Martin Luther King Jr.'s father, Michael King, was born on 19 December 1897 in Stockbridge, Georgia. Later known as Martin Luther King, Sr., Michael was the eldest son of nine children born to James and Delia King. As a member of Floyd Chapel Baptist Church, Michael was inspired by the few ministers who risked speaking out against racial injustice and decided to become a minister himself. In 1917, despite his educational deficiencies, he was trained and licensed by the ministers from his church.
In the spring of 1918, King left Stockbridge to join his older sister Woodie in Atlanta. Woodie was boarding at the home of A. D. Williams, the prominent minister of Ebenezer Baptist Church; and Michael seized the opportunity to introduce himself to the minister's daughter, Alberta Williams. After the two began a courtship, King was quickly welcomed into the Williams household. Mr. and Mrs. Williams supported their future son-in-law’s ministerial aspirations by encouraging him to continue his education.
After completing his studies at Bryant Preparatory School and serving as pastor of several churches in Atlanta and nearby College Park, King began the three-year minister's degree program at the Morehouse School of Religion in 1926. On Thanksgiving Day of that same year, King and Alberta Williams were joined in marriage at Ebenezer Church. The newlyweds then moved into the Williams family home, where they had three children—Willie Christine, Martin Luther, Jr., and Alfred Daniel—within their first four years of marriage.
When A. D. Williams died in March of 1931, Michael King became the minister at Ebenezer. Through membership and fundraising drives, he rescued the church from financial ruin brought on by the Great Depression. By 1934, he was a well-respected pastor and traveled to the World Baptist Alliance in Berlin . Also at this time, he changed his name to Martin Luther King.
Never hesitating to direct his influence as a pastor toward the cause of racial equality, King, Sr. headed Atlanta 's Civic and Political League and NAACP branch. But perhaps King, Sr.'s most significant contribution to the civil rights movement was the influence he had on the development of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s social consciousness. During dinner conversations, King, Sr. reiterated "the ridiculous nature of segregation." He also stressed the need for an educated, politically active ministry, saying "We cannot expect our people to register and become citizens until we as leaders set the standard."
In an essay entitled "An Autobiography of Religious Development," King, Jr. described his father's influence on his decision to enter the ministry: "[M]y admiration for him was the great moving factor; he set forth a noble example that I didn't mind following." When King, Jr. moved to Atlanta in 1960 to lead the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the father and son served as co-pastors of Ebenezer Baptist Church .
Throughout his son's career, King, Sr. continued to advocate racial equality within his church and community. After King, Jr.'s death in 1968, King, Sr. stepped into a public role, attending events that honored his son and delivering the invocation at the 1976 and 1980 Democratic National Conventions.
King, Sr. resigned from the pastorate at Ebenezer after his wife was murdered 1975. He died from heart disease in 1984.