Organizers Hope NIM's Martin Luther King Weekend Event is a Catalyst for Transformation

has been doing its work outside Northwest Philadelphia for some time now. But it will hold its first Martin Luther King event outside the confines of the Northwest at 3 p.m. on Jan. 16.

The event will be at Arch Street Presbyterian Church (1724 Arch St.) in Center City. It will feature a variety of speakers, and the keynote will be given by Daisy Khan, who is well known for being the co-founder of Park 51, the controversial Islamic community center and mosque planned near Ground Zero in New York City.

After Khan, who is also the executive director of the American Society for Muslim Advancement, gives her talk, a rabbi, a pastor and an imam will speak in response.

The dialogue is all part of an effort by NIM to give the Martin Luther King weekend event an interfaith theme.

"It's not a religious service," said NIM Assistant Executive Director Eric Wilden. "We try to make it as interfaith as possible."

The event, Wilden said, is intended to further NIM's mission of helping to transform society, and he hopes it will "be a catalyst for that in people's lives."

Because of that, he said, he hopes it becomes more than a one-time thing for the people in attendance. He said he wants it to create an ongoing discussion about interfaith dialogue and about King's values.

"We don't want it to end at 5 o'clock that day," Wilden said, referring to the time when the event is scheduled to end. "We want it to carry on."

Wilden and NIM Executive Director Rabbi George Stern said about 300 people typically come to the event, which is now in its 28th year. Past events have taken on themes like "What Would Martin Luther King Say Today?"

At a recent Martin Luther King Day ceremony, the documentary "Neighbor Ladies," which discusses integration and organization efforts in Mt. Airy in the 1950s and 1960s, was shown.

This year, choirs from Germantown Friends School, Germantown Jewish Centre will perform. So will a gospel choir. And an interfaith group of teenagers will publicly read some of King's words.

The diversity of those participating in the ceremony reflects NIM's status as a citywide organization, according to Wilden. It recently opened an in West Philadelphia and does a variety of work with children in other city neighborhoods.

Stern said it makes sense for NIM to put on an event centered around Martin Luther King Day because of its commitment to interfaith dialogue.

"We feel that this is an issue that he would dearly be passionate about," Stern said.