On Sunday, churchgoers will commemorate and celebrate Juneteenth during their worship services. Throughout the day there will be colorful parades, coast-to-coast music festivals, visits to historical sites, large gatherings within local communities, team sports — and plenty of barbecue.

However, many will start the day with a long-standing tradition: worship.

These lyrics, from “The Song of the Contrabands: O Let My People Go,” will have a special significance at services this Sunday because they echo the spirit of the holiday. It’s a biblical story about the experience of Israel — from Egyptian bondage to their exodus. The enslaved Africans identified with the story. Generations later, this hymn is still sung to remember how it felt to be a slave and to continue to seek equality and justice.

“Gospel music has been a comfort to the Black community indeed,” says gospel singer Tye Tribbett, who is performing at at the Juneteenth Unityfest 2022 event Sunday. “Its power to harness the ability of hope, aspiration, and faith to give courage over fear during our culture’s most difficult times is part of our and the music’s legacy.”

In Galveston, Texas — the birthplace of Juneteenth — congregants at Reedy Chapel A.M.E. Church will begin their service at 11 a.m. and end the day with a freedom march. This was one of the locations the enslaved people heard these words, from General Order, No. 3, the original Juneteenth order, on June 19, 1865: ‘The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. …”

Juneteenth is also called Jubilee Day, Emancipation Day and Freedom Day. It’s the most recent new federal holiday, since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was introduced in 1983. Because it falls on “The Lord’s Day,” pastors will share a special message with their congregation.

Bishop T.D. Jakes of The Potter’s House, in Dallas, says that in order to protect this nation’s legacy, one must acknowledge and learn from the past.

“Although the origin of Juneteenth commemorations begin in Texas, it’s vital we all must remember when liberty and justice is delayed or denied it causes traumatic ripples throughout future generations,” he says.

Jakes adds, “… as we collectively stop to acknowledge and learn from the delayed liberties of our nation’s ancestors, we must not allow those same systems to repeat injustices.”

In San Francisco, Grace Cathedral congregants will celebrate and lament during their service. Actress and playwright Anna Deavere Smith will deliver their morning message.

“Her deep knowledge and narrative accounts of the school-to-prison pipeline, and grounded Episcopal faith, will guide us toward the work of emancipation today. We call that End Slavery for Good, ensuring that no one be subject to slavery, even as punishment for a crime …,” says the Rev. Canon Anna E. Rossi.

The Rev. Joshua Lawrence Lazard, associate pastor of Church of the Covenant, a predominantly white congregation in Boston, plans to take his sermon title from James Baldwin’s book, You Mean It or You Don’t.

“I will remind listeners that Christians have a duty to manifest the themes of liberation and freedom,” Lazard says. “Our faith requires us to be active in restoring and repairing the wrongs that stem from America’s original sin of slavery…”

According to historians, many American institutions played a role in justifying slavery and white supremacy — including the Christian church, which used the Bible to justify the enslavement of African Americans.

In the documentary, Juneteenth: Faith & Freedom Christian apologist Lisa Fields says it doesn’t surprise her that the first institution that the emancipated people of Galveston established legally was a church. Fields says “they were believing God to liberate them” – not Abraham Lincoln nor their slave masters.

That brings to mind another popular hymn that could be heard on Juneteenth Sunday — “We have come this far by faith,” written by Albert A. Goodson:

Further reading on this topic

White Awake: An Honest Look At What It Means To Be White, by Daniel Hill

Rediscipling The White Church: From Cheap Diversity To True Solidarity by David Swanson

The Color Of Compromise: The Truth About The American Church’s Complicity In Racism, by Jemar Tisby

Be The Bridge: Pursuing God’s Heart For Racial Reconciliation, by Latasha Morrison

Divided By Faith: Evangelical Religion And The Problem Of Race In America, by Michael O. Emerson & Christian Smith

25 Black Theologians Who Have Grown Our Faith in Christianity Today

Rain, shine, dry faucets or low water pressure, in the South the game must go on.

Some residents in Jackson, Miss., have been without running water for days, while others have been under a boil water notice for more than a month. But unreliable water has been a way of life in Jackson for years and that wasn’t enough to stop football fans from seeing the season open between two division III Jackson schools — Millsaps College, playing as the home team, and Belhaven University as the away team.

Players’ family members drove in from out of state to support their sons. They also brought with them cases of water after hearing about the on-and-off water pressure in the dorms. Flooding of the Pearl River, which cuts through Jackson, led to the city’s main water treatment plant failing and a scramble for clean water as the system lost pressure.

Millsaps College said Friday night that they had good water pressure. But it’s been fluctuating, so the school brought in portable toilets and mobile shower units just in case they need to be rolled out.

Once the game started, it was easy to forget about the water crisis. The away bleachers sat hundreds of fans wearing Belhaven’s green and gold. A blue Powerade sat under one man’s sneaker while the concession stand sold condensation-covered Dasani water bottles for $3. On the field, benches were lined with classic green and yellow Gatorade squeeze bottles.

The rare reminder of the city’s water woes came when the game’s announcer thanked Infinite Insurance for providing 37,000 bottles of water for students and players.

Belhaven freshman Alyssa Pearson came to support her fellow Belhaven athletes after her soccer team beat Sul Ross State University earlier in the day. Water’s been a non-issue during the game, though the other night it was a problem post-game — after wrapping up play she was ready for a quick shower, but found her dorm no longer had any water pressure. She went off-campus to clean up.

In Acworth, Ga., where Pearson’s from, boil water notices aren’t the norm like in Jackson. It’s been a tough education — not enough to make her consider transferring, but she has been learning what it’s like to brush her teeth with bottled water and wonder just what else is coming out of the shower head.

“I have no idea if my toilet is going to flush or not today,” Pearson said.

Dry toilet lines are new for Belhaven senior Izzy Erickson, but boil water notices have been a constant of her four years here. She’s not planning on letting the crisis ruin her senior year, but she’s ready to be done with Jackson.

“I know I won’t be living here after college, so I guess I have that to look forward to,” Erickson said.

Other seniors give the low water pressure a shoulder shrug — just another chance to embrace the Belhaven edict of overcoming adversity. One baseball player lives off campus and lets friends enjoy his working shower when the dorm’s water flow is more of a drip.

Jackson State University senior Patrick Powe Jr. spends his free time delivering water to residents living in Jackson’s affordable housing communities — many residents either don’t have a car to get to the drive-through water distribution sites or can’t afford to spend the gas waiting potentially hours for the pick-up.

Tonight, he’s in the stands supporting his former high school teammate playing for Belhaven, which won the game 49-1. He’s had to deal with water issues all his life but part of what makes this crisis different is how long it’s lasting. Some residents have been under a boil water notice for a month and there’s no timeline for repairs. But Powe said even if the city’s water is still undrinkable for Jackson State’s first home game Sept. 17, he’ll still be there at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium cheering on his team.

“I’m still going to be in the Vet, Jackson State from head to toe, cheering our boys on,” he said.