A pair of services will be held locally on Sunday and Monday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the slain civil rights leader who would have turned 91 years old yesterday.
The Mathews chapter of the NAACP will hold its service at 3 p.m. Sunday at Zion Baptist Church, Cardinal. Air Force Capt. Tisha J. Yates, a public affairs officer for Air Combat Command at Langley AFB, will be the guest speaker.
At 4 p.m. Monday, which is the official observance of King Day, the Gloucester Union Relief Association will hold its annual service at the First United Baptist Church, White Marsh.
The Rev. Dr. John Boyd, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in King William, will be the guest speaker at the Gloucester service.
Boyd received his early education in the public schools of Elizabeth City, Camden County, North Carolina, and received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Norfolk State University, a master’s in economic practices from the University of Kentucky, his Jurist Doctorate from the College of William and Mary, a master’s in divinity from Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, and a Doctorate of Divinity degree from the Boston University School of Theology.
Boyd’s career experiences include the advancement from an ROTC graduate to the rank of Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army. He served in Vietnam as the Executive Officer to former Secretary of State Colin Powell. After leaving the military, Boyd worked for the State of Virginia in the Attorney General’s Office, where he advised and practiced law. He is now retired from both state and federal government employment.
Boyd’s motto is “Though storms rage in my life, my soul is anchored in the Lord,” according to a release from the Gloucester Union Relief Association. Music will be by the combined choirs of the First United Baptist, First Baptist, and First Morning Star Baptist churches of Gloucester.

The public is invited to both ceremonies. Music for the Mathews MLK program will be provided by the New Hope Fellowship Mass Choir, Hartfield.