Hundreds of Christians gathered recently in front of the United States Capitol building on a cold and rainy day. They began a public reading of their holy book, the Bible. They kept reading for 90 hours. The event is called the U.S. Capitol Bible Reading Marathon. It marks the National Day of Prayer and has been taking place for 27 years. Pastor Jeffrey Light of NOVUM Baptist Church in Reva, Virginia spoke to VOA about the event. He said its goal is to show the importance of religion in American life. It’s foundational for who we are as human beings to know our purpose, and our purpose comes from our creator, Light said. Few know the part of religion in America better than Alan Cooperman. He leads study of the subject for the Washington-based Pew Research Center. The center did two major studies on religion in the U.S. in 2007 and 2014. The research found that the American public is growing less religious.