America Reads the Bible: Celebrities to Take Part in DC Event for 250th Celebration With Continuous Scripture Reading
Celebrities — including Candace Cameron Bure — and other prominent Christian and government leaders plan to take part in a week-long reading of the Bible in the nation’s capital.
The America Reads the Bible event will take place at the Musuem of the Bible in Washington, D.C., starting on April 18, and is tied into the 250th anniversary year of the nation’s independence.
It is inspired by the public reading of Scripture recorded in Nehemiah 8 and 9, when the books of the law, first handed down by Moses, were read by Ezra, a religious leader of the day.
This reading took place about 445 B.C., after many Jews had returned to Jerusalem following their people’s captivity in Babylon.
Ezra’s reading of the law came about 1,000 years after Moses had first delivered God’s law to the people.
The book of Nehemiah indicates that the Jews who had returned from Babylonian captivity had not previously heard the Word of God, so Ezra and others reading the Scripture “helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.”
For example, immediately after learning about the Feast of Booths — regarding which God commanded the people of Israel to commemorate each year in remembrance of their 40 years in the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land — the people built booths and lived in them for a week around Jerusalem.
“And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths, for from the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day the people of Israel had not done so. And there was very great rejoicing. And day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. They kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, according to the rule,” Nehemiah recorded.
The people then repented for going astray in many ways and recovenanted themselves to God, pledged to follow His law.
In like manner, the organizers of America Reads the Bible said on the event’s website, “Just as Ezra read the Word aloud to the people of Israel (Nehemiah 8:1–3), awakening revival and repentance, inspiring them to rebuild the temple, and working with Nehemiah to mobilize the people to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls, America Reads the Bible is a sacred opportunity to call our nation back to its spiritual foundations.”
“Through a public, continuous reading of the entire Bible in our nation’s capital by our national leaders from all spheres of influence, we believe God can spark revival in individual hearts and inspire Americans to carry the Word forward in their lives and communities into the next 250 years of our national story,” the website read.
In a YouTube video promoting the event, the narrator says, “In 2026, as America marks 250 years old, a new nation of leaders will rise, Ezras for our time, calling the nation back to its foundation, from every state, every background, every walk of life: government leaders, artists, CEOs, pastors, parents, ordinary Americans, united in one purpose, to read the entire Bible aloud — Genesis to Revelation — over seven days, broadcast to the nation.”
The organizers anticipate, “People will watch it and hear the precious words in churches, in homes, in schools, in offices.”
“A public declaration that Scripture still speaks, that truth still matters, that God is not finished with America,” the group said.
Some of the leaders listed on the website as participants in reading the Bible from the entertainment world, in addition to Bure, include Patricia Heaton, “The Chosen” director Dallas Jenkins, and model and actress Kathy Ireland.
Trump administration officials such as Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins are also slated to read.
Some other current and past government officials listed include Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Sen. Jim Banks, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former Ambassador Sam Brownback, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, and former Rep. Michelle Bachmann, now dean of the Robertson School of Government at Regent University.
In some great news for Christians❤️👇🏼
A national initiative called America Reads the Bible will host a seven-day public reading of the entire Bible at the Museum of the Bible from April 18–25, 2026, as the United States approaches its 250th anniversary.
Around 500 celebrities,… pic.twitter.com/GkDB87Wv7a— I am Ken (@Ikennect) March 5, 2026
According to America Reads the Bible, Christian leaders from over 60 ministries are signed up to read, such as Franklin Graham, Wallbuilders’ David Barton, John and Lisa Bevere, Jenny Donnelly, Lance Wallnau, James Ward, Eric Metaxas, and The Western Journal’s founder, Floyd Brown.
In addition to the Museum of the Bible, there will be events tied to the weeklong reading taking place at Independence Hall in Philadelphia and Boston Harbor.
President Donald Trump has also called Americans to gather on the Washington Mall on Sunday, May 17, for a day-long event to rededicate the nation to God.
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