Faith & Action’s Rev. Rob Schenck has been featured in all across the internet in news coverage of Washington DC’s legalization of gay marriage. Click the links below to see Rev. Schenck preach to those seeking same-sex marriage licenses. Join the online discussions and let your voice be heard!
Only a few weeks remain before the launch of the annual National Capital Bible Reading Marathon! You’re invited to join us in person or via the Internet May 3 – 7 for this unique outreach to our nation’s Capital. The Marathon is now in its 20th year as the only non-stop public reading of the entire Bible ever staged in Washington, DC. This year the Marathon returns to the plaza on the West Steps of the U.S. Capitol, just beneath the area where new presidents swear the Oath of Office on Inauguration Day.
During the 90-hour, four-day program, volunteers will mount the podium and read designated sections of the Scripture beginning at Genesis and ending with the last verse of Revelation. The Marathon has a strict policy that only Scripture is to be heard with no commentary or other remarks. Reading is open to anyone and includes pastors, Christian leaders, members of Congress and other public officials, passers-by, foreign tourists, young and old.
Faith and Action is a primary co-sponsor of the Marathon. Rob Schenck, an adviser to the Marathon planners, said, “This is the only time the Word of God is proclaimed in its entirety to all of Capitol Hill. It makes a huge impact. People renew their faith, make first-time commitments to Christ, and foreign visitors from countries without religious freedom are strengthened and emboldened by this experience. It’s a win-win-win for everyone.”
This year the Marathon faces several impediments it has not faced in the past. For the first time US Capitol Police authorities have denied planners the use of a sound system. In addition, they are demanding all equipment, supplies, etc., are removed from the Capitol grounds at the end of each 24-hour permit period, only to be immediately replaced again so the event can resume. Planners say that’s an unfair burden for them to bear, as the distances are great and volunteer help is scarce. The interruptions will also threaten the very tight schedule, almost assuring the reading will be incomplete by the time National Day of Prayer events must be staged on May 7.
US Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas and several members of Congress have offered to intervene on behalf of the Marathon by seeking a waiver of the restrictions. Faith and Action is assisting these congressional offices to craft a joint resolution of Congress to lift the difficult provisions.
To find out more about the Marathon or to volunteer, go to www.dcbiblemarathon.org
By Rob Schenck
My wife, Cheryl, and I were there–seated in the front section at the Inauguration of our new president, Barack Obama. I kept thinking of that prayer service we did ten days earlier in the walkway he took today on his way from being citizen Obama to President Obama. (They showed him walking through it on the Jumbotron video screens.) I also thought of what so many of our Faith and Action friends must be thinking, “Now what?”
Over the next few days, I’ll write my thoughts on possible answers to that question. For now, I urge you to watch a video of the sermon I preached this past Sunday at Believer’s Fellowship of Sarasota, Florida. It speaks directly to this question: You can find it on my face book page here.
As we prayerfully work through all these changes, be at peace. Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, makes this confident confession in Exodus 18: 10-11:
“Blessed be the LORD, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the LORD is greater than all the gods; for in the very thing in which they behaved proudly, He was above them.”
Your missionary to Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, Rob Schenck, reporting:
It’s been busy here. So far, it’s been three days, three major events and three states!
Friday night I attended a reception at the new Capitol Hill facility for the National Center for State Courts, sandwiched right between our two buildings. In the photo you can see the slate blue row house in the center with our Faith and Action ministry center to the right and our National Pro-Life Action Center and team offices to the left.
The mission of NCSC is to “improve the administration of justice through leadership and service to state courts, and courts around the world.” According to their website, they accomplish this, “through research, consulting services, publications, and national educational programs.” Included in their programs are training seminars for the judges who sit on the 50 state supreme courts around the country, as well as their top-level staff.
Among the guests at Friday night’s reception were state supreme court administrators, judges and chief justices. During formalities, NCSC executive director, Mary McQueen, graciously thanked me and our operations officer, Peggy Birchfield, for helping to bring the new center to reality. (I had put Mary together with the owners of the property and we did all we could to accommodate the Center’s expansive needs as they undertook considerable renovation.)
It goes without saying that having the state courts so close by is to our advantage, especially in view of how many of the very big social, moral and even religious controversies of our day are headed their way!
Saturday night I attended another kind of festivity. This one was a tribute dinner to our good friend of many years, valued colleague and extraordinary pro-life advocate Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life. For the soiree, my brother, Paul and I, and Christian Defense Coalition director Pat Mahoney, traveled together to Staten Island, NY, where PFL is located.
PFL is now the largest pro-life organization of its kind in the world. The occasion Saturday night marked Fr. Frank’s 15th year at the helm of PFL. (As well as the 20th anniversary of ordination.) Many of the country’s top pro-life leaders attended and others sent congratulatory notes. Paul and I have worked shoulder-to-shoulder with Fr. Frank since before we moved to Washington in 1994. He has Washington, DC-based staff that work out of our facilities.
The Staten Island celebration was followed Sunday morning by a breakfast conference. It was interesting to listen to and interact with these movement leaders, especially in the wake of Barack Obama’s election. Please watch the videos of my conversations with Fr. Frank and others, as well as some of the presentations that were made and reporting that Paul and I did. Some will be posted here. Others can be found at www.faithandaction.org and www.nationalproliferadio.net.
Finally, Sunday night I was in Scranton, PA, for the Interparliamentary Conference on Human Rights and Religious Freedom sponsored by the Institute on Religion and Public Policy (I’ve mentioned one too many times that I serve on the IRPP’s board).
The Trustees for Scranton-based Marywood University and the school’s president, Sister Anne Munley, hosted an exquisite reception for IRPP founder Joe Griebowski, his staff and board, and, of course, for the legislators, observers and others. A news conference was also held summarizing the first day’s accomplishments. (Watch for video to be posted here.) More than 20 countries are represented at the Conference, from mammoth China to tiny Moldova! (Click here to read more about the ICHRRF.) I’ll report more at this blog as the days go on.
Gotta go for now. Thanks for praying and keeping in touch!
Rob
