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The Dioceses of Alabama and the Central Gulf Coast are sponsoring the annual pilgrimage to Hayneville, Alabama, on August 13. This year's pilgrimage commemorates the 51th anniversary of the martyrdom of Episcopal seminarian Jonathan Myrick Daniels, who was killed in 1965 during the summer of civil rights protests. The 51th anniversary also commemorates the 13 others killed during the struggle for civil rights in Alabama.
The Christ Church, Pensacola, chapter of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew and the Episcopal Church Women will jointly sponsor an air-conditioned, restroom-equipped luxury tour bus to transport pilgrims from the Central Gulf Coast. The bus will leave from the Belmont Street Side of Christ Church parking lot at 7:00 am and return the same day at approximately 6:00 pm.
The pilgrimage will start at 11:00 am at the Lowndes County Courthouse Square and retrace the steps of Daniels, as he was released from the jail to the grocery store where he was fatally shot, taking a bullet to prevent the death of Ruby Sales, another civil rights demonstrator. The march will then wind its way back to the courthouse, where an all-white jury found a white deputy innocent in the killing of Daniels.
Given recent events in our nation, please come and stand in unity with those who refuse to let hatred and bigotry divide us at the 51th anniversary of the Hayneville Pilgrimage commemorating the murder of Jonathan Myrick Daniels.
After a program in the courthouse, the bus will depart for Greenville, Alabama, where the hospitality group from St. Thomas Episcopal Church will provide refreshments and fellowship for an hour. Please bring your own bag lunch and, because of the August heat, plenty of water and a hat or umbrella to provide shade from the searing sun.
The cost is $44.00 per person with a minimum of 30 people needed to make the trip. Several stops will be made along the way to Hayneville, so pilgrims can pick up the bus on 29 North in Pensacola or at one of the I-65 exits, please contact Joe McDaniel at (415) 225-9066 or at mcdanieljoe43@yahoo.com. Mail your checks to Joe McDaniel, 709 Roanne Lane, Pensacola, FL 32505. Make checks payable to "Christ Church Parish" with "Hayneville Pilgrimage" indicated on the notation line. The deadline for receipts of checks is August 5.
If your church is planning on attending the pilgrimage or is offering travel accommodations that are open to anyone in our diocese, please send an email to The Rev. Peter Wong at rector@nativitydothan.org