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A celebration that is old and almost forgotten has become new again, and it will be honored in Eastside Tryon at the historic Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, located at 814 Markham Rd. Under President Joe Biden’s signature, Juneteenth has become a national holiday, now celebrated on June 19, the day General Gordon Granger gave General Order No. 3. On this day, the announcement was first heard in Galveston, Texas, delivered by Federal troops to farms, ranches, and plantations, enforcing the Emancipation Proclamation, which was already more than 2 years old, and 2 months after the civil war had ended. It informed slave owners in Texas, the last state to recognize the end of slavery, that their former property had now become their present-day employees, and united the former slave states into a national order in an effort to eliminate slavery throughout the country. The last enslaved people were finally freed under the 13th Amendment to the Constitution on December 6, 1865.  

 

In 2021, Juneteenth was the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was adopted in 1983.

 

Black communities and various states have traditionally celebrated this fact through an annual celebration of fellowship, Gospel singing, and a shared feast.  At 10:00 a.m on Sunday, June 12t,  our Service of Holy Communion (Trinity Sunday) will be held to both celebrate our freedom and to remember the ancestors who did not live to see this day.

 

All in the community are invited to be part of the Good Shepherd family for worship, song, and great traditional food. Follow the Juneteenth flags flying at the Church and Good Shepherd Cemetery, and roadside markers. Please join us!

 

Submitted by Rev. Dr. Aloha L. Smith