In parish and school communities throughout the Diocese of Trenton, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was anything but a day off.

The day was marked with projects helping to address pressing community needs, as well as various gatherings for prayer and reflection – all engineered to honor Dr. King’s legacy, and to put the day off from work to good use.

In St. Paul Parish, Princeton, the day’s events included hosting the Princeton Clergy Association’s annual interfaith service, during which diverse faith leaders from a wide range of traditions offered readings from Christian, Jewish and Muslim scripture to a crowd of some 250 faithful.

The gathering’s speaker, Rev. Lukata Mjumbe, serves as executive director of the Urban Mission Cabinet.  A student activist in the '90s, he was in frequent contact with leading civil rights leaders of the day including Coretta Scott King.

Rev. Mjumbe focused on inspiration and hope and the ability to recognize the dream and make it a reality, according to Msgr. Joseph Rosie, pastor of St. Paul Parish.

Faith communities that comprise the Moorestown Ministerium also came together in a spirit of fellowship, celebrating the legacy of Dr. King through a day of service.

Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish hosted an afternoon gathering, “Heart Speaks to Heart” for young people, including students from the parish religious education program and school, during which time they prepared toiletry kits and organized food pantry goods.

Before getting to work, the youngsters joined in prayer and read Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech and reflected on his main mission – his dream – of promoting the dignity and equality of all people.

“Through our works of service, our prayer and our activities, this day is all about teaching the dynamic of friendship and respectful of everyone,” said Dr. Linda Dix, parish director of religious education. “Dr. King’s dream was that all people should be inclusive of everyone and we have to remember, that was the mandate of Jesus, who included everyone.”

Other Day of Service activities the ministerium held were a morning “Happy Birthday Party” party for Dr. King in Trinity Episcopal Church, in which children enjoyed cake and other goodies and made special “birthday boxes” that were donated to Catholic Charities’ Emergency and Community Services, Delanco.

In the evening, volunteers convened in the food pantry in St. Matthew Church where they packaged and distributed food to patrons.

The occasion on the campus of Georgian Court University, Lakewood, was marked through focusing on servant leadership and community outreach.

There, Derek Felton, a professional speaker and author of several books including the spiritual guide “Brilliance is Your Birthright: 12 Steps to Discovering Your Purpose and Building Self Confidence,” spoke about servant leadership and helping students reach their full potential in this regard, said Karissa Merkel, assistant director of student leadership and engagement at GCU, who helped plan the activities.

Nearly 100 student leaders strove to embody that leadership ideal by spending Jan. 15, Dr. King's actual birthday, volunteering in groups in a wide range of service projects throughout the greater Ocean, Monmouth and Mercer County area.

“On Dr. King's birthday annually, we want to have the students go out and accomplish something and they really took on the challenge,” Merkel said.

Among the students was Lisa Gravato, a member of SALT, the GCU spiritual advisory leadership team. She spoke of how the emphasis was on service “because we believe that is the most important focus of Mercy.”

A similar theme of service encompassed activities in St. Joseph Parish, Trenton, where local newspaper headlines detailed the community outreach efforts of youth group members seeking to help the less fortunate in the city.

A large collaborative effort focused around the concept of service also drew students from across the region to gather in St. Ann School, Lawrenceville, for special outreach activities.

Organized by the Center for FaithJustice – which is located on the school and parish grounds – the day of service provided almost 200 students from the Dioceses of Trenton and Metuchen, as well as the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the opportunity to volunteer their time at various locations throughout Mercer County.

The day-long event, which was organized for the seventh year in a row, began with prayer in St. Ann School before the young adults and their group leaders headed out to the various sites to begin their service.

The students volunteered their time and talents in St. Ann Church doing maintenance and art projects, Kinderworld Daycare Center, Hamilton Grove Nursing Home, Habitat for Humanity, HomeFront, Morris Hall, Trenton Area Soup Kitchen and Enable, a group home for developmentally disabled young adults.

“It was great, I was very enlightened by this whole day; I have a completely new perspective on the elderly,” Chantalle Kfouzy, a senior in Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, Ct., and parishioner of St. Thomas More Parish, Manalapan, said of her experiences at the Hamilton Grove nursing home.

Jan Wilcox, director of programming and outreach for the Center for FaithJustice, asked participants  to recognize where they “saw the face of God” in their outreach work, also praising them for their dedication.

“You chose to give up your day off,” she continued. “You said, ‘I am going to give myself to you today, God.’”

Mary Stadnyk, Associate Editor, and Monitor Correspondents David Karas, Rose O’Connor and Lois Rogers contributed to this report.