Choir and of St. Paul's Music Ministry; to celebrate the new honoree of the "Who is My Neighbor Award" - and all to be done as a reminder of the enduring contributions of Dr. King.
Who's My Neighbor Award
In the January, 2000, the first Percy and Lileah Harris "Who is My Neighbor" Award was presented to Dr. and Mrs. Harris and all future awards will carry their name. The award plaque reads "In recognition of a lifelong faith commitment to living in harmony with others and to promoting equality and social justice in the community.” This year’s award will be the tenth award presented at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration at St. Paul’s.
"Who is My Neighbor" is based on the story of the Good Samaritan Jesus told in response to the question, "Who is my neighbor?" Dr. King also used the story of the Good Samaritan in his final speech in Memphis just before he was assassinated in 1968.
The recipient of the award needs to meet these criteria:
- Acts out of a religious faith base
- Is caring and compassionate.
- Is community oriented.
- Is a good neighbor to all.
- Lives within Linn County.
You are cordially invited to attend the public celebration on January 18, 2010 at 7 pm. This year’s program promises to continue our great tradition, the music and a dramatic reading of Martin Luther King Jr.’s words. St. Paul’s United Methodist Church is located at 1340 Third Avenue SE, Cedar Rapids,Iowa.
http://www.cedarrapidswhoismyneighbor.blogspot.com/
