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Methodist civil rights leader William Bobby McClain dies at 82

William Bobby McClain, a longtime leader in the United Methodist Church and the civil rights movement, died November 18 at age 82.

McClain began preaching as a teen­ager in his hometown of Gads­den, Alabama. He met Martin Luther King Jr. in Montgomery, Alabama, according to a statement from Wesley Theo­logical Sem­inary, where McClain taught preaching and worship for 34 years.