A Bible-reading marathon in New Rochelle
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- July
- 8
St. John’s Episcopal Church in New Rochelle held a Bibliathon a couple of weekends ago.
What’s a Bibliathon, you ask?
Just what it sounds like. A marathon of Bible reading.
Between Friday morning and Sunday afternoon (taking off the night time), about 100 people stepped forward to read for 15 minutes each from the New Testament.
They read it all.
I couldn’t be there (as I somehow had four graduation/birthday parties that weekend). But I wish that I had.
A TV show called “Currents,” shown on NET NY, a new “faith-centered” cable TV network based in Brooklyn (and run by the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn), came up to New Ro and did a nice segment on the Bibliathon, which you can see below.
In the show, St. John’s pastor, the Rev. Rayner “Rusty” Hesse, says that everyone had the same reaction to the Bibliathon (which also served as a fundraiser): What a great idea, but why are you doing it?
He explained:
We had to explain the whole idea of what it was like to share a sacred text and also to take a sacred text and put it into action—to say that by reading this text we are showing how serious we are about what is read and stated in the New Testament. And that is to help other people. We are taking the money we are raising today and we are using it for our mission and outreach programs, especially to the hungry and homeless in our area.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 at 10:04 am by Gary Stern.
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The world of religion, we don't have to tell you, is vast. The purpose of this blog is for Stern to note, flag and comment on some of the more interesting religious developments on the scene – weighty and quirky, somber and laughable, far away and just down the road. He won't interpret Scripture, take sides in conflicts or judge anyone. But he will take advantage of the journalist's license to observe.
