Hundred’s of churchgoers pitched in to pull off a marathon Bible reading in celebration of a special date.
To mark 400 years of the Authorised King James Bible, the Alliance of Basingstoke Churches (ABC) held a continuous five day reading.
From 9am on June 27 to 10.30pm on July 1, more than 300 people contributed to the 110-hour 400 For 400 event at the United Reformed Church (URC) in London Street.
The Mayor of Basingstoke and Deane, David Leeks, and his wife Amanda kicked-off the marathon by reciting the first chapters of Genesis.
Each of the 20 minute readings ran through the five days and nights. One of the organisers, ABC chairman Andy Taylor, said reading in the early hours gave a different angle on the holy text.
Speaking to the Observer the day after reading at 1am, 2am, and 3am on June 30, he said: “It has been quite an experience, when you are reading in the middle of the night and going through four or five chapters you get a new perspective.
“Normally when I read the Bible I will read a few chapters and move on, whereas here you are reading and listening to chapter after chapter and you get a much better context of what is going on.”
The event was inspired by the URC’s ordained elder, Christopher Ayland from Popley. He said he was told by God three years ago while praying to ensure the whole Bible was read out loud in public.
The organising committee spent more than 15 months planning the week to ensure the 400 different readings went ahead with military precision.
Mr Ayland said: “To get the timing right I had to read the whole Bible from the start. I did it the hard way, reading it from chapter to chapter and timing each section over a month.”
The churchgoers read the Old Testament, New Testament, and the 14 books of the Apocrypha from a 246-year-old Bible.
“It has been a worthwhile event and every minute has been great. To my knowledge it has never been done in Basingstoke before. Since we started we have not stopped for a minute,” said Mr Ayland.
“Everybody said that it was a once in a lifetime thing to do this, and it really has been quite an experience.”
