Colorado pastors gather to celebrate Martin Luther King’s life
The St. John's Baptist Church in Colorado Springs was alive Sunday afternoon with gospel music and prayers to commemorate the life of Martin Luther King.
People of all walks of life gathered in the small church and smiled as different pastors shared scriptures and asked them to rejoice over their freedoms.
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. won the Nobel Peace Prize for his life's efforts to push the civil rights movement forward. He's been honored with a national holiday and several buildings and a monument named after him.
"You've got to remember Dr. King himself was a pastor," said Pastor P. M. Wynn Grove. "And pastors bring the people together."
Among those in attendance was former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, who says he wanted to pay his respects to the historic reverend.
"You know [Martin Luther King] didn't just bring African-Americans together," Hickenlooper said. "He brought everyone together. Certainly in my lifetime he was the major force of unity for all people in this country."
Dr. Malcolm Newton, the founder of the Denver Institute of Urban Studies, says King was the driving force behind eradicating segregation laws and
"If it wasn't for Dr. King we would not be here today," he said. "If it was not for his fight for justice and dignity and decency for all people."
Although the voices of the Gospel Music Workshop of America filled the hall, Pastor Lee Grove Jr. says he noticed a lack of young faces in the crowd.
"The generation that would understand what he did for us is no longer here," he said. "So they're not recognizing what Martin Luther King is. That's all they think of it as a holiday."
But 52 years after King's assassination, Wynn says she will do her part in continuing his legacy and embracing her fellow men and women.
"It's about people that have a heart for other people and care about everyone," she said. "So we want to keep the dream alive because some people haven't reached that dream yet."
