LIVE FROM CAPITOL ROTUNDA

Your missionary to Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, Rob Schenck, reporting:

I'm thumb-typing on my Blackberry so please forgive any errors. I'm sitting in the presitigious Statuary Hall of the United States Capitol awaiting the start of "Renewing the Dream: A Celebration of the Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr." Suprisingly--shockingly---I'm a guest of Speaker Nancy Pelosi! How I got on her VIP list, I just don't know. In any case, I'm representing our National Clergy Council at this observance.

While today I am much more critical of Dr. King's theology and politics, as a child I grew up admiring him greatly. He and those who worked with him were heroes in my home because they challenged injustice by putting their lives on the line.

Notwithstanding the spiritual and moral corruption in King's personal life, he continued to use scripture and Christian moral instruction as the foundational message of his struggle for civil rights. I'm astounded that most social historians consciously dismiss the fact that King was first a preacher and minister of the Gospel before he was anything else.

I'm hoping for some face time with congressional leaders--especially Speaker Pelosi--to ask when they will extend King's legacy on civil rights to all Americans--especially the most vulnerable, the pre-born.Perhaps I'll have opportunity to renew my challenge to Jesse Jackson offred ten years ago in this very same room. I asked him then why he once championed the right to life, but then abandoned it. He told me then, "We'll get together and talk about that." I called him but he never called back. Maybe we'll have that get-together today!

Please pray.

Your grateful missionary to elected and appointed officials,

Rev.Rob Schenck
www.faithandaction.org
Faith and Action
109 2nd St, NE
Washington, DC 20002
202-546-8329