Union United Methodist Church

While most of the world was still reeling from the death of Martin Luther King Jr., two close friends and Boston-based pastors created a way to honor his legacy and that event still endures today.

Generations of Black Bostonians have walked beneath the Gothic arches and soaring spire of the historic Union United Methodist Church in the South End to pray, worship, sing, marry, mourn, be baptized and break bread in the name of Jesus Christ.

One of the two Black state representatives expelled from Tennessee’s legislature this week, Justin J. Pearson, attended church at Union Methodist when he lived in Boston — and he continues to Zoom in for services regularly.