WisPolitics Budget Blog

I can hear Jefferson John and Annie Laurie Gaylor's teeth knashing and brain cells popping on this one...

On the Fourth Day, They Rested
Edgerton-Area Churches Read Bible for 77 Hours

From the Alpha to the Omega.
From the beginning to the end.
From Genesis to Revelation.

However you want to put it, they're going to read the whole thing.

Over 77 hours, from 6:50 a.m. Monday until noon Thursday, 250 volunteers from 15 Edgerton-area churches are reading the Bible from start to finish.

From two microphones in the city's Central Park, volunteers will read, without interruption, through the night. They'll read without skipping what some people consider the less-exciting biblical books, such as Leviticus or Numbers. Even poor Job's story will be retold.

This is the third year we've done this said Nancy Durgin, event organizer. The first year, we planned on it taking 90 hours. We ended up reading Psalms twice and went through about half of the New Testament a second time before our time was up.

Last year, when the noon whistle blew, Durgin had nine verses left to go. Durgin works with Bible Pathways Ministries, an organization that encourages people to read the Bible for 15 minutes a day, completing the big book in a year.

Pathways helped local organizers with letters so they could get permission to hold the marathon in a public place, news releases, a reading schedule form and certificates of recognition for each person who participates.

Durgin worked with Edgerton and Milton churches, and this year she even signed up two from the Cambridge area.

Volunteers read for 15 minutes or 30 minutes, and a timekeeper tracks the time. New International Versions are on the podium, but people can read from whatever version of the Bible they want-or in any language they like.

Why a Bible-reading marathon?

God really does exist, and he has something he wants to tell you Durgin said. You won't' know unless you read the Bible.

Rereading the Bible brings its own rewards, too. God has different messages for different times in our lives, Durgin said.

God is telling us, This is what I have to say to you today, she said.

Readers generally don't have large audiences-usually it's just other volunteer readers. One year, however, a woman took off time from work to come and listen.

On Monday morning, the Rev. Larry MacKenzie of Fulton Church read before going off to work. His wife, Alice MacKenzie, and their children-Connor, 12; Lauren, 14; and Alison, 19-also were signed up to read. For Larry MacKenzie, reading in the marathon was both a devotional experience and a symbolic one.

It's good to know that people out there still believe, MacKenzie said.It's good for a community to keep the Scriptures central. It's what the whole effort is about--God is still alive, God is still here.

The marathon continues through noon Thursday, and visitors are welcome. Organizers also are collecting Bibles to send to Bible Pathways Ministries, which will send them around the world.