A Sunday School Lesson From the 16th Street Baptist Church
People from all over the country will be in Birmingham Sunday to mark the 50th anniversary of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. The blast killed four girls as they prepared for Sunday school classes. The bombing by Ku Klux Klansman shocked the public, helping lead to the passage of the Civil Rights Act a year later.
While the bombing thrust the church into history, it remains a functioning congregation. The church’s routine this Sunday will largely be like any other. But the Sunday school lesson children will hear is the same one taught the morning of the bombing. WBHM’s Sarah Delia visited the 16th Street Baptist Church to hear how those Bible verses resonate 50 years later. She spoke with Reverend Kenneth Hicks, the assistant to the pastor and the coordinator of the church’s Sunday School program.