By Joan C. McKinney, director, Office of University Communications
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. - Campbellsville University will be celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Black History Month during chapel series in January and February.
The series is co-sponsored by Greater Campbellsville United.
All chapels are free and open to the public each Wednesday at 10 a.m. in Ransdell Chapel at 401 N. Hoskins Ave., Campbellsville.
Dr. F. Bruce Williams, senior pastor at Bates Memorial Baptist Church in Louisville since 1986, will lead the series with the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Chapel Service Jan. 23.
Williams is a “powerful speaker and preacher,” according to Dr. John Chowning, co-chair of Greater Campbellsville United along with Yevette Haskins. “Williams' church has grown exponentially during his tenure and now has more than 5,000 members and multiple services and community ministries,” Chowning, who also serves as executive assistant for government, community and constituent relations, to Dr. Michael V. Carter, president of Campbellsville University.
The Amazing Tones of Joy, a highly regarded gospel choir from Western Kentucky University, will perform in The Gheens Recital Hall in the Gosser Fine Arts Center, 210 University Drive, Campbellsville, at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7. The concert is open to the public with free admission.
Dr. Gerald L. Smith, a distinguished professor of history at the University of Kentucky, will speak at chapel Feb. 20 for the Black History Month observance. He serves as pastor of Pilgrim Baptist Church in Lexington and is a historian of national renown relative to African American history, the life and legacy of King and the Civil Rights Movement, Chowning said.
Smith is editor of the Kentucky African American Encyclopedia and author of numerous publications and articles.
Chapel is designed to provide opportunities for corporate worship and exposure through a variety of informative speakers and presentations, Ed Pavy, director of campus ministries, said.
All chapel programs are televised live on WLCU (Comcast Cable channel 10 and digital channel 23.0) and are streamed live on the internet at wlcutv.com.
For more information about chapel, contact Pavy at ecpavy@campbellsville.edu or (270) 789-5227.
Campbellsville University is a widely-acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 10,000 students offering over 90 programs of study including 20 master's degrees, six postgraduate areas and seven pre-professional programs. The university has off-campus centers in Kentucky cities Louisville, Harrodsburg, Somerset, Hodgenville and Liberty with instructional sites in Elizabethtown, Owensboro and Summersville, all in Kentucky, and one in Costa Mesa, Calif., and a full complement of online programs. The website for complete information is campbellsville.edu.