In honor of Juneteenth, ELCA Racial Justice Ministries invited Dr. Dianne R. Browne, Ph.D., CFLE, CSE, Chair of the ELCA New Jersey Synod’s Anti-Racism Team to share some thoughts about this federal holiday that many mark as the official end of legalized human enslavement in the United States. For more information on Juneteenth, visit What Is Juneteenth? | HISTORY.
Read MoreThe Office of the Bishop will be closed on June 17th and 18th for post-assembly rest. We will also observe June 19th as a holiday to commemorate Juneteenth, reflecting on freedom and justice. We thank everyone who contributed to our assembly’s success and encourage our community to honor this significant day. Join us in celebrating and contemplating our steps towards a more equitable society.
Read MoreTo be a female, Black and gay pastor on “Freedom Day” necessitates a certain amount of introspection, for my relationship with the church has long been a queer dance whose steps I don’t often apprehend.
Galatians 3:28 says: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” Yet this oneness has been elusive in the ELCA and elsewhere, has it not?
Read MoreThe New York Times provides an exploration of Juneteenth, a podcast if you’d rather listen than read, and a poem about today’s America.
In How We Juneteenth, writers reflect on the meaning of the holiday; the traditions kept alive in black names; rest as reparations, and more.
The Daily podcast provides history and meaning to Juneteenth.
In Weather, the poet Claudia Rankine writes about the climate in America in this moment.
Read MoreJuneteenth commemorates a day when my ancestors could breath a little more freely. On June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas, enslaved Africans were read federal orders that they were freed, even though the Emancipation Proclamation was signed over two years prior. They didn’t know they were free because, in spite of the law, they were still brutalized by those who weaponized power.
Today, families of African descent throughout the United States celebrate this Freedom Day, which gave us a brief moment to inhale deeper than before.
Read MoreJuneteenth is a holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. While President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, Texas and Louisiana finally got the good news on June 19, 1865.
This resource may be used in whole or adapted based on your local traditions. Additional assembly song may reflect the theme and text of the day.
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