FIRST ON FOX: A Republican congressman, 80 pastors and their spouses delivered a soulful rendition of ‘Amazing Grace’ in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda while on a tour.
Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., led a Christian history tour of the Capitol Tuesday night that was made up of 80 pastors and their spouses from 16 states, as well as several current and former lawmakers.
While in the Capitol Rotunda, the group belted out their praise for the Almighty above in a moving rendition of the classic Christian hymn that reverberated throughout the dome.
‘I always enjoy taking friends and visitors through these hallowed halls, and it was a privilege to take this group of faith leaders on a special tour of the Capitol last night,’ Johnson told Fox News Digital.
‘They were greatly encouraged to see and be reminded of the religious and moral foundations of our country,’ the Louisiana Republican continued. ‘In these times of great division, all Americans would do well to be reminded of those truths and that important heritage.’
‘Church services used to be held routinely in the Capitol, and it is always moving to hear prayers and hymns echoing in the Rotunda today,’ he added.
The tour touched on the Christian history of the Capitol, the founders, and America itself.
Johnson led the tour that was joined by fellow lawmaker Senator Tim Scott, R-S.C., — who was not with the tour at the time of the hymn — as well as former Rep. Bob McEwen, R-Ohio, and Christian author David Barton.
The Louisiana Republican led a similar tour last week for a different group of faith leaders that prayed and sang in the Capitol.
The faith leader’s hymn came the day after the nation came to a standstill when a mass shooter killed three nine-year-olds and three faculty members at a Christian private school in Nashville.
The former pastor at Covenant Presbyterian in Nashville, Tennessee, declined to advocate for stricter gun laws after a reporter questioned if prayers were enough in the wake of the mass shooting.
CBS asked Pastor Jim Bachmann if he agreed with calls for more ‘action’ instead of ‘thoughts and prayers.’
‘I’ve heard so many people say lately, faith-filled people, ‘I don’t want your thoughts and prayers, I don’t want to hear about thoughts and prayers, I want action.’ As a man of faith, you will conduct Mike Hill’s funeral next week. You will preside over it. What do you say to those people who say that?’ reporter David Begnaud asked.
Bachmann, who was friends with slain custodian Mike Hill, started to say he hadn’t crafted his eulogy yet when the reporter pressed on gun control again.
‘But about ‘we don’t need your thoughts and prayers, we need action,’ what do you say to that?’ he asked. Begnaud clarified he was specifically referring to passing more gun laws.
‘That’s a little bit above my pay grade,’ the pastor responded.
Bachmann instead said a cultural and spiritual change was needed in our society.
‘I think what I say is we need to love each other, and we need to learn to disagree agreeably, and learn how to forgive,’ he answered. He went on to call for peaceful disagreements instead of violence.
‘You know, people from different ideologies, different theologies, different backgrounds, it’s okay to disagree. But it’s not okay to shoot each other, and particularly shoot children and innocent victims,’ Bachmann said.
The man of God then quoted Jesus to the reporter and viewing audience.
‘And so the message of the Gospel is we ‘love our neighbor as ourselves.’ And try to bear each other’s burdens and work through them, whatever problems — we all have problems. And you know, we all need help at times in our lives,’ Bachmann said, adding that helping people with their problems was part of his role as a pastor.
Fox News Digital’s Kristine Parks contributed reporting.