“Martin Luther King Jr’s dream was premised on faith"

Rev Joel Edwards challenges secularism at memorial service for civil rights activist

04 April 2008

“You cannot have King without King’s God” – this was the thrust of a sermon given by Evangelical Alliance General Director, the Rev Joel Edwards, in a service at Westminster Abbey to celebrate the life and work of US civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr.

Mr Edwards, who is also a commissioner for the Equality and Human Rights Commission, spoke of King’s faith in Jesus Christ as central to his fight for justice and his non-violent activism. He pointed out that not only was King a Nobel Prize winner, but he was also a Baptist minister, and that those who surrounded him recognised the importance of his faith.

Mr Edwards said that to ignore King’s faith is to ignore the foundation for his leadership in the civil rights movement.

“King’s dream is a dream about hope. But this dream of hope is also premised on faith”, he said.

Mr Edwards used the example of King to argue that faith has a positive influence in society and referred to Tony Blair’s speech last night which recognised that faith has a critical role to play.

“King would never have recognised the political naivety which pretends that faith has no responsibility in the public square. Neither would Desmond Tutu,” he said.

“When faith flows into the life of our communities, it should never be obstructed simply because it is faith.”

Throughout the speech, Mr Edwards spoke of King’s dream of hope and challenged those gathered to continue King’s work.

“Keeping the dream alive is to recognise that hope is neither a theological illusion nor a political luxury,” he said.

The service, held in partnership between the Abbey, the United States Embassy, The Peace Alliance and Churches Together in England, took place at 5pm on Friday 4 April – 40 years to the day since King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.