‘The work is not finished’: Annual Martin Luther King Jr. commemorative celebration aims to ‘keep the dream alive’

Golden light filtered through stained-glass windows at the Holy Temple Church of God in Christ on Sunday afternoon as dozens of people, young and old, sat together on wooden pews before service.

Attendees’ lively chatter did not die down as a pastor began speaking . Rather, talking turned to singing, and standing to dancing. The crowd clapped along to live music played by an organist.

Such was the beginning of the annual Martin Luther King Jr. commemorative celebration – a partnership between the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center and the Black Minister Alliance. Pastor James Watkins said that he has attended the celebrational service since his childhood.

“It’s awesome. This is one of my favorite times of the year,” he said, adding that people come from all over the city to honor King.

Decades later, as the president of the Spokane Minister’s Fellowship and pastor of the New Hope Baptist Church, Watkins said the service is designed to act as a nod to King’s religious background, taking place the day before the annual Unity March.

“This is the honor of the more spiritual side of Dr. King. Before he was anything, he was a preacher,” Watkins said. “And so we honor him as a preacher. We honor his vision, he honor his memory.”

Churchgoers filed down to collection baskets between songs and speakers. All donations will be donated to the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center.

Bishop Garry Tyson flew from Seattle to speak at the service. He told stories about King and slavery in American history, connecting the topics to biblical stories – in particular, the Bible story of a young slave named Eutychus, who fell asleep in church, fell out a window, and died before being revived by the Christian apostle Paul.

Tyson said individuals should not sleep as Eutychus had but instead remain “woke” to social issues in their various communities.

“When the boy fell out the window and died, the church stopped having church, and the church started being the church,” Tyson said. “Do you not know the Civil Rights Movement began in the church? If you open your doors to the Civil Rights Movement, you don’t need to close your doors Monday morning.”

The Rev. Robert Robinson, a member of the Spokane Minister’s Fellowship, said that the service’s message of “staying woke in the community” resonated with him.

“It’s becoming more of a focus within the city of Spokane that we need to pay attention to things that are going on in our city, as far as our youth, and also other things around,” he said. “Because Spokane is growing.”

The service ended with a call for churchgoers to join the annual Unity March at 10 a.m. Monday at the Spokane Convention Center. Watkins said King’s dream must be kept alive.

“The work is not finished,” Watkins said. “It’s going to fall on the work of people in my generation – kind of the gatekeepers – and it’s going to fall on the next generation to keep the dream alive.”