Slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. will be remembered at a community "celebration service" Friday. The service coincides with King's birthday.

This will mark the second annual community service in Cape Girardeau in memory of King.

The service will be held at 7:30 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 235 Broadway.

It is sponsored by the Southeast Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation and the local chapter of the NAACP.

The Rev. Craig Nessan, chairman of the Southeast Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation, said the group is comprised of area residents who focus on efforts to promote "justice and peace."

Two ministers will be featured speakers at the service, and a communitywide choir of fourth graders will sing songs celebrating civil rights, peace and justice, organizers said.

For the second consecutive year, the Martin Luther King Jr. Award will be presented to a Cape Girardeau area resident "who has demonstrated in their life the ideals of peace, justice and human betterment that Dr. King stood for," said Nessan.

Nominations must be submitted by today.

Nessan said the award, a permanent plaque to which a new award winner is added each year, will be displayed in the Cape Girardeau Public Library.

The Rev. Maria Copeland of the Mizpah Lutheran Church in St. Louis and the Rev. Roy B. Nabors of the Community Baptist Church of Greater Milwaukee will speak at the service.

Nessan said that in 1985, Copeland was the first black woman to be ordained in the American Lutheran Church. Prior to assuming her current duties, she served in administrative positions with the North Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.

Nabors is a native of Sikeston. His first church position was as pastor of the New Bethel Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau. He also has served churches in Michigan and Wisconsin.

As pastor of the Community Baptist Church, Nabors has helped establish a wide range of programs, including a substance-abuse program and a business development center that has assisted in creating nine businesses and 50 jobs.

"He has started a breakfast kitchen for the homeless, day-care centers and a clothing bank," said Nessan. "The church helps 10,000 people a year through these programs."

Nessan said an offering will be taken at the memorial worship service Friday, with the money to go to Southeast Missouri State University's Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Fund.

Following the service, a reception will be held at the Cape Girardeau Civic Center, across the street from the church.

Nessan said he believes events such as this ecumenical service help focus public attention on King's accomplishments and civil rights.

"I think it is especially important in this community for us to realize the situation for the black community, where they are fairly small number wise, that they do need to be treated equally in our community life especially in terms of employment and housing," said Nessan.

The special service, he said, also helps foster cooperation between black and white churches.