POTTSTOWN >> The Rev. James Allen can still remember the first time he ever met the Rev. Dr Martin Luther King Jr. He was still in the seminary in Atlanta, Ga. at the time and was so poor he needed to stretch the $0.50 in his pocket from Sunday until the following Friday when he would be paid again.
Sitting outside of church, Allen, now a retired pastor of Vine Memorial Baptist Church in Philadelphia, said he was trying to decide whether to spend $0.10 to buy a hamburger or to fast the rest of the day and buy one the next day instead.
“I heard some shuffling to my right and I looked around and it was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” he said. “And I tell people after I fainted, I got up and started talking to him.”
The two men developed a good working relationship in Atlanta. Allen can still remember shaking King’s hand and joked that he would go back to the seminary and sell handshakes for $0.10.
“I wouldn’t wash my hand all week,” he joked.
When thinking about King’s legacy, Allen preached a sermon of hope and faith.
“How can we sing the lord’s song in a strange land?” he said. “Know the lord. There is always hope. You don’t want to lose your hope.”
Allen was a guest speaker at Second Baptist Church Sunday during its service honoring King. The church and Bethel Community Church of Pottstown each held services remembering the late civil rights leader on the eve of his birthday. They paid tribute to King’s life through music, prayer and scripture, pledged to follow in his footsteps and to keep his dream alive.
At Second Baptist, congregants were treated to a performance by the Pine Forge Academy Choir, along with sermons by Allen, and Katina Bearden, of the Pottstown School Board.
It was Bearden who recounted a visit to an African American history museum with her daughter and sister and leaving with her family members in tears because of the horrible atrocities slaves had to endure. She said she can still a remember a time when schools were segregated.
“These are things we need to know,” she said. “Because if we don’t remember we will be doomed to repeat.”
At Bethel, the congregation helped raise $1,870 toward the Pottstown Meals on Wheels program during the 12th annual community celebration of King sponsored by the area’s religious communities. The service included a recitation of King’s famous “I have a dream” speech performed from memory by congregate John Foster. It also included several musical numbers including the singing of “We Shall Overcome.”
After the service, Bethel Pastor the Rev. Dr. Vernon Ross Jr. and the Rev. Dr. John William Houghton, of the Hill School Alumni Chapel each said the annual event was a great success.
“Absolutely outstanding,” Ross said. “I really thought it was an awesome event. It really seems to get better every year. The music and speeches were phenomenal.”
Ross said the highlight of the evening was the 42 young people who sang throughout the service.
“That is amazing,” he said. “And they don’t belong to this church. They come from all over Pottstown.”
In order to follow King’s message more closely, Ross urged the community to put aside its differences, especially in today’s politically divided environment.
“Regardless of background, religion, sexual orientation, any of that,” he said. “We really must come together. Especially as we approach the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.”
Houghton said he was particularly struck by hearing all of King’s “I have a dream speech.” “The idea that someone would have it memorized was just amazing to me,” he said. “I was only 10 years old the first time around. Hearing it again is a tearjerker for me.”
