Staff members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) joined with Louisville community members, students from several Presbyterian seminaries, and staff from the Presbytery of Mid-Kentucky for a Justice Walk on what would have been the 80th birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King.
The event was set in the context of worship. The service began in the atrium of the Presbyterian Center and included song and prayer and words of encouragement from Louisville Metro Councilman David Tandy.
The walk itself was constructed as a time of confession. Walkers journeyed to sites in downtown Louisville that had ties to acts of racial injustice (slave pens) or justice (churches where Dr. King spoke). At each site, they remembered and confessed and made ties to current situations such as the trafficking of children.
A smaller group gathered in the chapel at the Presbyterian Center and followed the same order of service as the walkers.
The walk ended at the Presbyterian Community Center which has been tending to spiritual, physical, and emotional needs for over a century. The journey to justice continues.
David Gambrell, Associate for Worship, has a posting about the walk. WDRB-41 also has a story and a brief video clip.