Baptist World Alliance
Eron Henry, Associate Director of Communications

Neville Callam, General Secretary

Website: www.bwanet.org  

Email: communications@bwanet.org

Phone: +1 703 790 8980

Fax: +1 703 893 5160
 
 

January 13, 2011

 

For Immediate Release

Martin Luther King Day 2011

Washington (BWA)--Baptists are being encouraged to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Martin Luther King, Jr. and to honor his prophetic legacy.

 

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was inaugurated by the United States in 1983 and is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is close to the time of King's birthday, January 15. The 2011 observance will be on January 17.

 

In 1993, the General Council of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA), meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe, passed a resolution that called on Baptists around the world to celebrate King's anniversary and to renew the commitment to struggle nonviolently for justice and peace.

 

In 1999, the BWA Special Commission on Baptists against Racism and Ethnic Conflict promoted the International Summit of Baptists Against Racism at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, in Atlanta, Georgia, the church where King was raised and ordained to the Christian ministry.

 

King stands among the most influential Christian leaders of the contemporary world. A civil rights leader and a public theologian, he saw himself first and foremost as a Baptist Christian minister trying to save the soul of his nation.  But his legacy and influence went far beyond the United States and the Christian church, as exemplified by the Nobel Peace Prize, which was awarded to him in 1964.

 

His life and influence cannot be limited in terms of race, nationality or faith.  They have been appropriated by many people in different parts of the world, inspiring other minority and under-represented groups to apply the principles of civil disobedience and nonviolent resistance to their own context. In the words of African American theologian James Cone, King belongs to the world, particularly "to the world of the poor and disinherited."

 

King's life and thinking continue to be relevant for all Christians trying to make a difference in the world today. By relating his cause for civil rights in the US with the

global struggles for social and racial justice, he became the champion of those seeking dramatic changes in living conditions for the masses.  Seeing all life on earth as intertwined, he was able to affirm the indivisibleness of justice: "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

 

King saw racism, poverty and militarism as the common axis of structural evil oppressing not only African Americans in the US, but poorer populations all over the world. He called poverty a curse that has no justification in our age, comparing its moral impact to the cruelty of cannibalism.  He not only spoke against the evil of racism and called for the end of racial segregation, he also called for the immediate abolition of poverty. He spoke about the need for a "divine dissatisfaction" against "the tragic walls that separate rich and poor, and that push people to live in the indecent and unsanitary conditions of the slums."

 

King based his hope for the ultimate outcome of this struggle in his biblically grounded belief. Inspired by the witness of Martin Luther King, Jr. to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the BWA encourages Baptists around the world to renew their determination to continue to work tirelessly for peace and justice, and to contribute to the formation of a more humane world.

 

“Zero Balance”

By Rev. Dr. Fontella White     

 

I had faith, but I also had a bank account. What an amazing moment of truth for me. The thought came in August 2003 as I wrote my “last” check to pay movers who transported some of my belongings from New York City to Claremont. As I wrote the check, I realized that all of my personal savings, which had been accumulated over the span of twenty years, would be exhausted with that check to the moving company. I was less than two months beyond my graduation from seminary, but it was the first time that faith, real faith, would have to find its way into my heart.

            A brief bit of background is required. I entered Union Theological Seminary in New York City as a Master of Divinity student in September 2000 after having worked for more than thirteen years as a newspaperwoman. While much of my life had revolved around church, I never intended to quit my job and enter seminary. But that’s what happened in February 2000. Oddly enough, I couldn’t even begin the application process until I resigned. That’s how much of a powerful pull my former profession held over me. Three years later, I realized that the money acquired during those thirteen years held a special power, also. Once I no longer had a bank account, (meaning – an account with less than $50 or when “zero” balances are normative) faith had a chance in my heart.

            I had moved to Southern California to enroll as a Ph.D. student in New Testament at Claremont Graduate University. I knew that the program would be demanding – financially, academically, and spiritually – and without my own money to lean on, I couldn’t see how I would ever find peace. How would I keep all three in balance? What happened? I can only think of Luke 18:1-8, a teaching by Jesus about persistence in prayer, and Luke 21:1-4, “The Widow’s Mite.”

It seemed to me as though once my bank account ended, I developed a deep desire to focus on giving. As I prayed for direction, I felt an even greater urge to tithe and to give beyond what was required. Sunday after Sunday, I kept on giving. I had learned to give tithes and offerings very early on in life. I loved working so that I could give to my church. The ability to give financially always seemed like my special calling as someone who earned well beyond what I needed to survive, given that I was single with no dependents. I am glad to say that that discipline of giving to my church had become such a way of life that I kept on giving. Whatever I received, whether it was a scholarship check or a gift from family, I continued to tithe and to give offerings. I graduated with my Ph.D. in Religion with a concentration in New Testament in May 2009 and was ordained by Trinity and ABCLA/ABCOSH in December of the same year.