Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration held
By ANGELA FARR KING
On Sunday, January 18, 2026, a Celebration honoring the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was held at 3 p.m. at First Baptist Church in Taylorsville. Rev. Sterling Howard, President of the Alexander County NAACP, served as the Master of Ceremonies.
He read from Psalm 46:1-6, which reads in part, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the Earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.” The congregation stood and sang a hymn together called “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing.”
Rev. Scott Henson, the pastor of First Baptist Church, welcomed everyone to the service. Mayor George Holleman was unable to attend the event due to illness, so Eric Bumgarner, Mayor Pro Tem, stood in for him and also welcomed those in attendance on behalf of the Mayor and the Town Council. He quoted Romans 2:8-9, which states, “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.” He said Martin Luther King wanted everyone to be respected equally and that is his desire as well.
County Commissioner Larry Yoder, also a member of First Baptist Church, spoke to those in attendance and referenced Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. He made it clear that he was in no way comparing himself to Dr. King, but part of what Yoder said is as follows, “I also have a dream that some day, somehow people in the world will find Jesus Christ and through Jesus Christ we can all understand that loving our neighbor is not about loving the lady or gentleman next door. It’s about loving our neighbor no matter where they live. We are all under the same sun, under the same sky, and on the same Earth, and my prayer is that one day we will all respect one another, love one another, and treat each other with kindness.”
Taylorsville Police Chief Mike Millsaps spoke next. Chief Millsaps said one of his favorite quotes spoken by Dr. King was “We cannot walk alone. And when we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.”
Chief Millsaps said, “A lot of Civil Rights movements are on the table to be reversed and if we stay silent we’ve watched these things go away. We have to stand up. We’ve worked too hard.”
Millsaps told a story about being a young child and swimming in a public pool when a woman came running up and yelling to her daughter, “Get out of that pool! That blackness is going to rub off on you!” Chief Millsaps said that experience scarred him for a long time as a child. He couldn’t understand why someone would want to be away from him so badly, but instead of holding on to bitterness, he has been taught to help others whenever he can.
Music was provided for the event by the Gospel Harmonizers, which consisted of Sanford Teague, Larry Friday, James Malone, and Anthony Bunch and the choir from Victory Temple Worship Center in Lincolnton.
The main speaker for the event was Bishop Thomas C. Thompson, Jr. Thompson is a native of Forest City, NC. He attended East Carolina University in Greenville, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration in 1979. In September of 1989, Bishop Thompson accepted the call to the ministry and was ordained in 1992 at First Baptist Church in Lawndale, NC.
Following his ordination, Bishop Thompson obtained an Associate’s Degree in Biblical Studies from Fruitland Baptist Bible College in Henderson, NC, in 1993, a Bachelor’s Degree in Christian Counseling from Andersonville Theological Seminary in Camilla, GA, in 1997, and a Master’s Degree in Divinity from Hood Theological Seminary in Salisbury, NC, in 2002. He was consecrated as Bishop by the Father’s Vineyard Association of Bishops in Washington, DC, in 2006.
Bishop Thompson served for more than ten years as Pastor of Maiden Chapel Baptist Church in Maiden, NC, and then answered God’s call in 2002 to found Victory Temple Worship Center in Lincolnton, NC. He is also a third generation mortician and funeral director at Thompson Funeral Home in Forest City, NC.
Bishop Thompson began his message with the scripture 2 Chronicles 7:14, which states, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” He also talked about the 1963 song “A Change is Gonna Come,” by Sam Cooke, which became the anthem of the Civil Rights movement. He said that “Martin Luther King tried to do what was right. He tried his best to live right. He stood on nonviolence and it was not just for black people, or people of color, but for people in general.”
Bishop Thompson also talked about the founding of the NAACP in 1909 and how people “came together to make an association to help us and help our people and to achieve political, educational, and social equality for all people, especially black people and other people of color, by eliminating race based discrimination. They focused on issues like criminal justice reform, voting rights, economic opportunities, and ensuring fair representation in all areas and all aspects of life.”
Bishop Thompson went on to share about the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., and his education. He talked about the importance of fighting for what is right, but doing so with the love of Christ.
Toward the end of his remarks, Bishop Thompson asked if Martin Luther King would be disappointed if he could see what his dream looks like today. He went as far as to say that “we have let the dream die.” This was a challenge to everyone in attendance to come together in unity.
Without preplanning it, there was definitely a theme woven through the celebration of “loving thy neighbor” regardless of differences. This was a much needed message in today’s social climate.
