Beyond Color and Politics: MLK Celebration Calls Believers to Unity in Christ
By Sharon Mager
LAUREL, Md. — About 175 people gathered Jan. 19 at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Laurel, Md., for the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, presented by the African American Fellowship of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware.
The event focused on unity and featured a panel discussion and a message from special guest speaker Everett Pope, pastor of United Baptist Church in New Carrollton, Md.
BCM/D Director of Church Strengthening and MLK Celebration Coordinator Jeremy Dickson and Speaker Everett Pope.
Quoting from Jesus’ prayer in John 17:11, Pope reminded attendees of His focus on unity: “Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.”
“Our united common denominator is the Lord Jesus Christ — not that we’re black or that we’re white,” Pope said, “It is proven biblically and through observable science that there is no such thing as a black person or a white person. There is no way from these two extremes that you could have the array of colors we have. Our first parents had to be a shade of brown. Or, at least somewhere in the middle.”
Illustrating his point, Pope gestured toward a black silhouette of Martin Luther King Jr. displayed on a screen. “Dr. King was not black like that,” he said, then held up a piece of white paper. “And I’ve never seen a Caucasian person this color.”
Pope encouraged attendees to center their identity in Christ. “We define each other by colors we really aren’t, when we should be focused on Christ,” he said. “We’re not Republicans. We’re not Democrats. We’re children of the living God.”
The event also included a unity panel discussion featuring Director of the Morgan State University Baptist Student Ministry Jalen Stewart-Fuller; Prince George’s County District 6 Council Member Marian Dickson; BCM/D Director of Formation and Health Dan Hyun; and Trinity Baptist Church, Hyattsville, Pastor Phil Hurst.
One of the highlights of the day was the special presentation of the AAF’s inaugural “Living Legend Award,” presented to Emmanuel Baptist Church, Laurel pastor, and AAF treasurer, Byron Day.
Prince George’s Baptist Association Director of Missions Marcus Tillmann, along with Hyun and Hurst, closed the event by leading the congregation in a prayer for unity.
Feature Photo: Unity Panel for MLK Celebration (Photo by Victor Kirk)