Representative Virginia Foxx (R-North Carolina) says a weekly gathering on Capitol Hill helps often-feuding lawmakers take a step back and come together. “We don’t agree very often on political issues,” she acknowledges, “but we know each other as human beings and we work together when we can – and this eases our ability to work together.”

The House prayer breakfasts happen on Wednesday mornings. Members from at least ten different denominations pray, sing, and read the Bible together. And there are testimonies, some of which Foxx has gathered together in a new book called God is in the House: Congressional Testimonies of Faith.

“There’s much less animosity that exists in the House than … is portrayed by the media,” she adds.

There’s a similar meeting in the Senate – and they’re always bipartisan, the GOP lawmaker points out, which means there are going to be profound disagreements.

“It is difficult sometimes to understand how people of faith can have such different perspectives,” she tells OneNewsNow. “But because we know each other at a level deeper than we would know each other otherwise, we’re much more tolerant of each other, I believe, and much more understanding of the different points of view.”

Discussion about specific bills – in fact, politics in general – is off the table. Still, Foxx says, it bears political fruit.

“We get to know each other at a level you wouldn’t know another member, whether it’s Democrat or Republican,” she concludes. “It’s particularly helpful to work across party lines.”