The main speaker for the event was the Rev. Dr. Samuel B. McKinney, pastor emeritus (retired) of the Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Seattle, who spoke on his life and experiences with the Dr. Martin Luther King, with whom he attended Morehouse College, and later invited to Seattle in 1961. He spoke of the difficult realities facing African Americans in those times. He declared the Rev. Dr. King was the right person in the right place at the right time. Further, he said they both had benefited from the guidance given by the Dr. Bennet Hayes, president of Morehouse College who taught that one must be ready when the moment for action comes, to do God’s will in that moment. Rev. McKinney explained that he was thinking earlier to become a lawyer, but entered the ministry after one professor pointed out that in the law one can’t function until a deed is done, whereas in the ministry one can steer people away from doing evil in the first place.

 

Rev. Larry Krishnek, district director of the Family Churches of the Northwest, spoke and showed a video of Rev. In Jin Moon, the second eldest daughter of Rev. Sun Myung Moon, who is continuing Dr. King’s vision of peace by working with all peoples to raise up a group of young persons dedicated to establishing a world of peace.

 

Minister Diane Araki, who attended the founding convocation of the ACLC in Korea, recounted the events of those days and some subsequent history. Thereafter Rev. Richard Rivers gave an inspired message on what Dr. King was faced with and how the ACLC focuses on the heart of America’s problem: the weakening of the family.

 

The program drew to a close with a talk on the “Elijah Generation” by the Rev. Eric Sylte, followed by the Blessing toast given by the Reverend Moon.