By Dan Domsic
Town officials, a guest speaker and the congregation of Fishers United Methodist Church gathered at the church to honor Martin Luther King, Jr., on the federal holiday Jan. 21.
Rev. Dr. Wayne Schmidt, vice president of Indiana Wesleyan University’s Wesley Seminary, joined Hamilton Southeastern School District Supt. Dr. Brian Smith and Renee Cox, Fishers town councilor, for the sermon and messages that paid homage to the civil rights leader.
Schmidt said he had lived a richer life because the spectrum of his relationships was wider after deciding to learn to “practice hospitality.”
He told a story about a young church he once was part of that originally lacked diversity. It took true outreach, not “passive receptivity,” to diversify. he said.
Supt. Smith agreed.
“This is not something we just recognize one day,” Smith said.
Smith said King’s story was engrained in school teachings today and things would be different without the examples King set with vision, leadership and more.
Other groups and representatives from in and around the community joined them, including pastors from Faith Church Fishers, Fall Creek Wesleyan Church and more.