As a church that believes in wide-eyed participation, we want to give you as many opportunities as possible to come alongside Jesus in the journey of reconciliation. That's why we offer weekly Do Some Good opportunities.

Please don't feel pressure to participate in everything, but we do hope that these posts give you an opportunity to plug in and serve the community at your capacity.

DO SOME GOOD

On this President's Day, as we continue uplifting Black History through our Do Some Good posts, we pause to reflect on a relationship between two highly influential figures that changed the nation forever: Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. Frederick Douglass was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. Formerly enslaved, he seized his right to freedom and became the most important leader of the movement for African American civil rights in the 19th century. Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President who led the US through the Civil War, played a major role in the abolition of slavery, and modernized the US economy (just to name a few).

•Both individuals had a complex but evolving relationship during the Civil War. Douglass criticized Lincoln for prioritizing the Union over immediate emancipation, the unequal treatment and pay of Black soldiers, and the Union government’s response to the Confederate treatment of Black prisoners of war, who were being tortured, killed, and sometimes sold into slavery.

•Lincoln’s issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 won Douglass’s partial approval, though he urged the president to go further in securing full citizenship for freed people. Their relationship deepened in 1864 when Lincoln invited Douglass to the White House again, asking him to help spread the message of emancipation to enslaved people in the South. Douglass, though still critical at times, wrote that he came to admire Lincoln’s commitment to abolition.

•Douglass played a crucial role in holding Lincoln accountable and ensuring that abolition remained a central war aim. His influence contributed to Lincoln’s growing recognition of Black Americans’ rights and dignity. Their relationship demonstrated the power of dialogue between an activist and a leader willing to listen. In the end, Douglass helped shape Lincoln’s legacy as the Great Emancipator, ensuring that the struggle for freedom did not end with the war.

•Read more about their relationship here: bit.ly/41kzdVd

Read Douglass's biography here: bit.ly/41l81oY

If you would like to have an initiative, event, drive and/or volunteer opportunity highlighted in our weekly “Do Some Good” communication, please fill out this form. Submit information at least two weeks before you would like it to be shared.