As Alabamians mark the upcoming 50th anniversary of the bombing of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, area leaders are drawing attention to the Sunday School lesson that was taught that day.
When the church was bombed on Sept. 15, 1963, the scheduled Sunday School lesson was ironically “The Love That Forgives.’’ The bomb went off at 10:22 a.m., cutting short Sunday School and killing four girls. The planned 11 a.m. sermon was “A Love That Forgives” from Luke 23:34.
Greater Shiloh Missionary Baptist, Birmingham, is among churches encouraging places of worship around the nation to teach a lesson on love, healing and forgiveness this coming Sunday, Sept. 15.
Churches are also being asked to ring bells at 10:22 a.m. in memory of the four girls.
The 1963 Sunday School lesson came out of the The International Lesson Annual 1963 and focused on Genesis 45:4–15, which looks at how Joseph forgives his brothers after they sold him into slavery.
A copy of the lesson can be used with permission from https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-yE0T91aQWiSVBZLW1Zem9IbVk/edit?usp=sharing.
“I think this is very important,’’ said Michael W. Wesley Sr., pastor of Greater Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church. “[T]his is a different community than it was. If we are going to really be the community that we really need to be, and the nation that we need to be, forgiveness is required.’’
The church bombing anniversary falls on National Back to Church Sunday, an annual event created to call people back to church.
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