Interview with U.S. Congressman Pat Harrigan (R–North Carolina, 10th District)

How has attending the House members’ Bible study impacted your personal faith journey?

Congressman Harrigan: There’s no question that being around other believers and having a focused time of study each and every week has served to build me up in a way that I truly appreciate—especially with all the challenges that exist up here on Capitol Hill. It’s an incredibly refreshing time and opportunity to get together with other believers and really focus our faith and focus our efforts on making change for the kingdom.

What would you say set this Bible study apart from others that you may have participated in in the past?

Congressman Harrigan: I’ve not participated in any other Bible studies up here on the Hill. However, I have participated in a lot of different Bible studies, whether it was through my time in the military traveling all over the place or my time in business. I’m still an active member of a Bible study every Monday morning back home, before I fly up to Washington, D.C., with a number of folks from several churches in our neck of the woods.

But I think what is really special about Capitol Ministries is that it really is a deep dive into Scripture. It’s not just a session for everybody to get together and talk shop. Some Bible studies that I’ve been a part of really lack structure. This one absolutely does not. It’s challenging. It’s intellectually in-depth, and it’s very serious.

I mean, it’s a group of born-again believers who believe the purpose of life is to bring glory to God and to share the good news with the world within our sphere of influence. And that sphere of influence for us is something that’s been given to us by God. We have a great responsibility to act and to obey and to walk the walk—not just talk the talk.

So it is a fantastic study with some deeply committed Christians.

Just listening to you describe that, Congressman, is inspiring. Thank you! The next question is: how does this Bible study help you apply biblical principles in your role as a public servant?

Congressman Harrigan: I think anytime that you actually just sit down to study the Word of God very intentionally—especially with other believers and when you have very talented Bible teachers like Capitol Ministries has—it allows you to zoom out to the 300,000-foot picture of life and see the big picture of things. Kind of that ecclesiastical perspective to life, like there’s nothing new under the sun. It allows you to see things in the light of a greater perspective.

I think it’s really intentional that we do it on Thursdays up here because of our schedule. It’s either Monday through Thursday or Tuesday through Friday. You can kind of get in the groove, so to speak, just like we would all get into the groove of our normal everyday lives back home. You can kind of lose sight of how you wanted to start the week—whether that was with your Bible reading, your prayer life, or the intentionality that you were bringing to the week. It’s a great kind of mid- to end-of-the-week reset that really serves to focus the perspective and your efforts for the rest of the week.

Why do you believe this ministry is especially needed in the halls of government today?

Congressman Harrigan: As a freshman, it struck me that this ministry existed. I assumed that there would be Bible studies up here on the Hill—that groups of members would do their own thing according to their different faith beliefs and denominations. The fact that there’s an intentional ministry set up not just for Congress, but also for the Senate, the Cabinet, and state and local governments is remarkable. Now Capitol Ministries is expanding all around the world.

You want to talk about the ability to actually have an impact on folks who are making decisions—they’ve been given a role and responsibility in life, for better or worse. Within the community of believers, God has given a great role and responsibility here. To have the ability to shape that in light of the Gospel truth influencing those decisions is remarkably powerful.

When citizens find out that there are members of Congress and members of the president’s cabinet who are seeking fellowship and a deep dive into the Word, it encourages the nation.

Thank you for your perspective on that. What would you say, Congressman, to a colleague who might be a little hesitant or might be coming to the study?

Congressman Harrigan: We have some of those colleagues who come in. It is a bipartisan study, and we’ve got folks who are in different stages of their walk with Christ. I think that based on the content that we review each and every week, it might be intimidating to somebody who doesn’t have that kind of born-again deep-dive mentality, but we’ve not seen that to be a problem.

I would say that the Bible study speaks to everyone where they are, just like the Bible speaks to everyone where they are. There’s something for everybody there. So we’ve got kind of this constant effort of bringing new blood into the study.

Over the course of the year—and I’ve only been in Congress for a year—it’s grown pretty substantially in the last three or four months. I think that’s because it’s providing a fantastic service and opportunity for folks who may be missing something in their life.

If you could sum up the study in a sentence or two, what would that be?

Congressman Harrigan: The Capitol Ministries Bible study is a large group of intentional believers who are working diligently through prayer, review of the Bible, and their personal acts of obedience to the Word of God. They are trying to leverage that to make a difference in our country, but primarily for the glory of God.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Congressman Harrigan: I truly appreciate the work that you all do. It’s incredibly impactful. It’s the one thing that I don’t let my team schedule over every week. They know if something is happening Thursday at 8:00 a.m., they automatically say no. They don’t even need to talk to me. I protect that time because it’s so impactful for me in my life.

I’d ask that you thank everybody who supports the ministry. You have some incredible people involved in it, and that bleeds through to be a massive blessing for us up here. Thank you.