KING BIRTHDAY TO BE OBSERVED

One of the organizers of an ecumenical worship service celebrating the life of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. says he hopes the event will foster better race relations in Cape Girardeau.

"This is a way of building a bridge (between races) in a very positive kind of way," said the Rev. Craig Nessan of St. Mark Lutheran Church. He is one of the organizers of the service.

The worship service will be held Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 235 Broadway. Wednesday marks the anniversary of King's birth in 1929, Nessan said.

The service will mark the first time that Cape Girardeau has held a community worship service celebrating King's life, he said.

In past years, a number of events recognizing King's accomplishments have been held on the Southeast Missouri State University campus.

"But it has been mostly campus centered," said Nessan. "We felt a need to broaden it into the community."

The Cape Girardeau minister said King's accomplishments are worthy of recognition.

"The ideals for which he lived are so outstanding that we really need to be inspired by them," said Nessan.

"I think he also took a very clear stand for peace in the world, which was a very controversial thing that he did in terms of the Vietnam War," maintained Nessan.

King's actions are virtually synonymous with the civil rights movement, he said.

Nessan said King gave "visionary leadership" to the civil rights movement, which led to the dismantling of segregation.

"By his eloquent and prophetic message, Martin Luther King Jr. called Americans to the idea of justice, while consistently promoting non-violent methods for achieving social change," said Nessan.

King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. He was assassinated in Memphis in 1968.

Wednesday's service is sponsored by the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, several local churches and the Southeast Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation, of which Nessan is a member.

Among those speaking at the worship service will be Hayti Heights Mayor David Humes, representing the Bootheel Mayor's Association; Bernice Coar-Cobb, who participated in a freedom march with King; Leoma Leigh II and William Bird.

Several church choirs will perform, including choirs from St. James AME Church and Second Baptist Church. Soloists Calvin Bird and Charlene Peyton will also perform.

A dramatic reading of King's "I Have a Dream" speech will be presented by Linda Michael and Michael Sterling, president of the NAACP chapter here.

Nessan will participate in the service, as will the Revs. Bruce Edwards, Charles Grant, Patricia Williams and Leoma Leigh.

The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Award will be presented by the Fellowship of Reconciliation and the local chapter of the NAACP to a Cape Girardeau area resident "who has demonstrated the ideals of justice, freedom and change through non-violence that Dr. King exemplified," Nessan said.

A permanent plaque bearing the name of the award recipient will be displayed in the Cape Girardeau Civic Center, he said.

The offering from the worship service will be given to Southeast Missouri State University's Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Fund in honor of the award winner.

"We hope to get a sizable offering," said Nessan.

Following the service, a reception will be held at the civic center, across the street from the church.