All are invited to gather online with Bishop Gayle E. Harris for a virtual Juneteenth celebration on Saturday, June 19, 2021, at 4:30 p.m., commemorating the date in 1865 when word of slavery’s end in the U.S. finally reached Galveston, Tex. The Juneteenth event will also mark the Feast of Bernard Mizeki, Catechist and Martyr in Mashonaland in 1896. All are welcome; registration is required here.
In a pastoral reflection for Juneteenth last year, Bishop Alan M. Gates wrote, “This is a moment of intense national reckoning with our history of racism and racial injustice. It is a moment for introspection, repentance and re-dedication--both personal and communal. In such a moment, for any one of us to honor Juneteenth for the first time is of course a small gesture. However, I hope it will be understood as a manifestation of grieving for Black and Brown lives lost to racist violence; support of those laboring for enduring systemic change; and a signal of our intention more deeply to engage ourselves and our diocese in that hard work.” Read the full reflection from 2020 here.