It’s not just a school holiday; let’s challenge our youth to engage the man and the purpose of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Otherwise, the weekend can easily become just another day they get to sleep late.
Last year, we created Dream. Believe. Do, a free resource aimed to help youth ministers unpack the concept of “doing justice and loving kindness” (Micah 6:8) by connecting King’s speeches with the biblical passages that informed them. This resource is still available for free here. This year, we wanted to offer additional resources that make connecting your students to the meaningful holiday easy and simple. Below are some of MLK Jr.’s most important and memorable quotes. Consider using these images to raise awareness and start a conversation with your youth.
For example you could:
Share these images on social media. You will notice tweetable links under each meme. Use those to tweet out the quote and meme to your students using your youth ministry and church’s Twitter account. (If you use a site like HootSuite, you can schedule them ahead of time to go out throughout the weekend and the following week.) You can also share them on Facebook pages, groups, or your youth ministry’s Instagram account.
Change your Facebook profile. Temporarily change your profile picture to one of these memes. The change in picture will show up in your friends’ feeds and will serve as a gentle reminder to others of the focus of the holiday weekend.
Update your church website, newsletter or publications. Most churches struggle with ways to keep their websites looking current and alive. Change your home page to display one of the images for the weekend. It will communicate to anyone who sees it that your church takes the holiday seriously, and that your website is not just a static brochure for your church.
Include them in pre-worship slides. Many churches choose an image each week to display on screens as worshippers enter the worship space. The supplied memes are perfect to use for that purpose. Your pastor or worship leader may even consider using one of the quotes during the service.
Frame them or use them as posters. Print the memes and post them around your church to inspire and raise awareness within your entire congregation.
