NEWS RELEASE
Jan. 14, 2013
Contact: Steve Rottinghaus, Baker University public relations director, (785) 594-8330 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Pastor Emeritus to speak at MLK celebration

Baldwin City, Kan. — Wallace Hartsfield, Pastor Emeritus of Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church in Kansas City, Mo., will be the keynote speaker during Baker University's Martin Luther King Jr. celebration on Jan. 24 at Osborne Chapel. The ceremony will begin at 11 a.m.

Hartsfield, the senior pastor at Metropolitan Missionary Baptist for 41 years before retiring in 2008, has held various leadership roles in his career. He was vice president at-large of the National Baptist Convention of America Inc.; president of the General Baptist State Convention of Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska; and chairman of the Congress of National Black Churches; and a board member of the Congress of National Black Churches.

Hartsfield was recently inducted into the Missouri Walk of Fame as part of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Annual Legislative Conference, an event held to honor the achievements of African-Americans who have made significant contributions to Missouri and the nation.

Born in Atlanta and raised in Jacksonville, Fla., Hartsfield served three years in the U.S. Armed Services. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in elementary education with minors in religion and psychology from Clark College in Atlanta, and in 1957 he received a Master of Divinity degree from Gammon Theological Seminary in Atlanta. He previously served as pastor in Pickens, S.C., Brunswick, Ga., Bartow, Fla., Kansas City, Mo., and Wichita, Kan.

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