As worship music reverberated throughout the Iowa Capitol’s rotunda Friday, speakers at the day-long Bible Reading Marathon said they hoped to send a strong message: Prayer fuels everything — including the state Legislature.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, before reading a proclamation for the event, said it was appropriate for the Iowa State Capitol Bible Reading Marathon to happen where the start of the 2025 legislative session will kick off Monday, saying “There’s no better time to turn to the Bible for wisdom.”
Iowa 99 County Bible Marathon Leader Dianne Bentley, left, and Iowa Prayer Caucus Director Paul Dykstra, right, pray over Gov. Kim Reynolds, center, during the Iowa State Capitol Bible Reading Marathon at the Iowa State Capitol on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in Des Moines.
“That truth guides me and many of my colleagues in this legislature every single day,” Reynolds said in front of a video screen with a waving American flag.
The Bible Reading Marathon marked its 10th year in the Iowa Capitol on Friday. Tom McGovern, a volunteer at the Bible Reading Marathon, said it’s meaningful that the event is held in the Iowa Capitol.
“When we declare, when we read out the word of God in these chambers, it’s powerful, and it’s effective on how our state is governed,” he said. “It impacts the legislators. It impacts the bills that we vote on, the legislators that we elect. It is so important that we continue to declare the word of God. There’s so many curses that are going out upon our nation.”
during the Iowa State Capitol Bible Reading Marathon at the Iowa State Capitol on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in Des Moines.
Iowans reading the Bible could be seen in quiet corners of the Iowa Capitol all day Friday.
Dianne Bentley, state leader of the Iowa Bible Reading Marathon, said Iowans traveled hours by car from as far as the Quad Cities and Des Moines County for the event. The date of the event was intentionally set closer to the start of the 2025 legislative session, she said.
What is the Iowa State Capitol Bible Reading Marathon?
Bentley said the Iowa State Capitol Bible Reading Marathon is a grassroots nondenominational group of people who gather to honor God by reading the Bible. She also helps organize the state’s 99 County Bible Reading Marathon.
On Friday, 156 people signed up for slots to read a 30-minute portion of Scripture out loud in the Iowa Capitol. She said an Iowa governor has given a proclamation at every marathon since it started in 2016.
Gov. Kim Reynolds walks to the podium during the Iowa State Capitol Bible Reading Marathon at the Iowa State Capitol on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in Des Moines.
“Well, anytime you have support, I think it’s a good feeling,” she said. “I can’t imagine any other way of feeling about it.”
Bentley said this year’s event was the first time it’s been held on one day. In the past, she said the event lasted a whole week. She said the Capitol changed its policy to allow a group to only hold one event per year in the building.
“We come from all different churches, all different denominations,” McGovern said. “It’s really the church coming together and reading the Word of God, and we’re basically quoting the same things that our founding fathers quoted, and that’s on many of our government buildings. The scriptures that are and have been there from the beginning of our nation.”
Sabine Martin covers politics for the Register. She can be reached by email at sabine.martin@gannett.com or by phone at (515) 284-8132. Follow her on X at @sabinefmartin.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Gov. Kim Reynolds speaks at Iowa Capitol Bible Reading Marathon