Juneteenth Flag
Echoing the red, white and blue of the U.S. flag, the Juneteenth flag signifies that slaves and their descendants are true Americans. A star in the middle represents Texas, with a larger outer star representing a new freedom and a new people.
Juneteenth is a holiday that celebrates the day when General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas to announce that the Civil War had ended and salves had been freed. These were presumably the last slaves in the United States to learn of their freedom. Information traveled slowly and people gradually learned of their freedom.
The following resources have been compiled for use in commemorating this day.
Call to Worship
The Lord our God is great.
The Lord is worthy of our praise.
Come let us remember the great things God has done for us.
Let us not neglect to teach our children the greatness of God.
Let us not forget our nation’s past and those who have gone before us.
Let us remember the hurt and harm caused by racism and give thanks for those who’ve worked to overcome this evil.
Let us lift our voices in song, lift our arms in praise, and open our hearts in gratitude.
Let us greet God with our hymn of praise.
—Adapted from Eugene Blair. 21st Century Africana Liturgy Resources: “Worship Resources for Juneteenth Day Celebrations,” © 2007, 2008
Opening Prayer
Almighty God, we come to worship you today with open hearts and open minds. We want to hear and receive what you have to say to us in this service. Speak to us today as you spoke to those who went before us. Tell us the stories of your wonder and greatness. We are ready to hear them. Remind us once again of your grace and love. Help us teach your goodness to our children and the next generation. Amen.
— Eugene Blair, 21st Century Africana Liturgy Resources: “Worship Resources for Juneteenth Day Celebrations,” © 2007, 2008,
A Litany for Juneteenth
[Option: Assign one person to each letter, giving them that letter to hold up as they read the corresponding line.]
“J” Voice 1: Juneteenth represents the joy of freedom, the chance for a new beginning.
“U” Voice 2: Unless we expose the truth about the African American slave experience,
Americans won’t truly be free.
“N” All: Never must we forget the people who endured one of the worst slave
experiences in human history.
“E” Voice 1: Every American has benefited from the wealth blacks created through
more than two hundred years of free labor, and Juneteenth allows us to acknowledge that debt.
“T” Voice 2: To encourage every former slave-holding state to follow Texas’s
example and make Juneteenth a state holiday.
“E” All: Every day in America, blacks are reminded of the legacy of slavery.
Juneteenth counters that by reminding us of the promise of
deliverance.
“E” Voice 1: Even on the journey to discover who we are, Juneteenth allows us to
reflect on where we’ve been, where we’re at, and where we’re going as a
people.
“N” Voice 2: “Never give up hope” is the legacy enslaved peoples left. It was this
legacy that produced black heroism in the Civil War and helped launch the
modern civil rights era. It is this legacy we celebrate.
“T” Voice 1: To proclaim for all the world to hear, that human rights must never again
become subservient to property rights.
“H” Voice 2: History books have told only a small part of the story; Juneteenth gives us
a chance to set the record straight.
All: Freedom is always worth celebrating! Thanks be to God! Amen.
—Adapted from a portion of “The Black Church and Juneteenth” by Charles Taylor
When asked why we celebrate...because as a communal people we know, none are free until all are free. As followers of Christ, we are drawn together because of our common belief in the mission of Jesus, who "came to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed" (Luke 4:18). June 19th represents the day that declaration of freedom was set in motion for people of African descent. We have been on a long uphill journey and are just now learning to truly tell our story and claim the fulfillment of Christ’s promise, "it was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore, keep standing firm and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery" (Galatians 5:1).
- Written by Ruling Elder Ralphetta Aker, 2021
Prayer of Confession
We acknowledge that racism is a sin against God and against those whose skin color is different than ours. We are all created in the image of God. We confess our failure to fully follow Jesus Christ in loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. We acknowledge that we cannot truly love God, whom we have not seen, if we do not love our brothers and sisters whom we see every day (1 John 4:20).
We have failed to take responsibility for our part in the struggle against systemic racism, and we as a nation have failed to demonstrate our love for our sisters and brothers who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC).
Jesus Christ, by your word of healing grace and transforming power, forgive us and make us new in your image. Make us agents of your unconditional love for all people.
Amen.
Affirmation of Faith
Spoken introduction: People of God, Scripture says that “in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:26–29, NRSV). Let us therefore stand together and profess our faith as one body using the words of the . . .
From Confession of 1967 -- Book of Confessions, 9.44 a. (Inclusive Language Text)
God has created the peoples of the earth to be one universal family.
In his reconciling love,
God overcomes the barriers between sisters and brothers
and breaks down every form of discrimination
based on racial or ethnic difference, real or imaginary.
The church is called to bring all people
to receive and uphold one another as persons
in all relationships of life: in employment, housing, education,
leisure, marriage, family, church, and the exercise of political rights.
Therefore, the church labors for the abolition
of all racial discrimination and ministers to those injured by it.
Congregations, individuals, or groups of Christians
who exclude, dominate, or patronize others, however subtly,
resist the Spirit of God
and bring contempt on the faith which they profess.
* In 2002 the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) revised dated, gender-limited terminology in C67 to reflect inclusive language
OR
Confession of Belhar (1986), Book of Confessions 10.5
We believe
ï that God has entrusted the church with the message of reconciliation in and through Jesus Christ;
ï that the church is called to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, that the church is called blessed because it is a peacemaker, that the church is witness both by word and by deed to the new heaven and the new earth in which righteousness dwells;
ï that God’s life-giving Word and Spirit has conquered the powers of sin and death, and therefore also of irreconciliation and hatred, bitterness and enmity, that God’s life-giving Word and Spirit will enable the church to live in a new obedience which can open new possibilities of life for society and the world.
- Written by Rev. Linda Jaberg, adapted from the Central Florida Presbytery’s Statement on Racial Injustice
- Litany adapted from Litany of Healing from Mercy Education Systems of America, Silver Spring, Maryland, mercyedu.org
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Thankfully we praise you, O God, for your liberating power that broke shackles of oppression and restored humanity to the disenfranchised. Make us instruments of grace to resist slavery, in all manifestations, that no soul shall be denied the right to thrive and fully realize their divine purpose in you. In the name of the Liberating Christ, who died to set us all free, Amen.
- Adapted from prayer written by the Rev. Sterling Morse, PCUSA, June 19, 2017
Prayer of Intercession
O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son. Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred that infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unites us in bonds of love; and, through our struggle and confusion, work to accomplish your purposes on earth; so that, in your good time, every people and nation may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer
Out of the darkness we cry to you, O God. Enable us to find in Christ the faith to trust your care; even in the midst of pain. Assure us that we do not walk alone through the valley of the shadow, but that your light is leading us into life.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer
O God, where hearts are fearful and constricted, grant courage and hope. Where anxiety is infectious and widening, grant peace and reassurance. Where impossibilities close every door and window, grant imagination and resistance. Where distrust twists our thinking, grant healing and illumination.
Where spirits are daunted and weakened, grant soaring wings and strengthened dreams.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer
O God, call us into a deeper relationship to be your church for the sake of the world. Help us to see with new eyes the injustices within church and society. Call us to have a loving heart that respects and uplifts the humanity and dignity of every person; open our ears to listen to and learn from the experiences of people of color. Open our mouths to speak up and about injustices. Join us with others to work for racial equity and inclusion for all people.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer
- Resource from the Juneteenth Worship Resource, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, 2019
Resources compiled by
Juneteenth Liturgical Resource Sub-Committee Members:CFP
Ruling Elder Ralphetta Aker
Ruling Elder Cris Heceta
Rev. Dr. Nancy Graham Ogne
Rev. Erika Rembert Smith
Central Florida Presbytery Link to Juneteenth Liturgical Resources
