HAVERHILL — Snowflakes clung to the coats of churchgoers as they shuffled into the sanctuary on Saturday.
“Amen” bellowed and bounced off of high ceilings and across the pews as everyone from a children’s choir to seasoned elders gave their praises to Martin Luther King Jr. on Saturday.
Inside Calvary Baptist Church on Ashland Street, the fourth annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration unfolded. The event served as a living testament to memory, movement and faith, guided by the words of the famed civil rights activist and reverend.
Though sights of winter pressed against the church windows, its congregation steadily filed into the pews for the observance.
The program, themed “The Sounds of a Movement,” recalled King’s vision for justice and equality, with musical performances and testimonies from across Haverhill.
The Rev. Kenneth Young greeted those gathered under warm lights. The day opened with a youth of the church, Avery Morris-Burger, approaching the microphone to recite an excerpt from King’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech.
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,’” Morris-Burger said outward to the crowd, receiving a congregation that rose to its feet in applause.
Morris-Burger returned to the lineup of fellow young congregants, the Calvary Baptist Church Youth Choir. Their voices rose together, singing gospel lyrics alongside drums and piano.
Young, in his invocation, reflected on the church’s long history, noting that the house of worship was established in 1871, and the institution still stands through periods of both struggle and progress.
“Let’s be honest, this is a tough time,” Young said. “A lot of people who are dealing with fear. A lot of people trying to find their voice and their place in this world that we’re living in.”
Still, his message was not despair, as he spoke of hope — a “hope to keep marching, a hope to keep fighting.” His words were met with a chorus of “amen” from the pews.
The music didn’t stop playing there as congregants received the soulful sounds of a saxophone. Guest Joseph Borsellino, a professor at Berklee College of Music, performed for the church — his instrument cut through the echoing room.
Mayor Melinda Barrett was welcomed to the stage with warm applause — greeted like that of a familiar guest.
“I always just love coming here,” Barrett said. “The welcome I get is always so lovely. It’s like coming home.”
Barrett presented a proclamation drafted by her office and accepted by the Haverhill City Council last week. The proclamation called upon residents to observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a “day of service,” urging the community to honor King’s life and work through participation and service projects on the holiday and throughout the year.
State Rep. Ryan Hamilton joined the mayor, speaking more to the day’s themes of reflection and unity.
“This is always a day of reflection, a day of great community,” Hamilton said. “I can’t think of a better way to live up MLK’s dream than to be here with all of you, and to work together to make our city, our state, and our nation a better place.”
Hamilton, like Young, acknowledged challenges facing the nation, and encouraged folks to speak and work alongside one another as a reinforcement of the “promise” King saw in the country.
Young offered a range of awards and recognitions to several members of the congregation — one being Kalister “Kay” Green-Byrd, a longtime community activist and local legend.
Now in her early 90s, Green-Byrd recently authored a memoir, “Overcoming the Odds,” a 158-page softcover book she described as a “compilation of lessons” she learned through her childhood in the 1930s south to her decades of leadership in the Merrimack Valley. She told the crowd it was through encouragement from those at Calvary Baptist Church that she agreed to tell her life story.
Another special musical guest, Elder Terrance Haynes & Voices of Praise, poured into the sanctuary to a put one last impact on the celebration. The Springfield-based choir’s harmonies lifted the room in praise.
The event closed with words of thanks from Young, capping off yet another day of remembrance for King’s legacy.