“Forever in The Path,” a six-panel stained glass commemorative artwork by artist, Jessica Valoris, is installed in the narthex.
“By naming the enslaved people who came before us, we can find redemption and guidance for our own time.” -Rev. Amanda Hendler Voss, Senior Pastor
The Call
“The land that the church sits on today was purchased from former slave owners, and that reality is a part of FCC’s story, of the larger human story …. Who are these people and why did not history record their names alongside Searle and Howard?”
— Dr. Renee Harrison, Keynote Address, March 7, 2015, Hidden Histories: Honoring Those Who Helped in Building a Just and Loving Community, 150th Anniversary of the Founding of First Congregational UCC
The Response
In Fall 2022, W. Antonio Austin, a Ph.D. student at Howard University, begins to research the hidden history of the land on which First Church resides. In his final report, “Slavery on G Street,” he identifies the names of 22 enslaved men, women and children who worked the land during its ownership by the Burns family.
In 2023, First Church retains artist Jessica Valoris to create the commemorative artwork and to engage deeply with the congregation in response to her concepts.
On November 1, 2023, All Souls Sunday, First Church acknowledges the names of the enslaved laborers who came before us through artifacts, candles and pastoral blessings.
On August 5, 2025, “Forever in the Path,” is installed at First Church.
FOREVER IN THE PATH
Stained glass artwork by Jessica Valoris, 2025
On this land, between 1750 and 1856, over 52 Black people were enslaved by the Burnes and Van Ness families. Among those in captivity were children marked for their reproductive potential, elders dismissed as having “no value,” and babies as young as nine months old. Forced to labor from sunup to sundown, many were sold and trafficked across county and state lines, passed down as inheritances, tasked out to other plantations, and torn apart from families and loved ones.
This core contradiction of our nation’s narrative of ‘freedom and justice for all’ calls us to reckon with the enduring legacies of slavery and racism, and to remember those on whose backs our nation was built.
We honor the lives of the Black people who loved and labored in bondage – their families and kinship networks, spiritual practices, dreams and acts of resistance. We honor their connection to the land, sky and waterways. We honor their descendants. With each tobacco leaf, each bird in flight, each new moon, this artwork opens a path for mourning, truth-telling, and the possibility of collective transformation.
Founded by abolitionists in 1865, First Congregational United Church of Christ is among the first racially integrated churches in Washington, DC. By honoring the lives of the Black people who were enslaved here, we sow the seeds of justice that they were denied.
First Church will dedicate its new installation, Jessica Valoris’ stained glass artwork, “Forever in the Path,” during worship on Sunday, September 14 at 10:30am. We invite everyone to join us for this important moment in the life of our church.