Members of the Allegheny East Conference’s Emmanuel-Brinklow church in Ashton, Md., recently stood witness as a former member of the Klu Klux Klan embraced a man who he beat some 50 years ago. Back then that man was a Freedom Rider participating in the Civil Rights Movement. Today that man who was beaten is better known as U.S. Congressman John Lewis. Rep. Lewis was one of four people that the Emmanuel-Brinklow church recently honored during the church’s sixth annual Living Legends Awards for Service to Humanity. The honorees included Frazier and Virginia Mathis, Emmanuel-Brinklow members and founders of Global Vessels—a missionary organization; Ella Jenkins, a Grammy-award-winning children’s musician; and Congressman Lewis.
