The 2026 Bible reading marathon at the Central Linaje Real Seventh-day Adventist Church in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, ended on Sunday, September 27, 2026, after 76 hours, 46 minutes and 48 seconds of Bible reading without a single pause, according to the Dominican news site Noticentro. On Saturday the 26th, a group of children and young people from the church gave a Bible to the president of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, at the opening of a public early childhood center, according to the Presidency. The newspaper Acento says they were members of the Club de Conquistadores, the name Pathfinder Clubs go by in Spanish-speaking countries.
What was the 2026 Bible reading marathon in the Dominican Republic?
The Central Linaje Real Adventist Church stands in Altos de Arroyo Hondo, in the National District. There, at 10 a.m. on Thursday, September 24, 2026, the Maratón de Lectura Bíblica 2026 (Bible Reading Marathon 2026) got under way with a goal that is simple to explain and hard to pull off: read the whole Bible aloud, from Genesis to Revelation, without a single pause.
The motto was "Cientos de voces, una sola Palabra" ("Hundreds of voices, one Word," a free translation). According to Noticentro, hundreds of readers took turns carrying the text forward. Families came, along with religious leaders, members of other congregations and readers from several of the country's provinces, and thousands of people followed the reading in the church or on the online broadcasts.
How long does it take to read the entire Bible nonstop?
There is no single answer: the time depends on each reader's pace, the shift changes and the Bible version used. The Santo Domingo marathon offers a concrete benchmark. According to Noticentro, the public, continuous reading of all 66 books took 76 hours, 46 minutes and 48 seconds, a little over three days.
According to Noticentro, Francis Williams, who coordinated the organizing committee, pointed to a bigger goal than reaching the last verse of Revelation: leading each participant to a personal encounter with God and to a lasting habit of studying and practicing what they read.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Start | Thursday, September 24, 2026, at 10 a.m. |
| End | Sunday, September 27, 2026 |
| Duration | 76 hours, 46 minutes and 48 seconds |
| Content | All 66 books, from Genesis to Revelation |
| Readers | Hundreds, in shifts |
Source: Noticentro (Sept. 29, 2026).
How did Pathfinders give a Bible to President Luis Abinader?
On Saturday, September 26, 2026, Luis Abinader opened the República de Colombia Comprehensive Early Childhood Care Center (Caipi) in the National District, with room for 250 children aged 0 to 5. According to the Presidency of the Dominican Republic, the Bible was handed to him right after the ribbon cutting, and the official statement describes the group only as children and young people from the Adventist Church.
The newspaper Acento adds more detail: the group belonged to the Linaje Real Club de Conquistadores, and the young people told the president the gift came on behalf of all the church's children's clubs, as a gesture tied to National Bible Day. Noticentro, for its part, mentions members of two clubs, the Pathfinder Club (Conquistadores) and the Adventurer Club (Aventureros, for younger children), and counts the presentation among the high points of the marathon. Conquistadores is the Spanish name of the club known in Brazil as Desbravadores and in English as Pathfinders, as our article on the origin of the name Desbravadores explains.
According to the official statement, Abinader called the gesture the "best gift on this Bible Day" (a free translation) and praised the group's discipline and sense of calling. Xiomara Guante, director of the National Institute for Comprehensive Early Childhood Care (Inaipi), gave the main speech at the ceremony; according to Noticentro, she also read two chapters during the marathon and received a Bible from the church.
When is National Bible Day in the Dominican Republic?
In the Dominican Republic, National Bible Day falls on September 27, a date set by Law 204-84 and observed since 1984, according to Acento. The marathon ended on that very day, a Sunday in 2026, and the presentation to the president took place the day before.
According to the same newspaper, the Bible even appears on the national coat of arms: under the Dominican Constitution, the center of the shield shows an open Bible at John 8:32. In the New King James Version (NKJV), the verse reads: "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." In Brazil, Bible Day falls in December, as our Bible Day guide explains.
Where does the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Dominican Republic fit on the world map?
The Dominican Republic belongs to the Inter-American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, through the Dominican Union; Brazil is part of the South American Division (SAD), as our overview of the world divisions of the Adventist Church shows. According to the General Conference's 2025 Annual Statistical Report, the Dominican Union closed 2024 with six conferences, 1,021 organized churches and 332,604 members.
The country's Pathfinders had already made the news with the Dominican Republic national Pathfinder camp in Najayo in 2025. The marathon shows the same young people far from their tents.
What can a Pathfinder Club learn from the Santo Domingo marathon?
The Dominican reading needed hundreds of voices and shifts that ran through three long nights. A club does not need that much: the short format, with a single book of the Bible split among the Units, is already laid out in the same Bible Day guide mentioned above.
The strongest message came at the close. According to Noticentro, Pastor Yoel Lizardo asked that the reading not end with the marathon and urged everyone who took part to go back to the Bible to read it, study it and live it day by day. In the club, that call fits well with the Pathfinder Bible Year and with drills for quickly finding the books of the Bible.