Church service held to celebrate Juneteenth

JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) – KLEK held their annual Juneteenth Community Church Service at New Life Empowerment Ministries.

An annual celebration of freedom and keeping the faith. Coordinator Allie Tabor, said faith and Juneteenth go hand in hand.

“The community church service is very important. Faith has always been incredibly important in the black community so we just want to take time to honor and celebrate it,” Tabor said.

Pastor of New Life Empowerment, Rev. Dr. Greg Ota talks about the message behind the service.

“The message is freedom really, freedom on Christ actually. We can be prisoners of circumstances and all kinds of stuff but Christ really is the freedom that everyone is looking for. Your color is irrelevant to freedom,” Ota said.

It’s also a way to honor Ms. Qubilah Jones who helped start the church celebration and was the original Juneteenth coordinator. She passed away in 2022. The church and Juneteenth were special to her.

“She spearheaded the efforts to celebrate this day. We do this in remembrance of her also. Celebrate the Juneteenth of course but then we particularly remember her,” Ota said.

“Of all the things we did for Juneteenth, she always wanted us to make sure we had a community church service because bringing the community together with our faith was something that was always important to her,” Tabor said.

At the service, there was singing, dancing, and guest speakers.

“Freedom much like salvation is far reaching. It doesn’t matter about race, creed, color, gender. It’s always important to celebrate all the things that make us different and to celebrate the God who gave us those differences,” Tabor said.

KLEK will continue celebrating Juneteenth on Thursday, June 19, with their annual fireworks show.

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