June 19, 2025
Today is Juneteenth, which marks a pivotal moment in American history—the end of slavery in the United States. It commemorates the day in 1865 when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation, delivering long-overdue freedom to enslaved African Americans in the farthest reaches of the South. This day has grown into a deeper reflection on liberty, resilience, and the ongoing struggle for equity and justice. Today is a day to give thanks alongside our neighbors whose ancestors were enslaved.
But for those of us who are white, it cannot be a day of pure thanksgiving. When the children of Israel celebrate the Passover, their own Juneteenth, they remember that they were slaves in Egypt. Today is a day for those of us who are white to remember that our ancestors were Egypt. We cannot take joy in the freedom of our siblings unless we also acknowledge our past and give thanks for our ongoing salvation from what we once were and could yet become again.
June is Pride Month. On June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City’s Greenwich Village. This wasn’t unusual at the time—LGBTQ+ spaces were frequently targeted—but that night, the community fought back. The protests that followed lasted several days and became a catalyst for the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. I hope you will all put on your rainbow-colored Resurrection shirts and join our group for Eugene’s Pride walk.
But as we wish our community, “Happy Pride!” remember that for centuries the Church stood by and watched the cloaks of murderers whom it had encouraged and enflamed against God’s queer children. Even today far too many of those who call themselves Christians are still breathing threats and murder against the LGBTQ+ community, and many fresh wounds still bleed. The damage Christians did and are doing to Christ’s beloved children is staggering. As the Rite I confession says, “The remembrance of them is grievous unto us, the burden of them is intolerable.” As Followers of the Way, we cannot be proud unless we also accept responsibility for the immense harm we have caused. We cannot be proud unless we can learn to be humble.
I hope we can be both. Please join our walk on Saturday June 28, beginning at Kesey Square at the intersection of 8th and Willamette. The rally begins at 9:30 and the walk at 10:30, ending at Pride Fest at the Fairgrounds.