MOULTRIE — At 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 19, a special celebration awaits at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in Moultrie. It’s the church’s 14th year celebrating Juneteenth and the community is invited.

The theme for the celebration is “Lift Every Voice … A Sermon in Songs.” The celebration will promote spirituality, unity, and community through music, dance, and recitations, the church said in a press release. Special music will be rendered by the C&W Gospeletts, as well as the Friendship choirs. The mistress of ceremony will be Sandra Jordan.

Juneteenth is embraced and celebrated in honor and commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States. The name Juneteenth references the date of the holiday combining the words “June” and “nineteenth.”

In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared more than three million enslaved people living in the Confederate states to be set free.

Two and a half years passed before the news reached African Americans living in Texas. It was not until Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, that the enslaved people finally learned that slavery had been abolished.

Juneteenth became a state holiday in Texas in 1980. On June 17, 2021, President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday. Juneteenth was made a federal holiday in part because of the efforts of activist Opal Lee who raised awareness to make the day a holiday.

“During this celebration, we acknowledge the strength, resilience, and spirituality of an enslaved people,” the church’s press release said. “The program’s aim is to empower, and inspire our present generation, and to deliver vigorous action that will resonate with everyone in attendance.”

The church is located at 421 Sixth Ave. N.W. Traditional Juneteenth refreshments will be served. The Rev. Otis Brown is the pastor.