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In Honor Of King 'Flip The Script,' Preacher Urges

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By TODD LESKANIC, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 22, 2008

DADE CITY - Anyone who showed up at Mount Zion AME Church on Monday expecting a staid ceremony honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. either left early or left singing.

East Pasco County's annual program remembering the slain civil rights leader turned into a full-scale celebration of King and Christianity.

The hard-preaching Rev. Betty Watson of Mount Olive AME Church in Trilby brought the crowd of about 150 to its feet with a rousing sermon about God's power to change lives. She exhorted onlookers to allow God to "flip the script" of their lives, allowing them to continue King's work everyday.

"We're so busy talking about what Martin has done," Watson said from the pulpit. "What have you done? We want to rise so much on somebody else's coattails."

Watson's half-hour message punctuated a celebration that lasted more than two hours and more often than not rocked the foundation of the old church on Seventh Street.

Two girls performed a praise dance, and the Pasco County Community Choir - accompanied by a keyboard, guitar and drums - provided the swaying backdrop to the afternoon, belting out a number of spirited hymns that had the crowd clapping and praising God.

The songs came in between prayers, proclamations and words of hope from pastors, church members and local political leaders. Monica Russ summed up the day's purpose in a short speech midway through the ceremony.

"We gather this day to be reminded that this is a dream we must keep alive," Russ said.

After her introduction and a hymn, Watson stepped to the pulpit and began a sermon that would leave the crowd awash in faith and energy.

"It was a blessing to be here," Ronald Gentiles, 70, said after he celebration. "It helps bring people together, not only just blacks, but for whites, Spanish, everyone."

Watson talked of her upbringing in Savannah, Ga. She recalled asking her father why there were separate water fountains for blacks and whites and why blacks were only allowed on one car on the train.

"I have to remember where I came from in order to appreciate where I am," she said.

Through King, God "flipped the script" and opened new opportunities for blacks during the civil rights era, Watson said. More work is needed today, though, to heal divisions, especially on Sunday mornings, she said.

"White folks going to church up here; black folks going to church over here," Watson said. "Seventh-day Adventists going to church over here. Methodists going to church over here. Jehovah's Witnesses saying they're the only ones going to heaven.

"When God flips the script, we're all going to heaven," Watson yelled. "We got to learn to get along."

Reporter Todd Leskanic can be reached at (352) 521-3156 or tleskanic@tampatrib.com. Keyword: MLK, to see photos and hear singing from the celebration.

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