Inside The Bible Beltway

By Richard N. Ostling

Washington is known as a pinnacle of political power, a showplace of marble monuments, an enclave of high-level socializing and influence peddling. Few outsiders would think of the U.S. capital as a religious center. Yet Washington may boast more Christian prayer groups per square block than any other town outside the Bible Belt. What makes D.C.'s prayer groups special is not only their growing numbers but also the prominent political figures -- Georgia's Senator Sam Nunn, Marilyn Quayle, Susan (Mrs. James) Baker -- who are among the active members. Observes Oregon's Senator Mark Hatfield, a veteran of the movement: "People are always surprised to learn that there are spiritual people here in the Sodom and Gomorrah of politics."

The mix of spiritual concerns and power politics may seem paradoxical, yet the distinctive pressures of Washington life seem to be the driving force behind the prayer networks. "In this city, it is very rare to find friendships for friendship's sake," explains Senate chaplain Richard Halverson. "I think it is an expression of the need to share and express feelings with people you can trust." Besides providing a support group where people can pray together and confide personal problems, these weekly gatherings usually focus on Bible studies. "Calling yourself a Christian without reading the Bible is like calling yourself an engineer without reading the textbook," says Susan Baker, a born-again Episcopalian. (Her husband, the Secretary of State, was formerly a regular at a Capitol Hill gathering.)

The prayer network began when Abraham Vereide, a Methodist from Montana, came to town in 1935 with the seemingly quixotic goal of providing spiritual succor to politicians. His successor, Doug Coe, leads Fellowship House, the < belle epoque-style mansion that serves as unofficial headquarters for the movement. Coe and his associates have tried to maintain secrecy about most of their activities to protect the privacy of prominent members, whose ranks represent most branches of Christianity.

Besides Fellowship House, organizations fostering informal prayer meetings include the Christian Embassy, Here's Life: Washington, and Community Bible Studies, which oversees 150 such groups nationwide. There are gatherings in the Capitol, State Department, Pentagon and White House, as well as special prayer meetings for lawyers, real estate agents, businessmen and journalists. One Jewish Senator, Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter, leads a Bible study group.

At one time, the movement was male-oriented, but now there are sessions for couples (Colorado Senator William Armstrong and his wife are regulars) and congressional wives. C.B.S. attracts scores of political spouses to its Tuesday class. Susan Baker says the regular meeting for Cabinet wives will regroup as soon as the Bush Administration is in place. Baker also is host to a women's meeting in her home, which is attended by Marilyn Quayle, among others. Joanne (Mrs. Jack) Kemp leads a similar weekly get-together.

The most visible event for Fellowship participants is the National Prayer Breakfast. The annual gathering was launched by the late Senator Frank Carlson of Kansas, who talked President Eisenhower into being host of the first one in 1953. President Bush, a regular Episcopal churchgoer, will hold his initial prayer breakfast this week. It will be attended by some 4,000 people, including ranking officials from all branches of Government, plus diplomats and clergy, who will join in a 90-minute round of prayer and testimonials at a Washington hotel. (At one such session in the Reagan era, former Soviet Ambassador Anatoli Dobrynin surprised fellow guests by joining them in a hearty rendition of the hymn How Great Thou Art.)

Though it is a solidly rooted Washington tradition, the National Prayer Breakfast does have its critics. Some Fundamentalists thought interfaith amity was stretched too far last year, when Saudi Arabia's Ambassador recited from the Qur'an. Hatfield complains that the breakfast has become a status symbol and "a ceremony of civil religion." He has introduced a Senate motion to abolish the affair. Many foreign observers find the whole phenomenon of Potomac piety somewhat disconcerting. "It is incomprehensible to most Europeans," sniffs a British diplomat. "It's almost as bad as Freemasonry."

Since the rise of the religious right, the semisecret involvement of so many high-powered names inevitably encourages conspiracy theories about evangelical political designs. But, in fact, the movement crosses partisan lines and remains rigorously nonpolitical. "There is a religious right that is very prominent, just as there was a very activist religious left in the '60s," says Don Bonker, a liberal Democrat from Washington State who just gave up his House seat for an unsuccessful Senate run. "But the prayer movement doesn't get into political matters. If it did, I wouldn't be involved." When it comes to politics, those who pray together do not necessarily stay together.

With reporting by Alessandra Stanley/Washington