Oklahoma
Governor Stitt joins Bible Reading Marathon at state Capitol
Organizers of a Bible Reading Marathon at the Capitol wanted elected leaders to take a turn reading the holy book, and their hopes were realized on Wednesday.
Gov. Kevin Stitt joined the marathon before it reached its conclusion, reading several chapters of Ecclesiastes while a crowd of about 40 people gathered on the Capitol’s south plaza.
The event began on March 9 as part of the Capitol Bible Reading Marathon ministry, an initiative of Seedline International, a Brazil, Indiana-based organization. The group has held the faith-themed effort in several states and Washington, D.C.
Wednesday, Coalgate preachers David and Carol Unsell, the marathon’s Oklahoma hosts and organizers, said they viewed the inaugural event as a success. They said the readers did not encounter any problems as they read the Bible, with no commentary added.
“People were coming through word-of-mouth — they just kept coming by ― from times like midnight to 2 in the morning, and everybody was so pleasant,” David Unsell said.
He said the goal of the event was to simply read the Bible at the Capitol, “let it go out and let him bless this place, this state, and everybody seemed to be really touched by it.”
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt has participated in several Christian-themed events as governor
That Stitt decided to participate is not a departure from the norm. The governor has made public avowals of his Christian faith since he began his first term as governor. He has participated in the Christian-themed National Day of Prayer service at the state Capitol at least once. In the last year or so, however, Stitt has come under fire for his statements of faith, most notably in 2022 when he was captured on video claiming “every square inch” of Oklahoma for Jesus.
Wednesday, the governor took to the podium set up on the south plaza with little ceremony and began reading. He gave a simple farewell to those gathered before leaving the event.
“Thanks everybody for being out here. God bless y’all,” Stitt told the crowd.
About 150 people signed up to read the Bible in 15-minute segments before the marathon began. The Unsells predicted it would take roughly 360 people to read the sacred text from Genesis to Revelation if it were read in the 15-minute increments.
David Unsell said people read from the Book of Psalms and other parts of the Bible on Wednesday morning because the Bible had been read from cover to cover, night and day, by then. The closing ceremony featured a brief sermon by Joe Bavor, the marathon ministry’s national director, and the crowd was asked to read the last chapter of Revelation — which concludes the Bible ― together.
More: With the words ‘In the beginning …’ a group kicks off Bible Reading Marathon at state Capitol
The Rev Tim Morlan and his wife, Lori, said they heard about the marathon on a radio broadcast and ended up taking several reading stints on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, sometimes very early in the mornings.
“We kind of heard through the grapevine about this because we didn’t know much about it,” Tim Morlan said. “But then we were just intrigued and thought the Scripture tells us that we’re to devote ourselves to the public reading of Holy Scriptures. So, we thought, what a great time to do that in a public setting in front of the Capitol.”
Lori Morlan said she felt that she was “right there in Scripture” as she was reading the text.
“I’m super emotional over it,” she said. “It just was the most exciting, wonderful thing. What a privilege to be able to speak God’s Word in public, and so it was just an expression of my faith.”
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Oklahoma is in the top 10 states receiving new residents in the nation in recent years, a new survey suggests.
StorageCafe conducted a recent study utilizing U.S. Census data showing Oklahoma welcomed over 25,000 new residents in 2023, with millennials being the largest-represented generation among those entering the Sooner State.
Here’s what the study had to say about migration into Oklahoma.
Oklahoma among top 10 states to move to
According to StorageCafe, Oklahoma welcomed 25,000 new residents in 2023 in net migration.
New residents in Oklahoma were largely made up of millennials, those born between 1981 and 1996, at 27%.
Though Oklahomans and Texans don’t seem to be eye to eye in the football arena, Texas is “by far the largest source” of new Oklahoma residents.
Among the major reasons for the increase in migrants is likely Oklahoma’s affordability, with 36% of millennials buying a home within their first year in Oklahoma.
In addition, Oklahomans found major success in recruiting former California and Colorado residents to move to the state, rounding out the top 3 states bringing new residents.
What are the states attracting the most residents?
These states are the states with the highest migration numbers:
- Texas (138,000)
- Florida (137,000)
- North Carolina (111,000)
- South Carolina (72,000)
- Georgia (62,000)
- Arizona (57,000)
- Indiana (32,000)
- Colorado (31,000)
- Tennessee (28,000)
- Oklahoma (25,000)
NORMAN — High highs and low lows defined John Mateer’s first season at Oklahoma.
Mateer, who transferred to OU ahead of the 2025 season, led the Sooners to a 10-3 record and their first College Football Playoff appearance since 2019. He threw for 1,215 yards and logged 11 touchdowns in OU’s first four games, helping them win each of them.
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“His best football was as good as there is in college football,” OU coach Brent Venables said.
In the back half of the season, though, Mateer wasn’t as efficient. After returning from a hand injury that kept him out of the Kent State game, Mateer completed only 59.4 percent of his passes for 1,670 yards, eight touchdowns and eight interceptions over the Sooners’ final eight contests.
Venables is well aware of the good and the bad from Mateer’s first season in Norman. And the coach is pleased with Mateer’s focus throughout the first few months of the offseason.
“He’s in the building every day with his coaches, and very focused in that space,” Mateer said. “And I’ll meet with him frequently as well, from a leadership standpoint.”
Mateer’s up-and-down campaign came after his superb season at Washington State in 2024. As the Cougars’ starter that year, he threw for 3,370 yards, 29 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
The SEC, though, is much more challenging than the primarily-Mountain West schedule that Mateer faced at WSU.
Venables is confident that Mateer will be more consistent in his second season with the Sooners, thanks to one year in the conference under his belt and the reps against Oklahoma’s defense throughout its spring and fall camps.
“I try to give him a defensive lens with plays that we’ve made some different cut ups for him,” Venables said. “The more you know about the other side of the ball, like intimately, deeply, like you know it maybe better than your side of the ball you can just elevate your game to another level.”
Though Mateer’s production dipped late in the season, he was far from the only inconsistent player on OU’s offense.
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The Sooners scored more than 30 points in only one of their final eight games. Oklahoma also averaged just 316.3 yards per game during that stretch and rushed for only 3.4 yards per carry.
OU’s front office did plenty to reinforce the unit during the offseason.
The Sooners signed three wide receivers — Trell Harris, Parker Livingstone and Mackenzie Alleyne — from the transfer portal. Oklahoma also added multiple tight ends, offensive linemen and running backs from the portal. The Sooners will also have several true freshmen — like running backs DeZephen Walker and Jonathan Hatton Jr. and wide receiver Jayden Petit — who may contribute immediately.
Venables noted how Mateer has grown as a leader since the start of last season and that he is much more “relational” than he was previously.
Ultimately, the coach believes that Mateer is in a better position to be one of college football’s best quarterbacks in 2026.
“He cares about the freshman walk-on guy as much as the new right tackle, and those are some of the qualities that John has that make him very endearing to everybody in the building,” Venables said. “He’s a passionate and an enthusiastic guy too, but he’s never been an over-the-top fake kind of guy, and you can’t fabricate just being genuine and authentic. And so he’s very relational with the guys.”
Oklahoma will begin its 2026 season against UTEP on Sept. 5.
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt has chosen Alan Armstrong, an oil and gas executive, to finish out the remainder of Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s term, three sources told NOTUS.
The two men are expected to meet with President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday to iron out the details of the appointment and discuss it further, two of the sources said.
The sources cautioned that the pick could change following that meeting.
In March 2021, Armstrong gave $5,800 to former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who voted to impeach Trump, according to FEC records. Sources said the donations are likely to be a topic of conversation at Mar-a-Lago.
Armstrong, who chairs the board of directors for the energy company Williams, was one of three main names Stitt presented in meetings he had in Washington, D.C., earlier this month. While multiple names were floated, Stitt was focused on three people: his senior advisor Dustin Hilliary, oil baron Harold Hamm and Armstrong.
Stitt is expected to announce the appointment shortly after Mullin is officially confirmed by the Senate as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, as early as Sunday.
Representatives for Armstrong and Stitt did not return a request for comment. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
In accordance with Oklahoma law, Armstrong will be required to sign a sworn affidavit saying he will not seek election to a full six-year Senate term and instead will only serve out the remainder of Mullin’s current term.
Rep. Kevin Hern has already essentially cleared the field in the race for the Senate seat.
This article has been updated with additional information.
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