“Christmas morning at home matters to me because I want my kids to value spending time with us, certainly, but also to understand the value of family. The great paradox comes from wanting my kids to want to create their own memories and traditions with their families someday. In my experience, this desire will be precisely because they loved Christmas at home with us so much.”

Their religion emphasizes the power of prayer over human-made medicine, but it also leaves adherents free to make individual decisions about vaccinations.

As Juneteenth commemorates emancipation from slavery, the African Methodist Episcopal Church honors its longstanding connection to Black Americans’ struggle for freedom—and the history that has often remained hidden