96 years ago, on July 21, 1923, Alice Paul stood in our church pulpit and declared that the “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” This sentence is also known as the Equal Rights Amendment. This week, Virginia the 38th State, will ratify this amendment and it will be added to the US Constitution. To celebrate this historic event, the day after the passage, we will ring the church bell throughout the day 96 times, one for each year it has taken to add this amendment to the US Constitution.

Church bells have often rung in times of celebration throughout our Nation’s History. The sound of a bell is the sound of freedom and liberty. Today it is also the sound of the shattering of the glass ceiling, making a pathway toward equity. We invite others to join us, the church will be open throughout the day for people to ring the bell. If you can’t journey here, we invite you to ring the bells in your community from Selma, to Stonewall to Seneca Falls.

Let the bells of our Nation ring out to celebrate that all people have been recognized in the US Constitution. This amendment includes men and women. This amendment includes LGBTQIA. This amendment includes every race, creed and color. It states clearly that the rights shall not be abridged and genuine freedom for all becomes our new destination.

via YouTube