EDITOR’S NOTE: From time to time we will publish letters and emails we get from readers, sometimes with a response, sometimes without comment. If you would like to share your thoughts about any of our stories or podcasts, please email us: info@ministrywatch.com
Another Bible-reading event in D.C.? A case of déjà vu.
Strange. The story says: “Bunni Pounds… was visiting the Museum of the Bible in Washington when she says God spoke to her…. [Pounds said] the United States needs the same kind of spiritual rebuilding as the ancient Israelites. That idea led her to organize a week of public Bible reading in the nation’s capital.”
According to the story, the event is scheduled for April 18-25.
But there is already an annual Bible Reading Marathon in D.C. that has been around for more than 30 years and is slated to take place this year from April 25-29. (I did a piece about it for WORLD Radio in 2013.)
According to the Capitol Bible Reading Marathon, “The U.S. Capitol Bible Reading Marathon, established in 1990 by Dr. John Hash and Dr. Corinthia Boone, brings hundreds of believers to the front of the Capitol Building to publicly read aloud the entire Word of God without commentary for over ninety continuous hours. In 1994, Dr. Hash passed the torch to Pastor Michael Hall and his dear wife, Terry…. In 2019, the Halls transferred the Bible Reading Marathon and its vision to Keith Davidson as a ministry of Seedline International.”
I suppose you can’t have too much Bible reading, but it sure seems like duplication of effort.
Also, this quote from Bunni Pounds struck me: “We’re trying to have really cool people read parts of the Bible that people think are uncool.”
Grace and peace,
Joseph Slife
Some of the readers for Bible event are ‘charlatans.’
I just read your article about 500 evangelical leaders reading the Bible. Many of the names cited might be considered evangelical leaders by some people, but I consider them to be charlatans who have perverted the gospel to be about twisted power in one nation instead of humble salt and light in the name of Jesus to the world.
Steve Rollins
Dream Center story deserved more nuance
I just read the piece “Foursquare Megachurch Replaces Longtime Pastor Matthew Barnett.” I found the piece confusing in terms of the roles played by the Dream Center Foundation and the Barnetts in that mess.
It sounds like what happened was that Dream Center Education Holdings (DCEH) wanted to buy failing schools but needed a “face” with a good reputation to make it work. The Barnetts saw what looked like a good deed for students as a ministry mission. They had a legal connection, but DCEH was really a separate entity in terms of funding and operations. They seemed to be well-intentioned ministry leaders that for all practical purposes got duped to legitimize something that was beyond their scope of experience.
The article, however, did not make this clear, leaving the reader with a sense that the Barnetts might not be so trustworthy.
As a supporter of Dream Center (specifically the trafficked girls project), this article gave me pause as to the credibility of the foundation. It was not until I did a deep dive that a more nuanced and more accurate picture emerged.
MinistryWatch, an organization that directs people towards and away from charitable giving for ministries, fell short by not being more nuanced and did a disservice to the Dream Center foundation.
Stephen Johnson
Seminary growth story overlooks women
In your recent article on enrollment increases in seminaries, you analyzed it across several demographics but did not approach gender. Why?
Would it not be beneficial to see if there is an increase in female enrollment? Or is the evangelical church going backwards on the case of affirming women’s biblical role in leadership and the need for more theologically trained women?
Would love to see an analysis of the stats on that.
Thank you,
Wayne Hester
Founding Director, Mekong Movement Catalyst
Warren Smith responds:
Well, the report is more than 100 pages long, so of course our article only hit the highlights. We linked to the full report in the article, but for your convenience, here’s the link:
https://www.ats.edu/files/galleries/2025-26-annual-data-tables.pdf
Pages 34-36 break out enrollment by gender. The “bottom line” is that over the past five years female enrollment has grown from 27,794 to 28,697.
Hope this helps.
Warren
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