On Wednesday’s edition of WIZS’ Town Talk program, Charles Turrentine, Jr. with Davis Chapel Missionary Baptist Church spoke of the church’s upcoming “Worship Without Walls” event being held on Sunday, January 20.
The event, to be held outside at the basketball court at nearby Chestnut Street Park at 745 N. Chestnut St. in Henderson, is being held as “an extended celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.”
According to Turrentine, the celebration will begin at approximately 10:45 a.m. on Sunday and will include a live DJ, excerpts from King’s speeches, poetry, open commentary, food and hot beverages. The Vance County High School drumline will also be performing.
“I know it’s going to be a little chilly, but we want to have a good time and bring the people out,” Turrentine said. “We want to show people that the dream Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had has not died. It has instilled us with the power to move on, better ourselves and help the City of Henderson be a better place to live.”
The idea for the celebration is based on Turrentine’s past family trips to Atlanta, GA to take part in the city’s annual MLK celebrations.
Turrentine said it was always an exciting time to see the march in front of King’s home church – the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church – and experience the positive energy. “The whole city would come out; it’s a great experience. We thought we’d bring some of that back to Henderson, on a smaller scale, with the same concept in mind.”
Part of that vision was to hold the event at an outdoor location “without walls” to make it as welcoming and accessible to the public as possible.
The Chestnut Street Park, adopted by Davis Chapel through the Henderson Vance Recreation & Parks Department, is located in close proximity to the church and already serves as a gathering place for the community.
The church does their part to keep the park clean and to serve as goodwill ambassadors by engaging with community members who play basketball there, according to Turrentine.
After the celebration on Sunday, the church and all those willing to assist will be removing trash and debris from the area around the park, all the way down to John Street. Turrentine said that trash collected will be left in bags on the side of the road to be picked up by early next week.
To hear the interview with Charles Turrentine in its entirety, please click here. Turrentine’s interview begins at the 16:00 mark.