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Martin Luther King Jr. Day is Monday, January 19, 2026. Every year, this week gives us a simple invitation: don’t just remember Dr. King—practice what he preached. Pick one event. Bring a friend. Bring your kids. Or show up solo and meet someone new.
And if you know of other MLK Day events in the Greater Hartford area, drop them in the comments so we can keep building a shared list.
Before MLK Day
Thu, Jan 15 — Deliver food boxes to homebound seniors (West Hartford)
A hands-on way to serve neighbors who can’t easily get out.
Time: 12:00–3:00 PM (per the event listing)
Info: MLK Day of Service (St. James Episcopal, West Hartford)
Fri, Jan 16 — Hartford Public Library kids’ craft: “I Have a Dream”
A great, low-lift way for families to talk about justice and hope.
Time: 3:30 PM
Info: Martin Luther King Jr. “I Have a Dream” Craft (Hartford Public Library)
Monday, Jan 19 — MLK Day events
West Hartford — Annual MLK Celebration (Town Hall Auditorium)
A classic community program focused on Dr. King’s life and legacy.
Time: 10:00–11:30 AM
Info: Town of West Hartford – Calendar of Events (MLK celebration listing)
Hartford — Wadsworth Atheneum: MLK Jr. Community Day
Art-making, performances, and free admission all day.
Time: 12:00–4:00 PM (activities)
Hartford — Connecticut Science Center: Open on MLK Day
If you want something family-forward that still fits the day, this is an easy win.
Time: 10:00 AM–4:00 PM
New Britain — NBMAA: “Access for All” Community Day (theme: “Choose Love”)
Free admission, performances, art-making, and guided gallery conversations.
Time: Starts at 11:00 AM (free admission all day)
Info: New Britain Museum of American Art – MLK Day Community Day
East Hartford — Town of East Hartford MLK Day Commemoration
A public, civic gathering for reflection and unity.
Time: 12:00–1:00 PM (in front of Town Hall)
Windsor — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration (Town Hall Council Chambers)
Includes a keynote and offers an in-person or livestream option.
Time: 2:00–3:30 PM
Info: Town of Windsor – MLK Day Celebration (calendar listing)
Simsbury — MLK Day Community Celebration + short march
Program at First Church of Christ, then a short march to the memorial and a presentation at the library.
Time: 2:00 PM
Info: Simsbury MLK Day Community Celebration (Patch event listing)
Later that week
Thu, Jan 22 — Hartford Symphony Orchestra: MLK Tribute Concert (“The Fierce Urgency of Now”)
Free concert with optional registration.
Time: 7:00 PM
MLK Week of Service — United Way of Central & Northeastern CT (Literacy Kits)
A practical “do something” option if you want service that’s simple and scalable (groups or DIY).
A couple close-by (if you’re up for a short drive)
Fri, Jan 30 — UConn: MLK Living Legacy Convocation (Storrs)
An evening program with music, spoken word, and poetry.
Time: 6:30 PM
Tue, Feb 3 — University of Hartford: 2026 MLK Observance
Free and open to the public.
Time: 12:45 PM (Lincoln Theater)
Quick encouragement (and a simple ask)
If you’re not sure where to start, pick one event that matches your season of life:
Family-friendly: HPL craft, NBMAA, Science Center
Civic + reflective: West Hartford, East Hartford, Windsor, Simsbury
Arts + meaning: Wadsworth, HSO concert
Hands-on service: United Way (or the West Hartford food delivery)
And seriously—add other events in the comments (with a link if you’ve got it). I’ll check back and we can keep this list growing.
- ben2297
- Oct 5, 2025
Here is the resource we shared at the service today. Click here.
- Pastor Ben
- Oct 5, 2025
Updated: Oct 6, 2025
Here is Pastor Ben's sermon from Oct 5, 2025
Texts: Luke 1:46–55; Luke 4:16–21
Over the last few months, the question I hear most is: “What do we do now?” People of faith—and our neighbors of different faiths or no faith—feel the same swirl: fear, anger, confusion, and fatigue. The news feels relentless. The problems feel bigger than our capacity.
When I don’t know what to do, I fix my eyes on Jesus. And when I do that in Luke’s Gospel, a word keeps rising to the surface: resistance. Not partisan combat. Not cynicism. But the way of Jesus—the holy, non-violent, love-rooted refusal to cooperate with fear, lies, and dehumanization, paired with the active practice of God’s kingdom: truth, mercy, justice, hospitality, and peace.
That’s the heart of my new book, RESIST. It’s political in the sense that Jesus’ good news has public consequences, but it’s not partisan. This is discipleship: following Jesus in a world that forms us every day to love our tribe, hoard our outrage, and ignore our neighbor. RESIST is about a different formation.
In the same way, today’s Gospel message calls us into holy resistance: a life shaped by Jesus’ good news in Luke—good news that frees captives, lifts the lowly, resets the guest list, and turns exploiters into restorers. The Days of Awe teach us to return (teshuvah) together; Luke shows us what we are returning to: a community where mercy reorders power, tables are widened, and neighbors are seen. What we pray in Avinu Malkeinu—our longing for belonging, justice, and repair—Jesus announces and embodies. That’s the road we’ll walk today.
Magnify: What We Aim Our Lives At
“My soul magnifies the Lord… He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly; He has filled the hungry with good things.” (Luke 1:46, 52–53)
Mary is not making God bigger; she is bringing God into focus. What we magnify forms us. If we magnify fear, we’ll be discipled by fear. If we magnify the Lord, we’ll be discipled by hope. Avinu Malkeinu and the Magnificat are songs that train our attention. They take our scattered hearts and tune them to mercy, justice, and kinship.
Howard Thurman warned, “Hatred destroys the core of the life of the hater.” If I magnify my enemies, I become their mirror. If I magnify the Lord, I become His witness.
Big Idea
Christian resistance is a spiritual practice—daily, communal, and public—where we refuse what dehumanizes and embody Jesus’ alternative: truth, mercy, justice, hospitality, and peace. It’s not partisan rage. It’s discipleship with public shape.
