User:Ramenlordd/Bethel Baptist Church (Birmingham, Alabama)

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''Fred Shuttlesworth served as pastor from 1953 to 1961. The church buildings were bombed on three separate occasions, first on December 25, 1956, again on June 29, 1958, and lastly on December 14, 1962.''

On Christmas Day in 1956, a bomb destroyed the parsonage, where Shuttlesworth was in the building at the time, but was unharmed. On June 29, 1958, the church was bombed a second time. J.B. Stoner was a lawyer, and a member of the KKK, who was responsible for the second bombing of the Bethel Baptist Church. '''At the time of the blast, the church was empty. The second bomb was removed from the church before it exploded, which saved the church from damage. Stoner was indicted for the bombing of Bethel Church in 1958. He was convicted in 1980 and was sentenced to ten years, but served 3 and half years through parole. On December 14, 1962, a third bomb caused minor damage to the church.'''