A LITTLE BLESSING WITH HOLY OIL

Thanks to the Panama City-based blog Ironknee for the lead...

Monday will see the beginning of Senate Judiciary Committee hearings for United States Supreme Court nominee Judge Samuel Alito, and the evangelicals are already at work.

According to a story in Thursday's Wall Street Journal, three ministers claim to have entered the Judiciary Committee hearing room on Wednesday, touching "holy oil" on each of the seats where participants, Senate staffers, and the press will sit and praying for each committee member by name.

The announcement came as the trio, which included National Clergy Council president Rev. Ron Schenck, Christian Defense Coalition director Rev. Patrick Mahoney (formerly of Operation Rescue), and Faith and Action general manager Grace Nwachukwu (Schenck is a co-founder of this group with twin brother Paul Chaim Schenck), attempted to enter the hearing room again Wednesday but were barred by Capitol Police from doing so. The ministers read from the Biblical book of Psalms, knelt to recite the Lord's Prayer, and crossed the hearing room door with "holy oil" before leaving.

Rev. Schenck said the acts were the first of a series of prayer meetings which will continue through the confirmation hearings. But while the trio claim that they are not taking sides in the Alito debate, Schenck said that he and Mahoney blessed the same room prior to last year's hearings for now-Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr.. That hearing "went very well," Rev. Schenck said.

A little local angle on this story: According to it's Web site, the National Clergy Council's Executive Council includes Rev. Dr. David Anderson of Sarasota's Faith Baptist Church and Rev. Dr. Charles Nestor, an Assemblies of God minister now living in Lakeland.