In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, Christ Church Cathedral is hosting the fifth annual “Let Freedom Ring” – a daylong community reading of his writings, sermons and speeches – on Monday, January 20. This year it will take place from the very pulpit where Dr. King preached 50 years ago this March.
The Nave of the Cathedral (13th street between Olive and Locust, across from the Central Library) will be open from 9 a.m. through 5 p.m. for the reading, which will be accompanied by a visual display of pictures of the civil rights leader. The public is invited both to come and listen and also to take part in the reading. There is no admission charge.
Leaders sign up for half-hour reading shifts (you can sign up online at letfreedomring2014.wikispaces.com), but anyone in attendance is invited to be part of the reading as well by coming to the pulpit and indicating they wish to take over for a time. Whenever they wish to stop, someone will be ready to take their place.
“Like scripture, Dr. King’s words don’t just have meaning for the generation in which they were written, but new meaning for every generation,” says the Very Rev. Mike Kinman, dean of Christ Church Cathedral.
“We are providing an opportunity for people to come and let these words just wash over them and also participate in reading them – and, in this case, stand in the very place where he stood 50 years ago. Whether people come for 10 minutes, an hour or all day, we want to provide chance for everyone to hear these words, let them re-enter our consciousness and continue to form us today.”
King delivered a sermon at Christ Church Cathedralin March 1964, preaching, “We must learn to love together as brothers or perish as fools.”
“Dr. King embodied the deepest tradition of our faith being a balance between reflection and action,” Kinman said. “President Obama has well reminded us that his birthday is an opportunity for action in our communities. We are providing an opportunity for reflection to inform our actions not just on this one day but every day.”
This is the fifth year Christ Church Cathedral is offering this observance. For the second consecutive year, John Burroughs School is incorporating the event into its annual MLK Day of Service for its students, taking part in the listening and reading as part of their reflection on both their hands-on service and the words of Dr. King.
For more information, contact the Very Rev. Mike Kinman at mkinman@christchurchcathedral.us or 314-348-6453.
