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MLK Community Worship Service rescheduled for Feb. 6

Jan. 28, 2022

The community worship service planned as part of the 2022 Blount County MLK Day Weekend Celebration has been rescheduled for 4 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 6, at Rest Haven Baptist Church in Alcoa. The service originally planned for Jan. 16 was postponed due to winter weather.

The Rev. Peter Kenny, pastor of Williamson Chapel United Methodist Church in the Lanier community and former associate minister at St. John Baptist Church in Alcoa, will give the spiritual message.

The MLK Celebration Choir, led by Larry Ervin, will provide music.

During the service, the MLK Celebration Planning Committee will present the Anthony Dunnings Community Service Award and recognize the persons selected to be the grand marshals of the MLK March that was scheduled for January 17 but cancelled because of wintery weather. Lilli Brown, director of the MLK Center in Alcoa, will receive the service award; Dexter and Marjorie Stewart, who have devoted many years of service in the areas of diversity and racial justice, will be recognized as grand marshals.

Attendees will be required to wear masks.

The service will be live-steamed on the Facebook page of the MLK Celebration Planning Committee, facebook.com/MLKBlount.

Presentation of the MLK Scholarship from DENSO Manufacturing also will be recorded and posted to facebook.com/MLKBlount. Grace Neve of Heritage High School, this year’s winner, will read from her essay as part of the recording.

“The Friday MLK Business Luncheon at the Airport Hilton was a strong start to the weekend, and we were disappointed to have to cancel the remaining activities planned for the weekend and the Monday holiday,” said Belinda Kenny, co-chair of the MLK Celebration Planning Committee. “We are thankful, though, that so many people committed to rescheduling this service and celebrating these individuals who are working to create the ‘beloved community’ that Dr. King spoke of.”

Adriel McCord, committee co-chair, said the Feb. 6 event could also help launch Black History Month activities in the community.

“The Sunday afternoon worship will be an important time of gathering, remembering, learning, and committing ourselves to a future that is more equitable and inclusive,” he said. “We look forward to seeing everyone there.”

Contact:  Karen B. Eldridge, Marketing & Communications
865-981-8207; karen.eldridge@maryvillecollege.edu

Maryville College is a nationally-ranked institution of higher learning and one of America’s oldest colleges. For more than 200 years we’ve educated students to be giving citizens and gifted leaders, to study everything, so that they are prepared for anything — to address any problem, engage with any audience and launch successful careers right away. Located in Maryville, Tennessee, between the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the city of Knoxville, Maryville College offers nearly 1,200  students from around the world both the beauty of a rural setting and the advantages of an urban center, as well as more than 60 majors, seven pre-professional programs and career preparation from their first day on campus to their last. Today, our 10,000 alumni are living life strong of mind and brave of heart and are prepared, in the words of our Presbyterian founder, to “do good on the largest possible scale.”