Min. Dale Edwards Executive Director Call and Post
CLEVELAND — As the nation prepares to observe the 23rd Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) Greater Cleveland Chapter is issuing not just an invitation, but a clarion call — especially to pastors, faith leaders, and congregations — to rise, present, and recommit themselves to the unfinished work of justice.
The celebration will be held at 12 p.m. Monday, January 19, 2026, at The Greater Abyssinia Baptist Church, 1161 East 105th Street, under the theme:
“Where are we today in Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Vision of ‘The Beloved Community’?”
This year’s observance carries historic weight. At its heart stand two living giants of the Civil Rights Movement — Dr. Moss and Rev. Dr. E. Theophilus Caviness, now 97 years old — both of whom walked and talked with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., shared space with him, organized with him, and absorbed firsthand the cost and courage of prophetic leadership.
They are not relics of history. They are living witnesses.
A Personal Testimony: From the Crowd to the Calling me
“As a little boy,” I reflected, “my mother would take me to the rallies held right here in Cleveland when Dr. King came to speak. I didn’t fully understand the politics or the peril — but I understood the power. I felt it.”
Those childhood moments, standing in crowds listening to Dr. King’s thunderous yet tender call for justice, would shape a lifetime.
“I had no idea then,” “that God was positioning me — preparing me — for His purpose. To now be able to call these great men, Dr. Moss and Dr. Caviness my spiritual fathers and mentors is beyond belief. It is nothing short of divine orchestration.”
Scripture affirms that truth:
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.” — Jeremiah 1:5
What once looked like a child holding his mother’s hand at a rally became a man holding fast to a calling.
A Call to the Pulpit
This year’s MLK Day of Service is also a direct appeal to pastors across Cleveland and beyond: present yourselves.
Dr. King understood the central role of the church in social transformation. The SCLC itself was founded on the belief that the Black church must be both sanctuary and strategy, both altar and action.
“Silence in times of injustice,” King warned, “is betrayal.”
Scripture echoes that mandate:
“Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” — James 2:17
“Cry aloud, spare not; lift up your voice like a trumpet; tell my people their transgression.” — Isaiah 58:1
Organizers say this is the moment for clergy not just to attend, but to stand, speak, and shepherd courageously in an age marked by racism, inequality, and open disdain for human dignity.
Honoring Those Who Remain Awake
The keynote address will be delivered by the illustrious civil rights activist, orator, author, and pastor emeritus of Olivet Institutional Baptist Church, who will challenge attendees biblically and philosophically to confront where we are now — and whether we have drifted from King’s vision.
This year’s SCLC Award Honorees, recognized as modern-day change agents who exemplify Dr. King’s charge to “remain awake through a great revolution,” include:
- Mrs. Edwina Moss
- Bishop Dr. Gerald West
- Pastor Alisha Blackmon
- Pastor Vincent Stokes
- Mr. Ed Gallek
- Mrs. Peggy Gallek
- Mr. James Wade
- Ms. Charlotte Perkins
- Superintendent Donald Jolly
- The Clark Sisters
- Mrs. Shamika Lott Shaw
- GINN Academy
- Warrensville Heights High School Graduates
- Tar Blooders Football Team
Their lives reflect King’s 1968 sermon, “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution,” delivered just days before his assassination — a sermon that warned against complacency and demanded moral vigilance.
Positioned for Purpose
Standing at 97, Dr. Caviness embodies the truth of Romans 8:28:
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.”
From a young boy at Marshall, Texas rallies to a global witness for justice, his life testifies that God positions people long before they understand the assignment.
As Cleveland gathers once again, the message is unmistakable:
This is not merely a commemoration.
It is a commission.
The dream still speaks.
The elders still stand.
And the call — especially to the church — still demands an answer.
