Pastors Urge Those Attending MLK Service To Think Beyond A One-Day Celebration

Bernice King is shown at an event Thursday, in front of an image of her parents Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. On Monday, Bernice King and other speakers took part in a Martin Luther King Day event at Ebenezer Baptist Church to honor the civil rights leader.

Ron Harris / Associated Press

On an usually cold morning in Atlanta on Monday, thousands escaped the freezing temperatures and entered Ebenezer Baptist Church.

It’s the place where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was once a pastor.

More than 50 years after his death, the pews were packed inside Dr. King’s church. The high ceilings filled with the sound of children reciting his letter from the Birmingham jail. A young boy sang “A Change Is Gonna Come.”