Honoring Juneteenth
To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice .
Proverbs 21:3


If you are like us, growing up in White America, you probably did not learn about Juneteenth in your history class. Such is the power of whiteness that holds up only one narrative of American history as normative, while neglecting the stories of historically marginalized communities. So today, we pause to recall the struggle to overcome slavery in our nation as we celebrate Juneteenth.

Juneteenth is the oldest nation-wide holiday celebrating the end of slavery in the United States. It commemorates the day, June 19th, 1865, when Union General Gordon Granger read federal orders in Galveston, Texas, declaring that all previously enslaved people in Texas were freed. It is important to note that General Gordon’s act occurred over two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation; and that the 13 th  Amendment to the Constitution making slavery illegal in the United States would not be ratified until December 1865. Yet even the 13 th  Amendment did not fully abolish slavery because it includes the words “except as punishment for crime” and this has led to mass incarceration that disproportionately imprisons people of color today.  

While Juneteenth is popularly remembered as the “end of slavery,” history has made it clear that freedom from slavery did not mean freedom from white supremacy. So on this Juneteenth, let us all pause to honor and celebrate a symbolic milestone in the United States, and the manifold accomplishments and contributions that African-Americans have contributed to our nation in the face of adversity. Let us learn our histories, particularly the stories of Black America too often obscured and overlooked because of racism, white-supremacy and anti-Black bias. And then let us act. For it has been made clear that now more than ever is the time to stand up, speak out, and assertively work to end injustices to African-Americans. We must do all in our power as the Episcopal Church in Connecticut to undo the sins of racism, white-supremacy, and anti-Black bias that deny the truth that every person is created in the image of God. As followers of Jesus, who came so that we could be freed from our sinful ways, let us work for true freedom for all. Now is the time for us to redouble our efforts to end the sins of racism, white supremacy, and anti-Black bias.

In a spirit of righteousness, justice, and service to our Lord Jesus Christ, we invite you to participate in three actions that both honors Juneteenth and recommit ourselves to racial healing, justice, and reconciliation:

1. Join St. Luke’s Church, New Haven and Trinity on the Green, New Haven in their Juneteenth Evening Prayer, a “service of light and liberation” this evening, Friday, June 19 th  at 5:30 pm, streamed online at:   https://facebook.com/WhalleyAve   

2. Pray with us online on the Fourth of July at 9:00 am as we dedicate ourselves to pursuing genuine freedom and independence for all Americans; and then we invite you to stand up for the dignity and full humanity of Black people in the United States by considering displaying a “Black Lives Matter” sign in front of your church.

3. Participate in our online July Faithful Futures learning opportunity on July 9, from 6:00-7:30 pm, coordinated by Kelli Ray Gibson our ECCT Racial Justice Coordinator, where we will discuss, with special guest panelists, police reform and efforts to end anti-Black violence by law-enforcement officers.

Additional details on the Fourth of July time of prayer and dedication, and the July Faithful Futures program will be forthcoming on the website of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut:   www.episcopalct.org  and in all ECCT social media. 

Let us recognize and celebrate Juneteenth as a significant day in our nation’s history by learning about the past and committing ourselves in truth and action toward a more inclusive and equitable future. This is a call to deepen and broaden our participation in God’s mission, working for God’s kingdom both through personal action and institutional witness. Please join us.

Faithfully,

The Rt. Rev. Ian T. Douglas                                    
Bishop Diocesan                                                      

The Rt. Rev. Laura J. Ahrens 
Bishop Suffragan

Juneteenth Celebration, Events, History, Prayers, and Resources
Below you will find:
  • Juneteenth Historical and Cultural Information
  • Juneteenth CT Events (in person and virtual)
  • Juneteenth prayer and liturgical resources
Juneteenth History

Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19 that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Note that this was two and a half years after  President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation  - which had become official January 1, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation had little impact on the Texans due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce the new Executive Order. However, with the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865, and the arrival of General Granger’s regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to influence and overcome the resistance.

Learn more about the history of Juneteenth at Juneteenth.com .
Historical & Cultural Information about Juneteenth

Juneteenth Flag
Juneteenth events happening around Connecticut
Please remember to maintain proper distance and wear a face mask if you join these events, face masks are required - see links for information and confirm with those organizations leading the march. ECCT is not leading these marches listed.

Ways to celebrate Juneteenth online
A list of online celebrations and virtual gatherings to celebrate Juneteenth

ECCT online events:
Community online events:
Juneteenth Prayer

Almighty God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – we praise your name, for you alone are God. There is none like you, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding with covenantal faithfulness. You care for the orphans and widows and look upon the immigrant with affection. Your love is not threatened by the ways we diminish, marginalize, and destroy each other. There is no one like you.

You have made your faithfulness known from generation to generation. Throughout the biblical story, we hear again and again how you have continued to rescue your people, releasing them from bondage in order that they might live fully and freely as your children. We remember Moses and the Exodus. We remember the cycles of deliverance and repentance under the Judges. We remember the prophets and the returns from exile. And we remember how all of these have made known your generous love for the least of these. We recall most of all how you entered this story in the flesh, releasing us from our sins through Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. You reconciled us with your self and in doing so you call us to be reconciled with one another. Through the Holy Spirit, you continue to tear down the dividing walls of hostility that separate us from each other and distort your gospel.

We add our voices to the generations that have gone before us in giving thanks for the freedom you brought in the United States when you brought slavery to a legal end. Over two hundred years of European-Americans shipping and trading African peoples as if they were disposable goods distorted our experience of your image both in those enslaved and in those who enslaved others. The abuses against aboriginal peoples, Asian immigrants, and countless others at the hands of European-Americans have deformed our cultures and diminished the flourishing life you intended for us to experience together. Yet, you have a history of overcoming our most dehumanizing abuses of each other, even when we legalize our abuses through our words of law and government sanctioned violence. Thank you for raising up faithful servants of your kingdom who boldly and prophetically embodied your gospel, spending themselves on behalf of those enslaved. Thank you for not abandoning us to our destructive ways. Thank you for releasing us from the legalized injustices we have inflicted upon each other. Thank you for your mercy and compassion, Lord.

In giving you thanks, we also remember with sad sobriety just how deep our lust for power, our hatred of those who are different than us, and our selfish desire for economic and material prosperity runs. Before you and with the testimony of those who have gone before us, we admit that our hearts are still bent toward our own comforts, especially when others bear the cost of our selfishness. While we have made slavery illegal, we continue to participate in systems, structures, and cultural patterns that provide advantages to those of us from European decent in ways that consistently diminish, distort, and destroy the lives of persons of color.

Forgive us, Lord. Release us from the deceptive corruption that is in our hearts and in the patterns that we continue to pass along from generation to generation. In your compassion transform us that we might desire the flourishing of all people in the fullness of your grace.

In remembering the day in which the slaves in Texas finally heard of their emancipation, we cry out to you to bring all slavery to end. Bring an end to the enslavement of children as soldiers. Bring an end to the trafficking of women and children as objects for sexual abuse. Bring an end to enslavement and transportation of people across borders to work in factories, fields, and construction sites. While the visible slavery of centuries past has been dismantled, our enslavement and abuse of others continues. Open our eyes to these injustices and to the ways we contribute to them. Search us, O Lord, and call us into action to bring an end to the injustices that we continue to perpetrate against each other.
Jesus, as you intercede with the Father on our behalf, please remember those who are caught up in the entanglements of slavery – whether as victim or perpetrator. Teach us to pray with you. May you make us into one people who embody the Father’s love in the ways we work for the mutual flourishing of each other. Holy Spirit, teach us to groan with you in longing for the fullness of your coming kingdom. May you equip us in your humble power to tangibly anticipate the day when Jesus Christ will complete his work of making all things new. Grant us the strength to spend ourselves on behalf of those who are still entangled in slavery so that together we might experience the full reconciliation and new life that you desire for all peoples.

We offer this prayer because our salvation comes from you alone, because you are already at work among us, releasing us from our sins, and because you are faithful. That your glory and honor might be made known through the freedom of all people.
Amen.
Liturgical Resources for Juneteenth

Washington National Cathedral's 
Carillonneur Edward M. Nassor plays “Lift Every Voice and Sing”
Happy Juneteenth!
A Day of Remembrance and Celebration