One of Newton’s “unsung heroes” is the featured speaker for Bethel College’s annual celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.
Larry Lee will speak at the event Jan. 20 at 7 p.m. in Krehbiel Auditorium in Luyken Fine Arts Center on the Bethel campus, on “A Different Side of the Dream.”
The description comes from Sheryl Wilson, vice president for culture and belonging at Bethel, whose office is sponsoring the program.
“Larry is an unsung hero of the community when it comes to support of specifically marginalized groups,” Wilson said.
“He is a quiet leader who is humble enough to let other people shine. He knows his limitations and plays toward his strengths as a connector and strong supporter and cheerleader of people.”
Lee retired last year recently as the founding pastor of All Nations Church, a non-denominational congregation in Newton.
Until 2013, when he retired from his “day job,” he was a bi-vocational pastor who also worked as a project manager for Wolters Kluwer, a software company with development offices in Wichita, Chicago and Los Angeles.
Lee was born in Coffeyville, Kan. He moved to Joplin, Mo., at age 2 and, at 13, with his parents and six siblings to Los Angeles.
Larry and his wife, Barbara, first came to Newton in 1978 and stayed for seven years before returning to Los Angeles. They returned to Newton in 1999.
Larry earned his bachelor’s degree at Wichita State University during the family’s first stay in Newton. He and Barbara later completed master’s degrees in Christian ministry from Friends University, Wichita.
After retiring from Wolters Kluwer, Lee began his involvement in the community in areas that especially interested him.
He is currently vice president of the Newton Public Library Board of Directors, a member of the Newton Ministerial Alliance and the advisory council for the Kansas Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (KIPCOR) at Bethel College, and president of Newton Community for Racial Justice (NCRJ).
He also leads a group of volunteers for Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA), which offers free basic tax return preparation for qualifying individuals each tax season at the NPL.
The Lees have served as host parents over the years to several Bethel students, and Barbara has managed the college bookstore, now Thresher Shop.
“Larry is a fierce defender of the rights of young people,” Wilson said, “especially students of color, especially young Black men facing the challenges of settings where they are targeted for being Black, and he wants to find solutions.
“People of color in a rural community engage in a certain way, and Larry can help because he has thrived in this community for so long, and has been part of raising two thriving young Black men” – Brian, Newton, and Brandon, Altadena, Calif.
Wilson recalled running into Lee at Taste of Newton last fall. “In the time we were talking, at least three, maybe more, young people bumped into him and had an eager, engaged conversation with him. They were excited to be in communication with him, which tells a lot about a person.
“Larry is the person you may not know in our community, but you need to know him. He’s one of those who has made it better for people, especially communities of color, to be here and to thrive.”
Bethel’s Martin Luther King Day celebration often brings in speakers from out of town, and it’s “great to reach for the heights [for them],” Wilson said. “At the same time, we have people right here who deserve this platform, and Larry is one of the top candidates for that.
“Bethel students, you owe it to yourselves to ‘sit at Larry’s feet’ – although he’d rather have you sit at the table with him, where he’d do less talking and you’d do more.”
Bethel is a four-year liberal arts college founded in 1887 and is the oldest Mennonite college in North America. Bethel was the first Kansas college or university to be named a Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Center, in 2021. For more information, see http://www.bethelks.edu
