When people think of hearing the Bible read aloud, they probably imagine it happening either in a church setting or in someone’s home. Most people do not picture a group of people reading the Bible outside through a loudspeaker. That, however, is exactly what happens every year in Stuart, Florida.

The annual Bible Reading Marathon began in 2001 in the aftermath of the September 11^th terrorist attacks. Pastors Gene and Donna Healton of the Spirit of Prophecy Ministries felt that Scripture could bring some much needed hope, comfort and strength to the country as America reeled from the barbaric and unprovoked attack. “When the Towers came down,” Donna Healton said, “the Lord spoke to our hearts about doing this for our nation. This is for our nation, not for our church, but for all the people in our country.”

The local governments of Martin County and Stuart have been openly supportive in a time when publicly practicing Christianity has fallen under attack. The reading takes place at Veterans Memorial Park in Stuart, and participants sign up to read for 15 minute increments. Their words are then blasted through loudspeakers for 90 straight hours from Sunday through Thursday as volunteers read out every word of the Bible from the first sentence of Genesis to the final “Amen” in Revelation.

Due to health concerns, the Healtons have stepped back from spearheading the event in 2018. They remained involved but handed management of the marathon over to Eddie and Joanne Rodrigues of Step Into Grace Ministries. “We are very excited to do this,” Eddie said, “and we thank [the Stuart City Commission] for allowing us to use your park to speak God’s Word out into the open, into the skies and to the Earth.”

The annual event has grown larger and continued longer than anyone ever expected.  “We thought we were just doing it one year,” Donna Healton said. “It’s like a mandate God says [to do]. I think this may be the most important thing that the Lord has called us to do here in this county. Just to be able to have God’s Word go forth from here, and with the Ten Commandments here on the land … God’s people are just coming together and I think it’s just exciting what God’s doing.”

The event has inspired other marathon Bible reading sessions across the nation since its inception. Despite social pressures to relegate religion to something practiced only behind closed doors, public readings of the Bible have created a sense of pride and solidarity among Christians who hear God’s Word spoken in public as well as hope for the future. “We need to think about building the kingdom of God, and so as people are struggling and having hard times, I think they’re seeking God out more. We have to tell people God is our answer, and so we have to turn to Him because He says things are going to happen in the nations, and we’re one of the nations,” Donna said. “There’s no hope sometimes if you look in the natural, but with God, all things are possible, and He’s our hope.”