UVa-Wise to mark Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with candlelight march

Bishop Warren M. Brown of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church will be the featured speaker during a celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day at The University of Virginia’s College at Wise on Monday, Jan. 21.

The community is invited to participate in the College's 12th annual celebration, which will include a free pre-march soul food supper, set to begin at 5:30 p.m. at the First Church of God in Wise. Supper will be followed by a commemorative candlelight march through downtown Wise beginning at 6:30 p.m. The march will proceed down Main Street from the First Church of God and conclude at the Wise Baptist Church. Transportation will be available for those unable to walk.

The formal program will commence at 7 p.m. at Wise Baptist Church and will include a reading of one of Dr. King’s speeches, special music and the keynote presentation by Brown.

Born in Knoxville, Tenn., Brown is a 1962 graduate of Knoxville College. He attended the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta and began preaching in 1959.  His pastorates include: Oak Grove, Knoxville, Tenn.; Young’s Temple, Morristown, Tenn.; Jones Temple, Waynesville, N.C.; Walls Temple, Albany, N.Y.; Columbus Avenue, Boston, Mass.; and Trinity, Washington, D.C.  He was elected 91st bishop of the A.M.E. Zion Church at the 45th General Conference in 1996. 

Bishop Brown has served the A.M.E. Zion Church as a member of the Overseas Board of Mission. He was the pastor-builder of Walls Temple A.M.E. Zion Church and supervised the rebuilding of two churches after Hurricane Hugo. Brown has been Presiding Elder of both the New England and Virgin Islands Conferences. He has served as Bishop of the Western West Africa Episcopal Area, including Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, East Ghana, West Ghana and Mid-Ghana Conferences. 

Currently, he serves the Mid-Atlantic II Episcopal Area, including the Philadelphia and Baltimore, Virginia, East-Tennessee-Virginia, India, London-Midland and Angola Conferences. 

The only branch campus of the University of Virginia, UVa-Wise is ranked among the nation’s top ten public liberal arts colleges by U.S. News and World Report. UVa-Wise offers Virginia's only undergraduate degree in software engineering, among 28 other degrees and professional programs in the liberal arts tradition of Thomas Jefferson.

For more information, contact the Office of College Relations at 276-328-0130.

Posted January 14, 2008