Indiana Wesleyan University has planned a community-wide event to celebrate the life of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Two main events are the highlights of the day:
• Wintley Phipps, a Grammy-nominated gospel artist, motivational speaker, author and pastor, will be the featured guest at the student chapel service, open to the public, at 10 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 13, in the Chapel Auditorium, 4201 S. Washington St., Marion. The chapel service will include songs and a message, featuring Phipps, the CEO and founder of the U.S. Dream Academy. Phipps started the organization to help break the cycle of incarceration among families, particularly those living in high-risk communities.
• The MLK Celebration Concert, “Living the Dream,” at 7 p.m. on Jan. 13 in the Phillippe Performing Arts Center, 4201 S. Washington St., on the campus of Indiana Wesleyan University. The concert will feature performances by Phipps as well as gospel music performed by a choir of community members under the direction of Rodnie Bryant. Admission is free; to reserve free tickets to this event, visit indwes.edu/MLK or call the Indiana Wesleyan University Box Office at (765) 677-2610.
The University Multicultural Enrichment Council invites the public to the morning chapel service and to the evening concert. The group is particularly thrilled to have Phipps as a guest in the morning and a featured performer in the evening. Phipps has traveled the world for more than 35 years, delivering messages of hope, advocacy and equality.
The community choir for The MLK Celebration Concert will feature the talents of performers from Indiana Wesleyan University students, staff and faculty; community members from Marion and Indianapolis; the Golden Singers from Broad Ripple Magnet High School for the Arts & Humanities in Indianapolis; and vocalists from Herron High School and Martin University in Indianapolis.
Bryant — a director, producer and arranger — has made a name for himself over the past 30 years in the gospel music world. His Indianapolis-based Christian Community Mass Choir (CCMC) won the 1988 McDonald’s Gospelfest and later reached number 12 on the Top 40 Gospel chart released by Gospel Today magazine for the choir’s recording of “Angels Watching Over Me.” Bryant also formed the Indianapolis chapter of the Gospel Music Workshop of America and the Indy Youth Gospel Music Camp.
The MLK concert, now in its fourth year, has been well-received by the community. Last year, about 900 people attended the one-hour concert. The concert also includes moments of prayer, scripture readings and a greeting by David Wright, president of Indiana Wesleyan University.
