The Rev. Wilbur Conway delivers remarks at the Martin Luther King Jr. Prayer Breakfast and Celebration Saturday, Jan. 20, at the First United Methodist Church in Marshall. Conway, an evangelist, author and officer in the Mar-Saline Branch of the NAACP, recounted some of King's activities and accomplishments and urged the audience to follow King's example. [Click to enlarge]

It was a morning filled with food, uplifting music, dancing and hopeful prayers.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Interfaith Prayer Breakfast and Celebration Saturday, Jan. 20, at the First United Methodist Church in Marshall was, as Marshall Mayor Connie Latimer noted near the end, "the way church is supposed to be."

"Wow, Dr. King, what a party," she said. "That flat rocked."

Aldrige Tabernacle Youth from Slater offer a "Celebration in Dance" during the Martin Luther King Prayer Breakfast and Celebration Saturday, Jan. 20. From left, Demaris Facen, Dion Fletcher, Adreana Cunningham, Bayshawn Palmer, Fatimah Poindexter and Antonia Turner. The group was introduced by Andrea Cunningham, not pictured. [Click to enlarge]

The event, coordinated by Aisha Williams, assistant secretary of the Mar-Saline Branch of the NAACP, had been postponed because of the ice storm the previous weekend, but the delay apparently did nothing to dampen the spirit of the occasion.

Music was provided throughout the event by the praise band Testify! and the youth of Aldridge Tabernacle in Slater read quotes from King's speeches and performed several dance numbers of their own design.

The featured speaker, the Rev. Wilbur Conway, delivered a brief but impassioned plea for people to save America from a variety of threats to its moral well-being.

"Take her back to her basic principles," he said.

And he called on people to follow King's example to do so.

"Every now and then, when things are truly bad, God raises up a man or woman who brings about change," he said, listing as examples key figures from the Bible -- Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jesus.

King, he said, "didn't hesitate as Moses did. Martin Luther King was prepared to speak -- in Mississippi, in Alabama, in Washington, D.C."

The celebration also included a number of prayers, comments and songs from members of the community invited by the Rev. Mary Williams to address the group.

The Rev. Everett Hannon reminded everyone that at the heart of King's ministry was love.

"Love is what ties everything together," he said.

State Rep. Joe Aull (D-Marshall) said King was a great example for young people today to follow. He recalled growing up in the 1950s and 1960s and seeing the hatred, bigotry and violence of the time.

"I didn't do anything about it," he said. "But Dr. King had a dream. He followed through. He made it happen."

State Sen. Bill Stouffer (R-Napton) observed that one way to carry on King's work is to help kids get a better education. He said the Missouri legislature has a number of challenges ahead of it in the new session and among the most important are issues for addressing problems in the education system.

Clarence Henderson, in his prayer, may have summed up best the spirit of the event.

"We know Dr. King couldn't do anything without you, Lord," he said. "We ask that you bless not just the blacks and not just the whites but all of humanity."

Contact Eric Crump at marshallfaith@socket.net