Episcopal News Service January 16, 2007 Presiding Bishop tells King celebration "love with abandon"
Bronx service revisits dream of civil rights leader By Daphne Mack [ENS] Evidence of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream at work was found at St. Ann's Episcopal Church (http://stannsb.dioceseny.org) in the Bronx, New York, at the annual January 15 celebration of King's feast day and national holiday. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori served as celebrant and preacher making this her first official service in the Diocese of New York. It marked the 21st anniversary of the national holiday and would have been King's 78th birthday. Jefferts Schori, speaking in both English and Spanish, told the standing-room only crowd that nearly 40 years after King's death "we still have not fully achieved that dream." "Some still live in oppression because of the color of their skin. Some still live in oppression because of their national origin and heritage," she said. "Some have arrived on these shores to work because we want their labor, but they live in oppression because we are not willing to allow them to become free and equal citizens." Jefferts Schori said that the gospel "is about the love God has for all of us" and that "week by week, we promise to show that love to the world by the way we live and act." "Dr. King was a powerful witness to the ability of love to change the world ? that radically non-violent form of gospel love," she said. "It means loving yourself and recognizing the image of God in yourself, and then doing the same with others." She acknowledged that "non-violent loving is not necessarily easy" but said "it can change the world." For full story and photographs: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_81213_ENG_HTM.htm - - - - - - - - - To SUBSCRIBE to Episcopal News Service, send a blank email message, from the address which you wish subscribed, to join-enslist@epicom.org and include "subscribe" in the subject line. Send QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS to news@episcopalchurch.org ENS provides information and resources which we consider to be of interest to our readers. However, statements and opinions expressed in the articles and communications herein, are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of ENS or the Episcopal Church.