Kirk Cameron leads children’s story hour at Library of Congress

WASHINGTON — The significance of holding a children’s story hour event at the Library of Congress is not lost on outspoken Christian actor Kirk Cameron, who has become a conservative face of the rising culture war in the United States.

He says Saturday’s event, attended by hundreds and organized in partnership with the U.S. Department of Education, is “indicative of a very exciting change in the direction of the wind.”

“There is a fresh sea breeze of liberty and opportunity that is blowing across the land for families to get back to the values that made America great,” Cameron, who starred in the 1980s sitcom “Growing Pains,” told The Christian Post. 

“This year, we were invited by the Trump administration and the Department of Education to come to the world’s largest library, the ultimate library, the Library of Congress, to teach kids the truth about love, faith, and hope.”

The event comes more than three years after the 54-year-old actor accused over 50 libraries throughout the country of rejecting his requests to host readings of his faith-based children’s book, As You Grow. The book teaches about the Fruit of the Spirit. After Cameron and his Christian publisher, Brave Books, pushed back, several libraries ultimately conceded and allowed the children’s story hour event to take place. 

See You At The Library, a national grassroots movement founded by Cameron and Brave Books, partnered with the Education Department’s Center for Faith to host the children’s story hour event at the Library of Congress.

The actor invited the children to come on stage as he told jokes and retold classic fairy tales alongside Iggy, the iguana character from a children’s show that Cameron stars in, “Adventures with Iggy and Mr. Kirk.” 

The event kicked off with a prayer from Pastor Lorenzo Sewell of the Detroit-based 180 Church, who asked Jesus to “manifest His Kingdom” in the lives of the children participating in the story hour. 

After Lorenzo’s opening prayer, Cameron came back onstage to read Pride Comes Before the Fall to children, another book that the actor published through Brave Books. 

The Christian book centers around a Tiger named Valor and an elephant named Kevin who are competing in a river race. Through the use of animal characters, the story warns children against being prideful, teaching them to have a humble spirit instead. 

In addition to Cameron, other notable speakers at the celebration were conservative commentator Michael Knowles and Christian author Missy Robertson, the wife of Jase Robertson of the reality TV series “Duck Dynasty.” 

Rev. Paul Hartmann, the associate general secretary at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, read Little Lives Matter near the end of the event. The book is about a bear named Mobi who was born with only one paw.

Robertson read from her children’s book, Because You’re My Family, which she published in partnership with Brave Books. The author explained that the book’s lessons about family and unconditional love mirror the relationship that God has with His followers. 

“There’s a part in here that is just like what we should say to God: ‘Why, after our rebellion and bad attitudes and being disobedient, why do you still love us?’ And it’s because [we’re] [His] children,” she told CP. “And as a parent, I could say the same thing to my own children.”

Robertson, a mother of three grown children and an adopted daughter, said that she wants to impress the book’s message into young children’s hearts and minds. She hopes the kids understand that God has adopted them into His family through Jesus Christ, and that He treats His children with “complete, unconditional love and forgiveness.”

The mother and author also called on parents to ensure that their children understand who God is and the relationship that He longs to have with them. 

“They’re going to have to take that on themselves,” Robertson told CP regarding how parents can raise their children to understand the Christian faith and their country’s founding principles. 

“I do believe our culture has farmed a lot of things out, whether it’s daycare, the school system, or even churches,” she added. “We just go to Bible class and hope for the best. We don’t know what they’re being taught.” 

Parents who want to raise Christ-like children should hold what Robertson described as a “Jesus Meeting” with their children each night to discuss with their children what they learned during the day. It’s the parents’ responsibility to teach good values to their children, she stressed, a duty that should not fall to anyone else.

Unlike in the past, Cameron told CP that his team encountered no pushback when it came to scheduling and hosting the story hour at the Library of Congress, which he believes was likely due to the Trump administration supporting the See You At The Library movement.

While Cameron praised President Donald Trump and his administration for empowering people of faith to share their beliefs in the public square, the father of six said that restoring the country’s appreciation for traditional values is not the administration’s sole responsibility.  

“That’s our job as families, as Christians, as the family of faith,” Cameron said. “We have to return to the values that made [America] so great. And those values are faith, moral integrity, and courage. And I think that, according to our moral courage and ability to stand for our values in the public square, we will experience together as families and Americans either a great awakening or a rude awakening.” 

“And I believe with all of my heart that God’s not done with America and that we can be great again,” the Christian actor continued. “Because at the end of the day, we know that our hope is not in who governs us, it’s not in the laws that Congress passes, it’s in the power of God working in the hearts of people.”