Author: Hazel Southam, 7 September 2016
A marathon 75-hour reading of the entire Bible is taking place at Winchester Cathedral this week.
The event, sponsored by Bible Society, sees locals read the whole Bible from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation without stopping.
Those taking part included Alastair Bruce from Sky News and local TV presenters Sally Taylor and Bruce Parker.
We need to hear what God is saying to us. The way we can do that is listening.
The Acting Dean, Canon Roly Reim said,
'Today’s culture is unfamiliar with the Bible. I hope that people will stop and listen and wonder about the Bible.
‘We need to hear what God is saying to us. The way we can do that is listening. This gives us the chance to reflect and absorb what is being read.’
He added: ‘I hope and pray that people will hear a golden chord that they will want to pull on.’
Over the three-and-a-half days and nights that the reading is constantly taking place, some 150 people will take part. Each one will take away a Bible donated by Bible Society.
Canon Roly Riem said that he was ‘daunted’ by the slot given to him: six and a half hours of continuous reading over the first night.
‘I don’t like coffee, so I can’t rely on that,’ he joked. ‘But I can sleep at the slightest provocation, so I will go to bed early tonight and get a few hours in beforehand.’
There’s a feeling of everybody coming together to read and keeping going until the weekend
Many of those taking part were profoundly moved by the experience. Amanda Gibbons read the story of Abraham being asked to sacrifice his son, Isaac, and found herself in tears.
‘I was very moved,’ she said afterwards. ‘I have two sons so it really spoke to me. It really hit me.’
The BBC’s Sally Taylor said, ‘It’s a great idea. There’s a feeling of everybody coming together to read and keeping going until the weekend, which is tremendous.
‘It’s embracing everybody and allowing people to be part of it in any way that they want.’
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