The 22nd annual University-Community Martin Luther King Jr. banquet this year had a distinctly Episcopal flavor to it. The keynote address at the January 19 event at the Morehead Planetarium was delivered by the Rt. Rev. Michael B. Curry, who stirred the sellout crowd of 425 people with a uniquely personal interpretation of the civil rights anthem, “We Shall Overcome.”

UNC Chancellor James Moeser, a parishioner at the Chapel of the Cross, welcomed the crowd with a strongly worded speech that criticized the Bush administration for its stand on affirmative action.

And our rector, the Rev. Stephen Elkins-Williams, added a note of graciousness and humor – with some Chapel of the Cross history thrown in – as he introduced Bishop Curry to the audience. He observed that issues of justice and equality have been a theme through our 150-year plus history, noting that the first female African-American Episcopal priest, Pauli Murray, celebrated her first communion at our chapel. And he told the crowd that Bishop Curry has transformed the worship habits of staid Episcopalians.

“I’ve never known a preacher or a bishop … who is so irrepressible, who is so filled with energy and joy and vision,” Elkins-Williams said. “When he visits our churches on Sundays, he ratchets up the energy, for example, by having us reserved Episcopalians hug each other and tell each other, ‘God loves you and so do I.’“ We are going from being ‘God’s frozen people’ to becoming ‘the exhausted defrosted.’”

War and peace, and affirmative action and justice emerged as themes of the evening, which came amid threats of war with Iraq and as the Bush administration filed a legal brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn affirmative action admissions policies at University of Michigan.

Bishop Curry related those issues to the problems of the King era, and he acknowledged that they are troubling. “Oh it’s cloudy and overcast now. It is frightening on the horizon,” he said. “We know not what tomorrow will bring. There may be war. Young women and young men from our country and Iraq and from other countries may die.”

But those problems can be overcome, he said, by the power of good. He noted the examples of Nobel Peace Prize winners Elie Wiesel, Desmond Tutu, and the Dalai Lama. “Each one in his own way has looked evil in the face, each one has looked tyranny in the face, and they did not blink,” he said. “They did not resort to evil to block out evil. Instead they transformed evil by the power of good.

“ St. Paul put it this way: ‘Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good…’ When you align yourself with that which is good, that which is just, that which is true … you place yourself in harmony with the created order itself.”

Bishop Curry raised concerns about the Bush administration’s position in the Michigan case, warning that the effects could be felt at UNC.“ If we don’t work this out, there will be other consequences for our nation as a whole,” he said. “The soul of America itself is at stake. We’ve got work to do. Now is not the time to retreat back. The very soul of our country is at stake.”

The Michigan case was very much on the mind of Chancellor Moeser, who used the occasion to announce that UNC would file a “friend of the court” brief in support of Michigan. Moeser vigorously defended affirmative action, saying it had brought great progress to UNC in terms of recruiting, retention, and graduation of minorities. “We are succeeding here because of affirmative action, because of our commitment to diversity and equality,” Moeser said. “I think if Dr. Martin Luther King were here today, he would be a champion for the preservation of this wonderful system which has helped this university and every other university in this country.

“ This is a very critical time for our country. This is a time not just to celebrate, but to energize and mobilize for justice.”

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© 2003 The Chapel of the Cross