Civil rights leaders will gather in Atlanta Sunday to celebrate Ebenezer Baptist Church’s 125th anniversary and witness the unveiling of a special birthday present honoring Martin Luther King Jr.
A commemorative work of art honoring King, U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), state Sen. Leroy Johnson and other civil rights leaders will be unveiled after the 11 a.m. sermon in the Horizon Sanctuary at 400 Auburn Ave.
King was baptized in the church and served as pastor of the downtown Atlanta institution from 1960 until his assassination April 4, 1968, in Memphis.
“To be part of the celebration and there tomorrow or any time, I feel more than lucky and very blessed,” Lewis told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Saturday.
The mosaic was created by an Atlanta-based graphic artist in honor of the church’s 125-year history.
“It’s a collage done by artist Donald Bermudez that traces the history of Ebenezer from Dr. King’s grandfather as the third preacher into Dr. King’s life,” Ebenezer Rev. Shanan E. Jones said Saturday.
Rev. Calvin O. Butts III, of New York City’s Abyssinian Baptist Church, will give the sermon.
In addition to the public showing, individual copies of the artwork will be presented to Lewis and Johnson, who became the first first African-American since reconstruction to be elected to the Georgia Senate. He currently chairs the church’s Board of Trustees.
King’s sister, Christine King Farris, a church trustee, will also be present.
Lewis, who last month became the second Ebenezer member to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, will receive a special honor for his dedication to racial equality and governance. Former President Jimmy Carter awarded King the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, posthumously in 1977.
“It’s good to be part of it. I’ve been attending Ebenezer off and on since 1963,” he said. Lewis became a member in 1968, the same year he was married in the church.
“It is a church that raised Martin Luther King Jr. It’s America’s church, a national historic landmark not only for people to come worship and be taught a lesson,” Lewis said. “But it’s also a place where people are inspired to go out and help build a newer world and a better world. People come to Ebenezer from all over the world, plain ordinary people and leaders of nations of the world come to pay tribute to Dr. King and come to see this church and be part of the services.”
In 2012, Ebenezer will open the Martin Luther King Sr. Community Resource Complex as a “functioning monument” to its historical legacy of social change, Jones said. The center will be named in honor of Ebenezer’s third senior pastor, who was called “Daddy King.”
The church was founded in 1886 on Airline Street by Rev. John A. Parker, who was born into slavery. Parker was succeeded by Rev. Adam Daniel Williams. Williams' daughter, Alberta Christine Williams, married King Sr.
King Jr. joined his father as co-pastor in 1960.
“Since its earliest days, Ebenezer has always been a local church with a global vision and a decided commitment to social transformation,” Ebenezer Senior Pastor Rev. Raphael G. Warnock said in a statement. “Even before Martin Luther King, Jr., Ebenezer’s pastors and its people fought for voting rights and economic empowerment with moral courage and creativity. We aim to extend that legacy.”
About the Author
