Thousands Speaking the Word of God over the US Capitol for 3 Decades
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The 28th Annual US Capitol Bible Reading Marathon is well underway, with around 1,600 people flocking to DC this week for an opportunity to read a passage from the Bible at the West Front of the Capitol building.
For 28 years, the group has secured permits to set up for 90 hours straight reading through the entire Bible from start to finish. The event always kicks off on the Sunday leading up to the National Day of Prayer, which falls on the first Thursday of May each year. They began with at 6 pm Sunday night, and will finish reading Revelation 22 aloud together around noon on Thursday, May 4.
The event organizers celebrate the fact that because of religious freedom in America, this 90 hour Bible reading marathon at the US Capitol is permitted year after year. Any race, religion, or ethnicity is invited to read passages from the Bible. And come rain, wind, or shine, they have volunteers consecutively reading through the entire Bible.
Reverend Michael Hall organized this year's event alongside his wife. Hall told CBN News that when he started working with the event over 20 years ago, they noticed people visiting the Capitol from all over the world who wanted to read in their native tongue. Because of this, they now have over 100 non-English translation Bibles for people who speak all kinds of languages, even less known like Apache Indian and Gullah, a language spoken on the Sea Islands and coastal regions of America, with around only 550 known native speakers.
Hall says it can be an emotional, teary-eyed experience when people from countries that do not have religious freedom read at the podium, since reading the Bible in public would never be permitted in some of their home countries.
Hall says the readers include "anyone that understands the importance of exercising our First Amendment liberties," and people either sign up beforehand or at the last minute.
As for recruiting people to read through the wee hours of the night and morning, the organizers say they've never had a problem finding volunteers. Rev. Raymond Smallwood has been covering the "night shift" for over twenty years and says he enjoys the peacefulness and company that the night hours bring.
"I've tried doing it in the daytime, but I prefer the night shift if possible," Rev. Smallwood of the People's Church told CBN News. "It's very special in the middle of the night to stand and to read the Bible, you don't have any distractions, and you get to meet people that just want to talk."
They even had one woman in her eighties who was a first-time reader volunteer to cover the 1am-5am shift Tuesday morning. Rev. Hall tells CBN that she flew in from New York, took a cab to the Capitol at midnight, read with about five others for four hours, then flew back home. When asked why she signed up for a relatively undesirable time slot, she said since it was her first time, she'd let the veteran readers take the daytime hours.
The event organizer's hope people who hear about what they're doing will be encouraged to start Bible reading marathons all across the country.
CBN News will cover the event's conclusion Thursday at noon live on our Facebook page.
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