Hope College will present its 14th annual commemorative service and keynote address in memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, Jan. 19, at 7 p.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel.
The service and keynote address will be among a series of related activities scheduled before, during and after the national Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. The schedule also includes discussion of the film "Birth of a Nation" and two Gospel Choir concerts.
The public is invited to all the events. Admission is free.
The commemorative service will feature the theme "A Dream Deferred." The keynote speaker will be the Rev. Dr. Glen C. Missick, executive director of the African American Council of the Reformed Church in America.Missick has been the executive director of the African American Council of the Reformed Church in America since October of 1998. He previously served as senior minister of the Church of the Master (Presbyterian Church, USA) in New York City for more than 10 years. He has also pastored churches in Daytona Beach, Fla., Little Rock, Ark., and Los Angeles, Calif.
He is the founder and president of Harlem Empowerment for Living Program Inc.; one of the chairpersons of the New York City-Wide African American Clergy Council, the organization partly responsible for the election of Mayor David Dinkins in 1989; a member of the Board of Trustees of the Inter-Church Center; a committee member of United Way of New York City; former co-chair of the Twenty-First Century Coalition; former chair of the Black Presbyterian Clergy Fellowship of New York City; chairperson of the Harlem Christian Men's Network; past president of Harlem Valley Churches Inc.; and a board member of A Partnership of Faith of New York City, and Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement.
He has been an advisor to many political and civic leaders such as the mayor and police commissioner of New York City, and the governors of New York and other states. He has also been invited to the White House under the administration of several presidents.
Missick has served as an adjunct professor at Auburn seminary in New York City. He also serves as goodwill ambassador for the Turks and Caicos Islands, British West Indies, which is his birthplace.
In addition, he is a prolific songwriter, having written and produced a contemporary gospel album titled "God is Love." He has also been host and producer of several television shows, most recently "Focus on the Valley," which was aired on Paragon Cable Television in New York City. He has also appeared on numerous television shows, including "CBS This Morning," the "Charles Grodin Show" and "Positively Black."
Missick grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., and received his bachelor's degree from Brooklyn College (C.U.N.Y.) in 1974. He attended Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey, where he earned the master of divinity degree in 1979. He received his doctor of ministry degree from Drew University in Madison, N.J., in 1995.
He is a member of the One Hundred Black Men Inc. of New York City and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. He is married to Jennifer Engram Missick, Ph.D., acting Dean of Students at Bronx Community College.
The activities scheduled in conjunction with the service will begin on Thursday, Jan. 15, at 4 p.m. with a discussion by Dr. Fred Johnson of the Hope history faculty of the film "Birth of a Nation" through the college's multicultural enrichment series. The presentation will be in the Maas Center conference room.
On Monday, Jan. 19, Missick will also speak during the college's 10:30 a.m. Chapel service in Dimnent Memorial Chapel.
On Saturday, Jan. 24, several choirs will present a "Gospel Fest" concert at 1 p.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel. Participating choirs will include the Hope College Gospel Choir, the Messiah Missionary Baptist Church Choir, Voices of Grand Valley State University and the Brown-Hutcherson Ministries Praise Dance Team.
Dimnent Memorial Chapel is located on College Avenue at 12th Street. The Maas Center is located on Columbia Avenue at 11th Street.
Additional information about the events may be obtained either by calling the college's Office of Multicultural Life at (616) 395-7867 or at the office's Web site, www.hope.edu/multicultural.