Juneteenth: Freedom Day News April 26, 2025 Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... “But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.” —Romans 6:8, NRSVUE Juneteenth, also called “Freedom Day,” became a federal holiday just four years ago. On that day, we celebrate the end of slavery in the United States. The name combines “June” and “19.” The issue of slavery divided the United States and was one of the main causes of what we also call “the War Between the States.” The northern (Union) and southern (Confederacy) states fought from April 1861 to April 1865. On Jan. 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation that announced that all enslaved people in the Confederate states were to be freed. However, two years later, many enslaved people in Texas had not heard the good news. They continued to do backbreaking, punishing work for no pay. On June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger and about 2,000 Union soldiers entered Galveston, Texas. Some of the soldiers were former members of the United States Colored Troops. As freed slaves, they joined the Union Army to fight for their people’s freedom. Granger read Order No. 3, telling the people that they were free. They knelt in prayer and gratitude and shouted for joy. They walked out of cotton fields and plantation kitchens to start new lives. Leaving with few possessions, many were befriended by Union soldiers. The former slaves looked forward to owning their own land or being paid for their labor, getting an education and learning to read and write. Some gave themselves new names to represent their new lives. Juneteenth became a state holiday in Texas in 1980. More than 40 years later, it was declared a federal holiday. On Juneteenth, African American people remember their ancestors with special worship services and other events. Honoring African American culture and history, they listen to readings of the Emancipation Proclamation and sing the Black national anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” (UMH #519). Click here to view resources related to celebrating Juneteenth at your church