Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church of Salisbury will host the 37th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration and Humanitarian Awards Program on Sunday, Jan. 19 at 3 p.m.
The guest speaker will be the Rev. Derwin L. Montgomery. Montgomery was born in Columbia, S.C., and raised in Hopkins, S.C., the youngest son born to the Rev. David and Denise Montgomery.
Derwin Montgomery is a 2006 graduate of Lower Richland High School. He is a 2010 graduate Winston-Salem State University honors program with a degree in political science with a concentration in public administration and minor in mass communications.
While at WSSU, Montgomery was Mr. NAACP his freshman year and president of the WSSU chapter for two consecutive years. He went on to serve as first vice president of the N.C. Youth and College Division of the NAACP and later the chair of the political action committee of the N.C. Youth and College Division.
At the age of 16 he answered the call on his life and preached his initial sermon on June 5, 2005 at St. James Baptist Church under the direction of Dr. James W. Abrams Jr. He was ordained in October 2010.
November 2009, during his senior year at WSSU, Montgomery was elected to the Winston-Salem City Council, becoming the youngest council member in the city’s recorded history, the youngest elected official in North Carolina and and the youngest African American elected official in the country. He was reelected to the city council in November 2013.
In April 2012, he became senior pastor of First Calvary Baptist Church of Winston-Salem. He is also employed with Family Services Inc. Head Start as the professional development and parent engagement manager. He is an Eagle Scout and a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, spring 2009.
Music will be provided by the 100 Women in Red Choir and creative expressions by the Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church Dance Ministry.
The public is invited to come out and share in joining hands and working together to keep the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. alive.
For further information, please call the Rev. Dr. Nilous M. Avery II at 704-637-0954.