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    You are at:Home » NEW MOUNT OLIVE BAPTIST CHURCH 2023 CELEBRATION SERVICE TO HONOR DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
    Religion

    NEW MOUNT OLIVE BAPTIST CHURCH 2023 CELEBRATION SERVICE TO HONOR DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

    January 12, 20234 Mins Read8 Views
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    Rev. Breon Alexander Williams
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    New Mount Olive Baptist Church, 400 Northwest Ninth Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, will host the 47th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Service on Sunday, January 15, 2023, at 4:00 P.M.   The service will be sponsored by the Zeta Alpha Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

    This year’s  celebration will include a musical extravaganza with selections from The Voices of New Mount Olive Baptist Church, Director Kenny Smith.  The Rev. Breon Alexander Williams, Senior Pastor of Mount Hebron Missionary Baptist Church, Ferndale, Michigan, will be the guest speaker.

    Rev. Breon Williams was born the twelfth of fifteen children to Cheryl and (the late) Bruce Williams, Sr., but was raised by his Great-Grandmother the late Mary L. Cromer.

    Rev. Williams accepted the call of God on his life to preach the Gospel.  After years of dedicated preparation, he Associate Minister of First Baptist Church Piney Grove, Lauderdale Lakes, Florida.  Since then Rev. Williams accepted the call of Youth Pastor at First Baptist Church Piney Grove and St. John Missionary Baptist Church, Boynton Beach, Florida.  Many lives have been touched and changed by his message of Christ’s hope, love and restoration.

    Rev. Breon Williams is the Senior Pastor of Mount Hebron Missionary Baptist Church in Ferndale, Michigan and has served since the Fall of 2021.  Since this assignment and through the work of the Lord, he has made an indelible impact on the congregation and community.  While in Michigan, Rev. Williams has been the guest speaker for the Fellowship District Baptist Association and has preached at New Bethel Baptist Church where the former Pastor is the late Rev. C.L. Franklin, father of Aretha Franklin.

    Promoting academic excellence, Rev. Williams is a graduate of Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music with a concentration in Education and studied at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School finishing with a Master of Arts in Theological Studies.  Rev. Williams is a certified Grief Counselor by the American Institute of Grief Counseling: certified in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace from the University of South Florida and Clinical Pastoral Education from the Institute for Clinical Pastoral Training.

    As a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Rev. Williams proves commitment to service of our community and all mankind by serving the Zeta Alpha Lambda Chapter, Fort Lauderdale as Chaplain, and the Associate Chaplain for the Florida Federation of Alpha Chapters District Area.

    He credits his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for his anointing as well as his Great-Grandmother, Aunt Pearlie Crawford and Uncle Dr. Carl Crawford for his upbringing and love for Christ.

    Most recently, Rev. Williams has been honored by Bethune-Cookman University as a 40 under 40 award recipient during the 2019 Homecoming.  Rev. Williams has served as speaker for both the Florida East Coast District Association Congress of Christian Education and the Florida State General Congress of Christian Education.  Rev. Williams was honored with a Community Service Award by the UXO Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated.

    Rev. Breon Williams believes in the words of Mark 16:13 “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to everyone” and the words of the old standard hymn “ A charge to keep I have and a God to glorify”.

    The annual celebration service is in recognition of the magnificent works of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Dr. King’s noble precepts and ideals regarding equal rights, privileges and love for all mankind led to the Congressional Declaration of January 15th as a National Holiday in his honor.  The public is invited to attend this inspirational and educational program.

    For further information, please contact the Church at (954) 463-5126 or Brother Michael A. Robinson at (954) 831- 7258.

    Jr.  Dr. King’s noble precepts and ideals regarding equal rights The annual celebration service is in recognition of the magnificent works of the late Dr. Martin Luther King
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    Carma Henry

    Carma Lynn Henry Westside Gazette Newspaper 545 N.W. 7th Terrace, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33311 Office: (954) 525-1489 Fax: (954) 525-1861

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    This College Chaplain Fills The Pews By Teaching, Not Preaching Lawrence Lockett Jr., Morgan State University chaplain. Credit: Lawrence Lockett Jr. via LinkedIn By REV. DOROTHY S. BOULWARE (Source: Amsterdam News) It’s understandable for parents of strong faith to worry about the spiritual lives of their children who’ve gone away to college. After all, it’s easy for a young person, perhaps on their own for the first time, to suc-cumb to the temptations of partying late on Saturday night and sleeping in on Sunday morning. But Minister Lawrence Lockett Jr., chaplain at Morgan State University in Baltimore, is packing them into the pews most Sundays. He is engaging them in lively ways during the week. And students are joining the choir, accompanying worship on various instruments, and serving as readers and leaders throughout the service. It is by the grace of God for sure, but also by the loving service of Lockett, who’s beginning his second year as the school’s director of chapel. He has grown his flock from the 25 or so students who showed up at his first services to more than 200 each Sunday. Sometimes, it’s standing room only. “We’ve been trying to figure out what to do next because on Easter Sunday we had 342 people, and some were standing in the back,” he said. Word In Black talked to Lockett about the secrets of his success: how his adjustment of Sunday ser-vices got people into the pews, why his philosophy for guiding students on their spiritual journey centers on independent thought, and how his “Spin the Block” initiative is shaking things up on campus. The in-terview has been edited for length and clarity. Word in Black: The first thing we want to know is, how do you get so many young people to chapel every Sunday?. Lawrence Lockett: Well, first of all, I changed the time of service from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. I realized a lot of the students like to sleep in late. It gives them time to do whatever they need to do. I’m sure many of them still like to party hearty over the weekend. So they have a good chance just to kind of refocus, recali-brate, get themselves lunch, and then come over to the chapel for service. When I started in November, maybe 20-25 students came, but now it’s over 200 that come every Sun-day, and it’s pretty cool. So now we’re repositioning ourselves to go after the freshman class this year. If we have the same success as last year, there’s definitely not going to be any room. Word in Black: Tell me about pastoring on a college campus. Lawrence Lockett: Morgan actually started as a biblical institute, so the Christian traditions have al-ways been here. As a pastor or shepherd, I’m walking students through their questions, not always just trying to preach answers to them. It’s about being vulnerable. I tell them I was in their same position, just trying to figure it out. And it’s not me just trying to give them answers. Having been there helps me really walk with them and anchor them in the storm of life that’s going to come. I want them to understand that their soul really matters. A lot of students focus on mental health, but they really need to focus on spiritual health as well. It should be one and the same. So I’ve been trying to preach that, if anything, spiritual health is just as important as your mental health. But we do encour-age the use of the counseling center, for sure, if there is a mental health crisis. WIB: What does Monday through Friday look like for you? LL: Mondays, we are usually off because of Sundays. On Tuesdays, we have Bible studies, so I’ll host a Bible study at noon along with my colleagues that work in the chapel. And then, I’m teaching a class called Hip-hop and the Gospel on Tuesdays at 2:30 p.m., dealing with mixing culture and religion. On Wednesdays, we do something called “breath and balance,” which is just a meditative type of pro-gram with breathing exercises as stress relievers. We work with the School of Nutrition Science and the food resource center so that the students get a nice free meal and practice breathing exercises and meth-ods to feel good about the day. For Thursdays, we started something called the mosaic, in which we have different campus ministers gather in small groups, just like a mosaic painting. So the students who come on Sundays then get plugged into small groups on Thursdays. And on Fridays at 1 p.m., we do prayer for Muslims.. We have an imam lecture and then lead in corporate prayer. It’s a good mix. WIB: What is “Spend a Block?” Didn’t you receive an award for it? LL: That started last year. We just basically do services outside: outside the residence halls, in the quad, wherever it may be. Honestly, worship on a college campus looks different than it did 20 or 30 years ago. 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You’ll see students giving testimonies. And then I’ll come in and give a sermon, or I’ll have a guest friend or a guest preacher come in to do the sermon. But you’re gonna see a lot of student involvement, and I think that also assisted with a lot of the growth be-cause when they see fellow students, they understand they’re just like me, and if they can do it, I can do it. WIB: What about musicians and choir? LL: The musicians are also students. They say, “Hey, I love to play. I wanna use my gifts in some way, shape, or form.” And they’ll ask whether or not there’s a spot for them. And we say absolutely. And there is a chapel choir. Some of the members are also members of the university choir. WIB: What is the “next” you see for the chapel? LL: I want the students to know God, find freedom, discover purpose, and make a difference. The chapel really is the heartbeat of the campus, and I want students to know more about where faith, hope, and belonging really stem from. 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