Bible reading event continues at Capitol
Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, the “love chapter” and Scripture from the Psalms, Proverbs, James and John could be heard wafting through the hallways at the state Capitol as an event commemorating the National Bible Association’s International Day of the Bible got underway on Tuesday.
About 40 people gathered on the second floor rotunda to hear 11 state and community leaders share some of their favorite passages of Scripture as part of the “Celebration of the Bible” public Bible reading event.
State Rep. Stephanie Bice, R-Oklahoma City, read the Sermon on the Mount from a portion of Matthew 5, while Oklahoma City police Maj. Paco Balderrama shared 13 different scriptures from the biblical books of Hebrews, Matthew, Proverbs, James, 1 John, Micah, Psalm and Romans.
Berry Tramel, sports columnist for The Oklahoman, expressed his gratitude for the invitation to read Scripture and the fact that such an event was allowed at the state’s Capitol building.
“It is always an honor to read the Word of God ... and it is a special honor to read the Word here,” Tramel told those gathered before he read several biblical verses including Matthew 6:1921, Matthew 6:33 and Matthew 6:24.
Tuesday’s event — the fourth such gathering in recent years — was hosted by Salt and Light Leadership Training (SALLT), along with the Family Policy Institute of Oklahoma and state Sen. AJ Griffin, R-Guthrie. Griffin welcomed the crowd to the Capitol, and she said she was thrilled to see many of her Senate colleagues in the audience.
The Bible reading was among similar events being held across the country in conjunction with International Day of the Bible, which is Sunday.
As he did last year, Wes Lane, SALLT president and former Oklahoma County district attorney, said Oklahoma has one of the few state Capitol buildings in the country where such religious events are allowed to take place. Lane, standing in for Mercy Hospital’s Jim Gebhart, read Gebhart’s chosen Scripture —
Corinthians 13 1-13, which is often called the “love chapter.”
Ofelia Cancio, with Huitt-Zollars Inc., shared Scripture in Spanish. Other readers included Dave Lopez, Oklahoma secretary of state; Deborah Senner, Allied Arts; state Rep. George Young, D-Oklahoma City; Ed Murray, broadcast journalist; and Rachel Pappy, with Polston Tax.
Before giving the closing prayer, Timothy Tardibono, president of the Family Policy Institute of Oklahoma, asked those gathered to remember 1 Timothy 2, which instructs believers to pray for those in authority.
He challenged the audience to remember that Scripture and to find something
they could pray for an elected official before they complained about the person.
‘Part of it’
Meanwhile, several leaders said they didn’t hesitate to participate in the event. “I just feel like this kind of recognition of our spiritual heritage is really an important thing. There’s been a lot of erosion of our religious liberty,” said Loren Gresham, president of Southern Nazarene University.
“We’ve eliminated prayer in schools, and we’ve had to remove the Ten Commandments (monument) off the (State Capitol) grounds. This is a small way to make a stake in the ground to say we still believe these things.”
Like some other participants, Graham shared several Scriptures scattered throughout the Bible, including Ecclesiastes 4:10-12, Hebrews 13:7 and Romans 8: 1-2.
Balderrama said he considered it an honor when he was asked to join gathering. “Anytime that I get the opportunity to share my faith, I jump right on it,” he said.
“It was very important to see the people who showed up here to share Bible verses, to pray for our leaders and to pray for move our state forward.”
Thomas and Penny Melendrez, of Little Axe, brought two of their home-schooled children to the event. The couple, who attend Bennett Church of the Nazarene in Norman, said they found the gathering heartwarming and only wished there were more people there to witness it. “I was just encouraged that our lawmakers believe the same Word that I do, and they are willing to read the Bible in public,” Penny Melendrez said.
“When I heard about this, I wanted to be part of it.”