Today is the 50th anniversary of the bombing of the 16th St Baptist Church in Birmingham Alabama that killed four girls in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement. On Sunday September 15,1963 four members of the Ku Klux Klan planted 19 sticks of dynamic outside the basement of the church. Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley and Denise McNair were killed as they were in Sunday School preparing for the church¹s Youth Day. I took this photo of the church when I visited Birmingham in April for the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr¹s letter to white clergymen from the Birmingham jail. Christian Churches Together, (CCT) an ecumenical board on which I serve as a representative of the ELCA,wrote a response to Dr. King¹s letter 50 years later. You can find a copy of the letter on the CCT website. christianchurchestogether.org/wpcontent/uploads/2013/08/CCT-Response-Letter-Birmingham-Jail.pdf The bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church on a Sunday morning when hundreds of parishioners were in attendance, and the martyrdom of Addie, Carole, Cynthia and Denise less than a week after Dr.King¹s speech at the March on Washington, was the event that directly and swiftly advanced the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Take a moment this week to give thanks for the courage and sacrifice of those who gave their lives, and risked persecution and prosecution during the civil rights movement for the sake of justice, mercy and peace. And by God¹s grace and strength step up when you are confronted with hate, bullying and intolerance. Each generation needs to work for peace in whatever way politically, prayerfully and personally possible. +Claire Burkat
Posted on: Sun, 15 Sep 2013 17:45:46 +0000