CHICAGO, Jan. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — For the second consecutive year, The Grow Center for Church and Mission is hosting Remembering Dr. King, a two-night virtual event reflecting on his Letter From A Birmingham Jail. Written from behind the bars of a Birmingham jail in 1963, Dr. King’s communication was a response to an open letter penned by local religious leaders calling his presence and actions there "unwise and untimely."
Remembering Dr. King 2022, which will be held on January 17th and 18th at 7pm Central time, will feature roundtable discussions and reflections with Christian Community Development Association Co-founder Dr. John Perkins, Surge Network’s Dennae Pierre, NBA Analyst Chris Broussard, Christian hip hop artist Lecrae, the Holy Post’s Skye Jethani, Public Theology Project Director Russell Moore, and many more.
Last year’s inaugural event, which focused on Dr. King’s I Have A Dream speech, was held 8 months after the horrific death of George Floyd and gathered more than 9,000 viewers. The hope of the Grow Center, which is a subsidiary organization of Northern Seminary, is to bring the very necessary conversation of racial justice back to the forefront of the Church.
"Racial justice is still very much at the forefront of the division in the United States," said Tommy Lee, Executive Director of the Grow Center for Church and Mission. "Until we all humble ourselves and admit we still have much to learn and a long way to go, we will never see change. And the Church needs to be the first to do this, to fight to see God’s kingdom come here on earth. If we don’t, we are complicit in accepting the status quo."
Lee’s sentiments echo those of Dr. King, who shared in his letter that a big disappointment for him was the moderate, who is more concerned with keeping a false peace through the status quo, than fighting for justice.
Dr. King did not pull any punches with his readers, and appeals to many examples in scripture of God’s people leading the way in the fight for justice. The Apostle Paul, the prophet Amos, even Jesus Christ – all extremists for justice, for love, for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
"Dr. King famously states that ‘the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice?’" said Lee. "We feel this question is too important to ignore, and we hope that people across racial and denominational lines will gather on Monday and Tuesday to humbly learn, and then act."
Several well-respected Christian organizations have partnered with the Grow Center to produce this event, including Northern Seminary, Renew Chicago, Christianity Today, Ronald Blue Trust, TogetherLA, National Christian Foundation and many more. Please visit www.thegrowcenter.com/mlk2022 to learn more.
About The Grow Center for Church and Mission
The Grow Center is the place where biblically-based leadership meets innovative entrepreneurial thinking. For the bivocational pastor, the marketplace leader, the ministry entrepreneur, the Grow Center gathers men and women from a diverse set of circumstances and convenes and equips them with the biblical and marketplace tools and relationships necessary to bring their innovation to life.
Contact
Sarah Martel Lee
327491@email4pr.com
773.931.3559
SOURCE Grow Center for Church and Mission
