Church will host MLK Jr. celebration

This Monday, Jan. 15, at 11 a.m. the Simi Second Missionary Baptist Church will hold their annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration.

"It's a community event intended to teach the community about the life and works of Dr. King," said Mary Winn-Howard, one of the event coordinators.

The theme for this year's celebration will be "Behold the Dreamer Cometh," a scripture reference to Genesis 37:18-20, and the event will be free to the public.

According the church's pastor, the Rev. Willie Mack Gray, the event aims to encourage children to learn more about Dr. King, his struggle and his role as a national hero and civil rights activist.

The event will feature Agnes Sankey McClain as the keynote speaker.

McClain, who currently serves as the assistant to Bishop Dean Nelson in the Southwest California Synod office of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Los Angeles, grew up in the South during the beginning of the Civil Rights movement.

As a resident of Montgomery, Ala., McClain witnessed firsthand the injustices that prevailed under the Jim Crow laws, and was an active participant in the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1957.

The event will also feature music from the church's Praise Team, the Heavenly Horns and the Praise Dancers. Refreshments will be served after the performances.

Said Gray, "Our hope is to promote unity, because that's what Dr. King was about, to heighten the awareness of the importance of education and to help focus on the family and the family unit, because strong families produce strong people and strong communities."

For more information about the event, call WinnHoward at (805)5292674 or Gray at (805)5225241.

- - Avi Rutschman