President Biden is set to to deliver a sermon on Sunday at Ebenezer Baptist Church to mark the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, becoming the first sitting President to do so, the White House said Friday.
Dr. King joined his father, Rev. Martin Luther King, Sr., as co-pastor of the Atlanta church in 1960. Dr. King remained in that position until his assassination in 1968.
Ebenezer Baptist Church’s present-day pastor is Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), who invited President Biden to speak on Sunday, which would have been King’s 94th birthday.
On Monday, January 16, which is the official national holiday to celebrate King this year, Biden will meet with civil rights advocate Al Sharpton in Washington and speak to Sharpton’s group, the National Action Network.
“Ebenezer is a cornerstone of the Black community and I’m sure the President will get an earful on what our needs and our desires are for our country,” said former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, now the director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.
