“So what I said on Sunday, is anywhere you find a freedom movement throughout history, there were followers of Jesus right at the center of that. So this is not something where we’re trying to chase the tail of culture and be relevant. This should be part of the DNA of the church. We reconcile people. We speak to justice and freedom, and it’s right to do that.”
Ogden participated in an educational Zoom call with historians sponsored by Wycliff Bible Translators to learn more about Juneteenth in advance of the holiday. The call was designed to equip pastors and leaders in honoring the holiday.
“It was important to me not to tokenize the holiday, or to, in just kind of my ignorance, say something that might be insensitive,” he said. “That learning would be what I would encourage, especially white pastors. Once you learn it, you can speak to it and it also gives you a sense of the reasons why it’s important.”
Hall believes special observances are a good way for churches to educate people, especially children.
“A lot of the churches that I’m familiar with also have day school facilities attached to them, and/or they have adopted some of the local surrounding schools, individual schools within a district (where) they are located,” Hall said. “We get opportunities for those day schools that we have – we have one here – to highlight just like we would any other holiday, a national holiday, that we use that for our babies, starting in infancy.
“They can see some things and hear some things as a part of their curriculum. So we include that. The churches, I believe, need to step it up in this area,” Hall said. “So regardless to whether it’s Juneteenth or Black History Month or anything in those areas, what we try to do is we try to incorporate them as a normal process within our gathering, and that’s really the effort behind our Juneteenth” celebration.
On June 19, 1865, Blacks enslaved in Galveston were freed under General Order 3, which according to npr.org, stated “all slaves are free.” However, npr.org writes, the order also encouraged slaves to stay put and keep working.
“The freed are advised to remain at their present homes, and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts; and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere,” npr.org quotes the document, describing it as “patronizing language intended to appease planters who didn’t want to lose their workforce.”
Juneteenth was declared a national holiday in 2021.
This article originally appeared here.
