Special to the American
On March 13, 40 years after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. went to Memphis to support striking sanitation workers making poverty wages, faith leaders from around the country gathered there to demand a living wage for all workers. The interfaith service was held at Memphis’s historic Centenary United Methodist Church, which organized support in 1968 for the Memphis sanitation workers.
Co-convened by the Let Justice Roll Living Wage Campaign and the Mid-South Interfaith Network for Economic Justice, the interfaith prayer service featured speakers such as civil rights activist Joyce Miller, now associate general secretary for Justice and Human Rights at the American Friends Service Committee, and former sanitation striker and union organizer Taylor Rogers.
“Minimum wage earners have lost significant ground over the past 40 years,” said the Rev. Jennifer Kottler, executive director of the Let Justice Roll Living Wage Campaign, a national faith, community and labor coalition committed to raising the minimum wage.
“The minimum wage in 1968, when Memphis sanitation workers went on strike, was $9.70 in 2008 dollars. Dr. King would be shocked to see that today’s minimum wage is only $5.85. Rather than lifting people out of poverty, the low minimum wage keeps them in poverty.”
The interfaith prayer service kicked off a 24-hour Fast for the Living Wage in Memphis. Participants were asked to contact their City Council members and urge them to cover workers and contracted employees at the Memphis public utility Memphis Light, Gas, and Water, under the living wage ordinance.
Faith groups represented at the interfaith service included Baptist, United Methodist, Christian Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal, Episcopalian, United Church of Christ, Presbyterian (USA), Disciples of Christ, Reform Jewish, Conservative Jewish, Roman Catholic, Quaker and Unitarian.
Mentoring at St. Mark’s
The Higher and Higher Tutoring program at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church of Florissant, 315 Graham Road, has been recognized by the Ferguson/Florissant School District for the academic support it provides to Combs Elementary School students and others in the surrounding community.
Under the pastoral leadership of the Rev. John Gregory, the church rented and converted a Reeb Apartment into a tutoring center. Church volunteers tutor students who live there and in the area. Most of the students attend Combs. In addition, Higher and Higher’s committed and dependable tutors bring their services to Combs two days a week.
The district thanked the following members for tutoring students: Carol Belisle, Louise Harrison, Shirley Howard, Sue Kubik, Ruth Lacey, Brittaney Martin, Rea Martin, Dianne McPeak, Jackie Myers, Maxine Ormsbee, Barbara Randolph, Sherrill Reeb, Polly Rolens, Deloris Shank, Darlene Taylor, Dwight Taylor, Jerry Thompson, Kim Vandernoot, Martha Weiss and Jan Williams.
Higher and Higher’s Tutoring partnership with Combs has provided its students with year-round academic and social support that extends well beyond the school day.
Gospel Industry seminar
The Missouri Gospel Announcers Guild will present its Gospel Artist Showcase and Gospel Industry Seminar, March 28-29. This event will provide networking opportunities with the gospel music industry’s proven artist labels and radio announcers. Labels and distributors are always on the lookout for that next great artist. Calling and register with Chuck Spearman at 314-436-7424.