A Reading From the Book of Genesis (Through Revelation)

Town Hall has seen many a long speech over the years, but nothing quite like this.

With the help of 300 local faithful, Gabrielle Beam, associate pastor of Darien's New Beginnings Community Church, is conducting a round-the-clock reading of the Christian Bible on the front lawn of 2 Renshaw.

With 66 books and about 770,000 words in the English version, it's a mammoth task—one that can take upwards of 70 hours to complete.

"This is the first time that I know it's been done in recent history in Connecticut, and maybe even in the Northeast," Beam said Friday, as she stood beside the blue canvas canopy where a lector was reading aloud from the Book of Nehemiah.

"The Town Hall is a hub of where everything flows, and we wanted to bring the blessing and the peace of God to the center of town," she added.

Members of three area churches—New Beginnings, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, and Noroton Presbyterian Church—have risen to the task, signing up for 15 minute shifts from 5:00 a.m. Thursday through the weekend. Beam estimated the event would end around 6:00 a.m. Sunday but said it would depend on the pace that readers kept.

Some portions are being read in Spanish and Portuguese, as well, depending on the native tongue of the lector. 

Inspiration for the biblical marathon came from Rev. Jim Wilson, an Episcopal priest who runs the ministry Pray North State in Redding, Calif. and who has conducted similar readings in the past.

"As I found out about his ministry and began reading about the effects ... it really inspired me to want to take it on out here," Beam said.

When Beam decided recently to conduct a reading in Darien, she reached out to area churches to find support and got permission from Town Hall to use the lawn.

"People are really excited about it. It's across denominational lines," she said.

"To come here, it's really a privilege," said Brian Molina, a Greenwich resident and parishioner of New Beginnings who read on Friday. "I love being here just knowing that I'm doing something for my community. I know that this is going to have an impact, and it's already having an impact on people's lives."

"I was telling my friends at work this is an historic moment. I'm just happy to be a part of it," Molina added.

Beam said that, despite the heat, the weather had held up remarkably well for the occasion, including a near miss with Thursday's ferocious band of thunderstorms.

"Trees were actually coming down on the Merritt [Parkway] as I was going by to get here, and all I could think of is that 'the tent is going to be in the trees, the chairs will be soaked, but I pray that they're still going for it,'" she said. "And when I got here, it was perfectly dry."

Response from neighbors and passers-by has been positive, Beam said. Nearby residents have brought cold drinks by and stopped in to ask about the reading.

"It's a peaceful, gentle thing. It's not a forceful thing at all," Beam said.