When the church bell rang racist

the long version

Donald E. Collins tells the story of the Alabama-West Florida Methodist Conference and its reactions to the civil rights movement. Part memoir and part historical analysis, Collins reflects on white Methodists' struggle to come to terms with their consciences in the face of racial change and the standards of Christianity's universal gospel. With events in Alabama during the civil rights movement as backdrop, Collins tells the story of the challenge that confronted the Methodist church and its ministers during those stormy years.