NORTH LAWNDALE — For the first time in three years, a West Side church community gathered in person to honor Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and legacy.

Stone Temple Missionary Baptist Church, a historically Black church in North Lawndale, has held an event marking King’s birthday every year since 2015, but the event was held virtually in 2021 and 2022 due to concerns over COVID-19. 

On Monday, church members returned to the church at 3622 W. Douglas Blvd., where King preached while living in Chicago in the 1960s.

Monday’s celebration featured performances and speakers including Stone Temple’s pastor Bishop Derrick M. Fitzpatrick, North Lawndale Historical and Cultural Society founder Blanche Killingsworth, Tiffany Walden, co-founder of The TRiiBE, and others. 

Volunteers from the University of Illinois at Chicago and the Jewish United Fund gave away food to those in need during the event.

Fitzpatrick, who’s led the church along with his wife Pastor Reshorna Fitzpatrick since 1996, said it felt special to see people gathering at the West Side church for the annual celebration once again.

“It’s phenomenal because you get to see faces you haven’t seen in awhile,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s phenomenal because you get to feel the energy and the realism, from the words that they share, from the expressions that they give.”

Ward Miller, executive director of Preservation Chicago, also spoke at Monday’s event. Miller was instrumental in getting the church city landmark status in 2016.

“It’s about community,” he said. “It’s about different communities coming together. Today, you saw the Jewish United Fund and several synagogues come together with the Stone Temple congregation here on the West Side of the city. You saw different races and different socioeconomic groups coming together.” 

Before Stone Temple was a Christian church, it was Jewish synagogue. Many of the building’s original fixtures, including several Stars of David, still remain.

Pastor Chris Harris of Bright Star Church Chicago and Rabbi Shoshanah Conover of Temple Sholom said the city’s Black and Jewish communities face many of the same challenges.

They urged those gathered to “stand with” and “show up” for each other to fight racism and antisemitism. Pastor Fitzpatrick said it’s important for people of different religions to support each other amid a rise in antisemitism nationwide.

“Just like we struggle with racism, our Jewish brothers and sisters struggle with the increase in ridiculous antisemitism. We will stand with you, we will be with you and if necessary we wil fight with you,” Harris said.