5/10/07

Ministerial Alliance conducts historical field trip for local youngsters
By Eric Goold

Submitted Photo

This group of local youngsters took a field trip to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park in Atlanta last week. The field trip was the first this year in the Clarendon County Ministerial Alliance’s Building Dreams Mentoring Program.

The Clarendon County Ministerial Alliance took a large group of local youngsters to Atlanta last week to visit the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park.

Rev. Henry McCray, President of the Alliance, said in a press release that it was the first of many yearly field trips that are part of the Building Dreams Mentoring Program.

“During the past three years, the children have visited The EdVenture Children’s Museum in Columbia, the Carowinds Amusement Park in North Carolina, Ripley’s Museum in Myrtle Beach and attended two retreats at Camp Bob Cooper,” said McCray.

They also hold family cookout gatherings of mentors, children and parents at Manning’s J.C. Britton Park three times a year.

The field trip to Atlanta came about after an association between the Ministerial Alliance, Clemson University and Manning City Council member Clayton Pack.

“The children visited the gravesite of Dr. King and his wife, Mrs. King,” said McCray. “They saw the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, Museum, Historical Park and Steps of the Freedom Fighters.”

Other activities included taking in a movie about Dr. King’s life, focusing on his birth home, early childhood and death.

The members of the Clarendon County Ministerial Alliance and the Building Dreams Mentoring Program want to let young people know that they are sincerely concerned about their future, past and present.

“We are firm believers that in order to reach our children on their level, we must begin to bridge the gap between parent and child by taking the initiative of showing love through actions instead of words,” said McCray.

The mission statement of the Ministerial Alliance says that it has been organized to bring together churches, pastors and clergy to promote unity and fellowship on issues pertaining to the spiritual, moral, social, economic and political affairs of all people within Clarendon County, regardless of race or creed.