juneteenth Archives

Remembering with honesty

Posted January 27th, 2022

The older we get, the more we begin to think, “My memory isn’t what it used to be.” With each successive decade, we seem to remember less, and less accurately, than we used to. Sometimes we look back and see what we want to see, rather than what really happened. We see this in Numbers 11.

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) celebrates Juneteenth in a one-of-a-kind worship service

Posted June 16th, 2021

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) commemorated Juneteenth with a unique worship service on Wednesday morning.

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) plans service to commemorate and celebrate Juneteenth

Posted June 15th, 2021

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will be commemorating and celebrating Juneteenth in a special online worship service on Wednesday, June 16, at 9 a.m. EDT. The theme for the service is “What Is the Work of the People — Holding the Legacy While Building Our Destiny.”

How are defunding the police and divesting from fossil fuels related?

Posted June 20th, 2020

Divesting from fossil fuels and defunding the police might seem like unrelated causes, but the Rev. abby mohaupt connected them Friday afternoon in the second teach-in of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship’s Peace Camp.

Presbyterian Center celebrates Juneteenth with soulful service

Posted June 19th, 2020

COVID-19 has us all sheltering in place and employees of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) are still working from home. But on Friday there was a great sense of oneness as the staff came together to celebrate Juneteenth.

Peace Camp teach-in encourages grassroots activism

Posted June 19th, 2020

What’s an activist for social and racial justice to do when a global pandemic turns the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly into an online proceeding with a significantly streamlined agenda? Answer: Encourage Presbyterians to fight for justice at the grassroots level, including in their own communities.

Juneteenth in the age of Black Lives Matter

Posted June 18th, 2020

Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing those who were enslaved, in January 1863. However, it wasn’t until two years later, on June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers landed in Galveston, Texas, with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. After this, more than 250,000 slaves across Texas learned that they were free.

Minute for Mission: Juneteenth

Posted May 27th, 2020

Every year since 1865, there has been one day that most Black people have held as a celebratory occurrence. On June 19, 1865, the last of the Black Americans who were in the condition of chattel servitude were freed. Texas, the last state to hold out on the edict of the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln more than two years prior, had finally been forced into compliance. And so, it is this date in June that many Black Americans consider to be Independence Day and thus a cause for annual jubilation that we have titled Juneteenth.

Juneteenth celebrations grow

Posted May 20th, 2020

On June 19, 1865, Texas notified formerly enslaved people that they were now free citizens. Today, 155 years later, there’s still much racial justice work to be done.

An American celebration

Posted June 19th, 2019

While not the most widely known or celebrated holiday, Juneteenth is certainly one of the more significant holidays in the history of this nation.