Virginia nursing home resident Nancy Macy had already read the Bible in its entirety three times, but she’d sent her well-worn King James home with family and thought she might not spend time with it again.
Last week, thanks to an activities director inspired by a conversation with Macy months ago, the widow spent so much time with the Good Book that she helped Danville’s Roman Eagle Rehabilitation and Health Care Center set a world record.
More than 170 participants — including 35 nursing home staff and resident volunteers — filtered into the nursing home’s activities center to read the Bible aloud, verse-by-verse.
The entire effort took 77 hours, lasting from 9 a.m. Monday until 2 p.m. Thursday, and Macy was present for much of it.
Last year, she and activities director Brenda Walker were talking about Macy’s late husband and his work as a prison chaplain when Mrs. Macy mentioned her own love for the Bible.
Walker jokingly told Macy they should have a Bible-reading marathon at Roman Eagle — and then she went to work making it happen.
“I wanted it to be a huge community effort,” Walker told McKnight’s on Tuesday. “They just jumped on it.”
Also involved in the record-breaking attempt were students from Westover Christian Academy, worship leaders from around the region and congregation members of Danville’s First Pentecostal Holiness Church. Readers ranged from age 6 to age 92.
Macy often stayed in the room, keeping track of who was scheduled to speak next. And she read a
long in her own Bible, brought back to her by a relative once she learned about the record attempt.
“It was so emotional for all of us at the end,” Walker said. “She told me, ‘It had always been my prayer and my dream to read it through one more time.’”
Initially, the well-organized group hoped to complete their work by Friday reading in 30-minute shifts. But by Monday afternoon, it was clear they’d be able to wrap up on Thursday, the National Day of Prayer.
Walker and other staff members recorded the entire reading and had each reader sign scrolls that will be presented to the nursing home, church and school at a May 14 celebration of their spirit-based, world-record accomplishment.
