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17-Feb-95

95050                 APCE GROUP EXAMINES 
                   MARTIN LUTHER KING'S DREAM 
 
                        By  Julian Shipp 
 
ATLANTA--More than 20 participants in an Association of 
Presbyterian Church Educators (APCE) focus group examined the life 
and legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., during the 
organization's Feb. 8-12 meeting. 
 
     The group toured the Martin Luther King, Jr., Center for 
Nonviolent Social Change, Inc., the Center's bookstore and King's 
grave site.  The civil rights leader was assassinated on April 4, 
1968, in Memphis, Tenn.  
 
     Founded in 1968 by Coretta Scott King, the King Center is 
devoted to research, education and training in the principles, 
philosophy and methods of "Kingian" nonviolence, according to 
Jawana V. Jackson, King Center manager of visitor services. 
 
     Jackson said the center continues to play an important role 
in areas such as full employment, youth leadership and community 
empowerment while working in conjunction with other national and 
international organizations for nonviolent social change. 
      
     "Three point five million people visit the center each year," 
Jackson said, adding that Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres 
briefly visited the center on Feb. 9. 
 
     Just beyond the west boundary of the King Center is Ebenezer 
Baptist Church, where, from 1947 until his death, King served as 
co-pastor with his father, the late Rev. Martin Luther King, Sr.  
 
     Today, the Rev. Joseph L. Roberts, Jr., pastor of Ebenezer 
Baptist Church, and his congregation work to fulfill King's dream 
of peace, justice and reconciliation for all. 
 
     Additionally, Roberts said, the church conducts 36 mission 
programs that include feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, 
visiting prisoners, ministering to people with HIV\AIDS and 
educating both children and adults. 
 
     "We are not trying to imitate Dr. King and you cannot get 
yourself confused about that," Roberts said. "(King) took care of 
some colossal matters and now we're coming in after the war to try 
and pick up some things that are very, very pressing." 
      
     Even so, Charles F. Easley, vice president for student affairs 
at Atlanta Metropolitan College and an elder at Radcliffe 
Presbyterian Church, praised Christian educators for helping ensure 
King's legacy through education. 
 
     "I have an appreciation for what they do as church educators," 
said Easley, who is also a past president of Presbyterian Men.  
"They are the future of the church.  You've got to teach, and when 
people are informed, they perform. And I think that's also a good 
training ground for leadership in the church." 
 
      The day-long trip proved to be both educational and 
emotional, according to participants interviewed by the 
Presbyterian News Service. 
 
     The Rev. Rebecca Ottmar, associate pastor of First 
Presbyterian Church in Centralia, Wash., said she chose to visit 
the center to learn more about King's religious heritage, ministry 
and ecumenical appeal to the world. 
 
     "I've lived all my life in (the state of) Washington, and the 
civil rights experience and Southern black movement seemed like a 
foreign country to me," Ottmar said. "This was a real experience 
for me to see what it was like and see what it's like to do church 
in other places." 
 
     The Rev. Peg Papsch, an associate executive presbyter of 
Philadelphia Presbytery from Upper Darby, Pa., said her decision 
to visit the Center was an emotional one due to her own involvement 
in the civil rights movement.  
 
     "I marched in the civil rights marches and I taught in an 
integrated school in the 1960s," Papsch said. "I remember when 
Martin was killed, but I'd never been to the (King Center) before, 
so this visit was for me. And I brought a whole pocket(ful) of 
Kleenex." 
 
     Other places honoring black achievement toured by APCE members 
included the APEX African American Museum, the Auburn Avenue 
Research Library on African American Culture and History, and the 
Atlanta Life Art Exhibit. 
 
     Participants also visited the Henderson House, the 15-room 
museum that was once the family residence of the African American 
founding family of Atlanta Life Insurance Co. 
      
                                # # # 
 
 

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