“RACE IN THE 21ST CENTURY: WHAT’S NEXT?”
26th ANNUAL NIM MARTIN LUTHER KING INTERFAITH CELEBRATION, JANUARY 18
The 26th annual NIM (Neighborhood Interfaith Movement) Martin Luther King Interfaith Celebration will take place just two days before the inauguration of Barack Obama, surely a milestone event in this nation’s history. Without a doubt, we are living in perilous, yet very exciting, times. Many would say that Obama’s election is proof of a major shift in American public life.
The theme of this year’s program will be Race in the 21st Century: What’s Next? It will include a main presentation by Rev. Dr. Albert Mosley, of Janes Memorial United Methodist Church, who is also a lecturer at Drexel on identity and diversity. Several local religious and civil rights leaders – Imam Suetwedien Muhammad (Masjid Muhammad), Rev. Thomas Eoyang (Grace Epiphany Episcopal Church), and Stanley Diamond (Germantown Jewish Centre) will offer responses to his talk.
Music will be provided by choirs from Congregation Temple Beth El, Germantown Jewish Centre, and New Covenant Church. Audience singing will be led by Tobie Hoffman.
A special, brief guest appearance will feature the Rev. Dr. Thomas Lane Butts, minister emeritus of First United Methodist Church in Monroeville, Alabama, and frequent radio and TV guest. Dr. Butts became an active leader in the Civil Rights movement in the mid-fifties. He has drawn inspiration especially from a day spent with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. shortly after Dr. King came to Montgomery, Alabama. He was also a participant in the Selma March.
Following the formal program, those interested will have a chance to discuss the issues raised by the keynote speaker and help determine how to keep the conversation going.
The program will take place at New Covenant Church, 7500 Germantown Avenue, in the main sanctuary, on Sunday, January 18, starting promptly at 3:15 p.m. For more information call the NIM office, 215-843-5600.