Indiana Wesleyan University will host its fourth annual MLK Celebration honoring Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Friday, Jan. 13. The special community-wide event will honor King’s legacy with scripture and song throughout the day.
To start the celebration, a chapel service at 10 a.m. will feature songs and a message by Wintley Phipps, a Grammy-nominated gospel artist, education activist, motivational speaker, author and pastor. Phipps is also CEO and founder of the U.S. Dream Academy, an after-school and mentoring organization that seeks to break the cycle of incarceration among families. The service is open to the public and will be held in IWU’s Chapel Auditorium.
Later, community members will come together at 7 p.m. for the MLK Celebration Concert “Living the Dream”. The gospel music concert will feature performances by Phipps as well as a combined choir of community members under the direction of Mr. Rodnie Bryant, a prominent Indianapolis-based director, producer and arranger. The Community Choir includes IWU students, staff and faculty; community members from Marion and Indianapolis; the Golden Singers from Broad Ripple Magnet High School for the Arts & Humanities in Indianapolis; and singers from Arlington Gospel Choir and Martin University. Instrumentalists and a dance ensemble will perform as well.
The MLK Celebration Concert is free of charge and will take place in the Phillippe Performing Arts Center on IWU’s residential campus. To reserve free tickets, visit indwes.edu/mlk or call the IWU Box Office at 765-677-2610.
“Spreading a message of hope and reconciliation is a daily goal for our community,” said Diane McDaniel, vice president for Multicultural Enrichment and Employee Development at IWU. “This special event allows us to foster that message as we come together as one and celebrate a diverse Christian community.”