Until Freedom Flies

Looking ahead to the 250th Independence Day (July 4), Community Renewal Society (CRS) further recognizes the sacrifices and resilience of our ancestors who carried the promise of liberty forward, even when it was unjustly denied to them. Juneteenth reminded us that liberation has always depended on these courageous champions who refused to accept injustice as inevitable.

Yet much work remains until freedom truly flies. Across the nation and around the world, people live under the weight of discrimination, displacement, cycles of poverty, a culture of violence, and systemic inequality. The ideals of “liberty and justice” that we righteously rejoice in on the Fourth of July are powerful, but not universal. For this year’s holiday, freedom cannot only be a history to remember; it must be a responsibility to extend for everyone, everywhere.

To those in the spirit of celebrating freedom, may your celebration move you to build Beloved Community where everybody belongs. The urgent work before us demands that CRS member congregations, coalition partners, and communities organize together so that freedom takes flight for all.