On Monday, January 20, 2020, pastors, congregation members, choir members, and the local community gathered at Resurrection Lutheran Church, Chicago, Illinois to celebrate the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
It was a celebration of not only Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, but also the African-American heritage of the LCMS Northern Illinois District’s South Side congregations where many of the Northern Illinois District pastors along with English District pastors participated in the celebration service.
As in previous years’ services, a combined choir group of congregation members led those in attendance with uplifting and glorious praise songs including “I Shall Not be Moved” and “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
The sermon, “A 20/20 Vision”, was given by Rev, Christopher Bodley, who was raised on the South Side of Chicago and a graduate of Luther High School South. Rev. Bodley currently serves as pastor of Bethany Lutheran Church in Detroit, head of Acts2Enterprises, and Missionary-at-Large for the Michigan District. He spoke to how the Church is intergenerational, transformational, and entrepreneurial, especially as it relates to millennials.
Cover photo service bulletin: This icon is based on a mugshot of Martin Luther King, Jr. taken by the Montgomery County, Alabama Sheriff’s Department on February 21, 1956, during the Montgomery Bus Boycotts. 7089 was his actual booking number. The prison bars behind him represent the occasions he was placed in jail, and also the oppression and slavery of African-Americans in the United States. The text on his scroll is from his speech in Albany, Georgia, on December 14, 1961. The Greek inscription by his head reads, “Holy Martin.” And the halo around his head depicts his status as a martyr.
Icons are among the oldest forms of Christian artwork. Christians have been making icons since the First Century AD, mainly in Africa, Byzantium, Greece, and Russia. This particular example is called Martin Luther King of Georgia, and was created by Br. Robert Lentz, a Roman Catholic monk.