Monmouth Reform Temple Celebrates Martin Luther King Birthday in Special Service

Reverend Jennifer Thompkins

Tinton Falls – On Friday, January 13, the public is invited to celebrate Martin Luther King’s birthday at their annual social justice service at the Monmouth Reform Temple (MRT) in Tinton Falls at 7 pm. This Shabbat Service will be led by interfaith clergy including MRT Rabbi Emeritus Sally Priesand, Reverend Semaj Van Zandt, Pastor of the Encounter Christ Global Fellowship in Neptune City, and MRT Cantor Gabrielle Clissold. Instrumental to the service are MRT member Alice Berman and Second Baptist Church member Dr. David Ford. The service will be accompanied by the MRT choir.

Reverend Jennifer Thompkins serves as the CEO for The Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League (MWUL) in Delaware.  Her civic involvements included the Norristown, PA, NAACP Youth Chapter, the Philadelphia Freedom Valley YMCA, and youth leadership roles at Theist Temple Church of God in Christ (C.O.G.I.C.) and the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction C.O.G.I.C. Youth Department.

Additionally, since 2019, Thompkins served as Director and then Senior Director of Programs at TriZen, a business consulting and leadership development company. There, she was responsible for leading a 25-person team including volunteers and partners that worked with clients including the Urban League of Philadelphia, the National Urban League, Aramark Corporation, TD Bank, and the School District of Philadelphia. She was recognized as a National Urban League Emerging Leader in 2021.

Thompkins has been able to secure expanded funding for youth, leadership, and career programs for children and teens of color, a field in which she has been working for more than a decade, both with TriZen and with the Y Achievers program. In 2019, Philadelphia’s METRO magazine celebrated one of Thompkins’ initiatives, a joint collaboration between Philadelphia schools and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) that “helped SEPTA introduce its many job possibilities to thousands of students in the Greater Philadelphia region.”

MRT is very excited to host this distinguished and hardworking champion for American youth. Please refrain from wearing heavy scents at MRT. Masks are optional. Services are also viewable on Livestream at: www.monmouthreformtemple.org.