Correspondent photos / Sean Barron Christ Centered Church’s pews were filled for a community worship service Sunday at the Youngstown church to remember and honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and legacy.

YOUNGSTOWN — When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech April 3, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee, he ended the last presentation of his life by telling a crowd of about 2,500 that he had been allowed to reach the top of the symbolic mountain, look over and see the Promised Land, but he also was prescient enough to think he may not get there with his audience.

Less than 24 hours later, he was assassinated on the balcony outside of his room at the Lorraine Motel. King was 39.

Before the tragedy, King knew that a mountain could be idyllic, scenic, enchanting and beautiful, yet it also was “never designed to be a place of permanence, but a place for preparation,” a longtime pastor said.

“We honor him and all that his ministry has produced …for all the world,” the Rev. Christopher McKee Jr., pastor of First Baptist Church of Oakland in Jacksonville, Florida, said during his keynote address for an annual community worship service Sunday afternoon at Christ Centered Church, 330 Hudson Ave., on the South Side.

Sponsoring the religious gathering was the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Planning Committee of the Mahoning Valley. The Rev. Kenneth L. Simon, pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church in Youngstown, served as worship leader.

The commemorative celebration was largely to remember and celebrate King’s life and legacy. Today is the national Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

McKee, former pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church in Youngstown, used the mountain as a metaphor for a place of temporary sanctuary and moments of triumphs, but added that people also need to do the sometimes hard and painful but good work, when necessary, in the “valleys and plains.” Specifically, such labor entails continuing to fight nonviolently against racism, sexism, misogyny and hate, along with unchecked and concentrated power and their associated immorality, McKee said.

“Speaking up for what’s right will get us in trouble,” he told the packed pews.

Nevertheless, “God has got us,” including when standing against those who don’t want to see progress for people of color, McKee added.

Along similar lines, Jesus Christ’s ministry was never about exclusivity, but wrapped itself around those who were broken, destitute and considered to be “untouchables,” said McKee, who also is a social and community activist as well as an advocate for holistic wellness.

In addition, he noted that King, at age 35, won the Nobel Peace Prize in December 1964 in Oslo for his work in the civil rights movement.

McKee also read from Mark 9:2-14, which, in essence, talks about the glory of Christ, who took Peter, John and James up a mountain, and were joined by Elijah, when a cloud and the voice of God passed over them. While descending the mountain, Christ instructed his disciples to be silent about what they had seen until the Son of Man had been raised from death. At the bottom of the mountain, they saw a large crowd around the other disciples.

KING’S VISION

“Dr. King had a vision during times of uncertainty,” Michaela Write, a planning committee member, said, adding that the civil rights leader and humanitarian tried to turn hatred directed toward him into love.

Also, King was a visionary who maintained hope in nonviolently fighting for better times, yet was realistic about the time in which he lived, she said.

For about the last five years, the word “unprecedented” has been used regularly, especially in reference to the COVID-19 pandemic and uptick in racial violence and killings of people of color. Nevertheless, King’s contributions to the world’s betterment were not unprecedented partly because he received inspiration from others, Write added.

Write also compared and contrasted today’s society with the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, saying that people continue to reap the benefits of King’s work and that of other leaders of that time. The two societies overlap, however, because hate-filled and racially-motivated practices continue with efforts to try to pull progress for many people backward and downward, she explained.

Also during Sunday’s service, Yoad Rodriguez Lopez, a Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past member and a Chaney High School junior, read aloud a portion of a speech King delivered March 25, 1965, at the end of the five-day Selma-to-Montgomery march for voting rights.

King said in part, “Today, I want to tell the city of Selma, today I want to say to the state of Alabama, today I want to say to the people of America and the nations of the world, that we are not about to turn around. We are on the move now. Yes, we are on the move, and no wave of racism can stop us.

“Let us march on ballot boxes until we send to our city councils, state legislatures and the United States Congress, men who will not fear to do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with thy God.

“And so as we go away this afternoon, let us go away more than ever before committed to this struggle and committed to nonviolence. I must admit to you that there are still some difficult days ahead. We are still in for a season of suffering. I must admit to you that there are still jail cells waiting for us … But if we will go on with the faith that nonviolence and its power can transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows, we will be able to change these conditions. And so I plead with you this afternoon as we go ahead: Remain committed to nonviolence.”

Lyric Saulsberry, a Youngstown Rayen Early College senior, read aloud the early parts of King’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech that he delivered toward the end of the Aug. 28, 1963, March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Rabbi Courtney Berman of Congregation Ohev Beth Shalom gave the Hebrew reading in which she implored her audience and others to embrace a “heritage of justice” while seeking and pursuing peace.

Musical selections included “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” and “I Need You to Survive.”