Growing Together: Embracing Our Future

by Abby Marino in At Transform Minnesota, News. Posted January 7, 2015

Mission: St. Paul hosts Dr. Martin Luther King commemoration event

Saturday, Jan. 17, 6:30 pm – Union Gospel Mission

“Dr. Martin Luther King had a vision of the ‘beloved community,’ which is really the biblical vision of a kingdom culture that transcends and transforms all earthly cultures,” says the Rev. Jim Olson, pastor of Bethel Christian Fellowship and executive director of Mission St. Paul.

Growing Together tree only That vision is the center point of the third annual Martin Luther King Day Commemoration Event sponsored by Mission St. Paul. This year’s theme is “Growing Together: Embracing Our Future.”

 The vision of Mission St. Paul is “The Whole Church bringing the Whole Gospel to the Whole City.” The group gathers together for monthly prayer on behalf of the city of St. Paul.

 “Over the past six years, as we have gathered for our monthly prayer, we have been in dozens of different churches of all denominational and ethnic backgrounds, Catholic and Protestant, African-American and white, new and established, etc.,” Olson said. “Eventually we recognized the need to have periodic, larger events where we could gather a larger group of folks from all the various congregations and places to bring a public testimony of the unity in diversity of the Church of St. Paul. One of these events is this Martin Luther King Day Commemoration Event.”

 This year’s event, which is free and open to the public, will take place on Saturday, Jan. 17 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Union Gospel Mission (435 University Avenue East, St. Paul). Those who attend are encouraged to bring a donation of white socks, bath towels or men’s underwear.

 “With this year’s theme, ‘Growing Together: Embracing our Future,’ our focus is on receiving from the next generation their perspective on MLK’s dream of the beloved community,” Olson said. “We will be led in worship by a multi-ethnic youth worship, a multi-ethnic children’s choir, and three high school witnesses speaking to the dream.”

Growing Together logo2 For additional information about “Growing Together: Embracing Our Dream” or about Mission St. Paul, visit www.missionstpaul.org.