By Liz Sheehan
RED BANK The fourth annual Interfaith Community Commemorative Celebration of the life and legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday at the Pilgrim Baptist Church of Red Bank began with a hymn and continued with music intertwined with praise for King, prayers, scripture readings and dance.
Standing at the entrance of the church at 172 Shrewsbury Ave., the Rev. Terrence Porter, pastor, called for all to join in the hymn “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” as the procession of clergy and guests walked down the aisle to the altar.
After the presentation of the flag, John Rivera of Red Bank played the bagpipes, followed by a prayer offered by the Islamic Society of Monmouth County, which ended with, “Help us to be like Martin Luther King Jr., who fought racial injustice and political oppression with actions of peace and love.”
The event was sponsored by the Community Collaborative Coalition of Red Bank.
The Rev. Marcia Grayson of the Second Baptist Church, Asbury Park, read from the Gospels; the Rev. Dr. Henry P. Davis, president of the NAACP of Greater Red Bank read from the prophets, and Monsignor Philip Lowery, St. James Roman Catholic Church, Red Bank, read from the epistles while Rabbi Marc Kline, Monmouth Reform Temple, Tinton Falls, presented a litany of commemorations.
Mayor Pasquale Menna greeted those attending the ceremony and praised King’s legacy. But much more needed to be done, Menna said.
“The work he started will not be finished for a long time to come,” he said.
Menna also announced that Jesse Garrison, a deacon at Pilgrim Baptist Church, who was given the Community Leadership Award at Monday’s celebration, would be honored at the Mayor’s Charity Ball on May 5.
He said Garrison had a “life well-lived and well-served,” that should be recognized.
Another award was presented to members of the Red Bank Regional High School by the West Side Ministerial Alliance.
Guest speaker the Rev. Dr. Bernadette Glover, interim pastor of St. Paul’s Baptist Church, Montclair, told those assembled, “Now is the time we were talking about yesterday.”
“We must never look back,” she said, but “go forward and take someone with you.” She called for those listening to “raise their prophetic voice.”
King, Glover said, “was a man who had a prophetic voice.”
He died because he “dared to criticize the U.S. government and the role of the government in the Vietnam war.”
The program was interspersed with music, including several selections by the Red Bank Regional High School Concert Choir, and by Gabrielle Clissold, cantor at the Monmouth Reform Temple, and a dance presentation by Arts For The Heart Academy of Dance and Worship Arts.
The celebration ended with all present joining hands and swaying as they sang “We Shall Overcome.”
