The Rev. Yehiel Curry, Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, will give the 2026 Martin Luther King Jr. Day keynote address at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 19, in the Center for Faith and Life (CFL) Main Hall on Luther College’s campus. The theme of the day and Curry’s talk is “Courage for the Common Good.”

The program begins with a community choir rehearsal at 9:30 a.m. in the CFL’s Recital Hall. Singers of all ages and backgrounds are invited to learn a simple gospel arrangement to be performed at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day keynote address. The community choir will be led by Andrew Last, director of choral activities at Luther. The performance will feature soloist Adrianna Tam, assistant professor of music and director of Luther’s Aurora and the Collegiate Chorale.  his keynote address, Curry will highlight how “Courage for the Common Good” represents the shared legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and Martin Luther, both of whom embodied the moral courage needed to confront injustice while uplifting the people around them. This theme calls our community into bold, brave, benevolent action.

“Dr. King taught us that true courage is not the absence of fear but the willingness to act despite it,” Curry said. “As Lutherans, we believe that faith must be lived publicly, for the sake of others. Faith gives us the courage to confront injustice, to stand with the vulnerable, and work for the common good.”

The keynote address is presented in part by the Williams Endowment Fund. It will be live streamed on Luther’s YouTube channel.