Pete Hegseth Leads Christian Prayer Service in the Pentagon

[LetMyPeopleVote]

The event was held in the Pentagon’s auditorium during working hours and featured Mr. Hegseth’s pastor.

Pete Hegseth Leads Christian Prayer Service in the Pentagon

Source: The New York Times

Fake Christians I hate!!!

— Melissa Brownstein RN, Psychic (@melissabrownstein.bsky.social) 2025-05-21T21:20:54.488Z

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth led a Christian prayer service in the Pentagon’s auditorium on Wednesday morning, during working hours, in which President Trump was praised as a divinely appointed leader.

The event, billed as the “Secretary of Defense Christian Prayer & Worship Service,” was standing room only and ran for about 30 minutes, with Brooks Potteiger, the pastor of Mr. Hegseth’s church in Tennessee, as the main speaker.

Mr. Hegseth said he intended that the prayer service become a monthly event......

Mr. Trump has long dismissed concerns that his words and actions as president may violate the First Amendment’s prohibition of establishing a state religion. On the campaign trail in 2024, Mr. Trump pledged to champion his followers’ brand of conservative Christianity across American life and government, and he signed an executive order in February banning “anti-Christian bias” in the federal government.

“This is precisely where I need to be, and I think exactly where we need to be as a nation, at this moment,” Mr. Hegseth, standing at a lectern bearing the seal of the Defense Department, said in his opening remarks: “in prayer, on bended knee recognizing the providence of our lord and savior Jesus Christ.” He added, “Knowing that there’s an author in heaven overseeing all of this, who’s underwritten all of it, for us, on the cross, gives me the strength to proceed.”

The defense secretary said that attendance at the prayer service was voluntary, but encouraged the uniformed military personnel and civilian employees there to tell their co-workers about it.

This is a violation of the First Amendment and the wall between church and state. Hegseth and trump are making christianity the official state religion.

[Irish_Dem]

1. A drug addicted rapist traitor leads the military in prayer.

[efhmc]

2. Totally disgusting.

[walkingman]

3. Christendom is a business.

Following Jesus once meant speaking truth to power. Modern Christianity is budgets, buildings and bank accounts

[Torchlight]

4. I'm rarely impressed by for-profit drunks engaging in apostasy.

Hegseth makes Cullen Davis look like a rube in comparison.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

5. Maddow Blog-Why Pete Hegseth leading a Christian prayer service at the Pentagon is so problematic

For those concerned about the administration and the emergence of Christian nationalism, the Pentagon chief’s service was a step in an unsettling direction.

Why Pete Hegseth leading a Christian prayer service at the Pentagon is so problematic -

apple.news/A7FaFSEY0RIS...

— (@oc88.bsky.social) 2025-05-22T20:13:21.055Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/pete-hegseth-leading-christian-prayer-service-pentagon-problematic-rcna208582

A couple of weeks later, for example, Attorney General Pam Bondi convened a meeting of a task force charged with eradicating “anti-Christian bias” within federal agencies. The Washington Post reported at the time, “Even before the group’s inaugural meeting, critics have assailed its mission as a bald attempt by government to elevate one faith over others and to rewrite recent history under the guise of protecting religious freedoms.”

The critics obviously had a point. After all, the attorney general and her colleagues didn’t say they were focused on perceived “anti-religion bias” within the government; they focused only on perceived “anti-Christian bias” within the government. The Trump’s task force clearly had a faith-specific focus.

Among those joining Bondi for the inaugural meeting of the group was Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who, it turns out, held a related event one month later. The New York Times reported:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth led a Christian prayer service in the Pentagon’s auditorium on Wednesday morning, during working hours, in which President Trump was praised as a divinely appointed leader. The event, billed as the “Secretary of Defense Christian Prayer & Worship Service,” was standing room only and ran for about 30 minutes, with Brooks Potteiger, the pastor of Mr. Hegseth’s church in Tennessee, as the main speaker.

This was not a one-time gathering: The Times report added that the beleaguered Pentagon chief said that he wants these prayer services to become monthly events......

Imagine being a Jewish service member, for example, hoping to stay on the secretary’s good side, and perhaps even looking for an upcoming promotion, and the pressure that person felt when told about Hegseth’s “invitation.”

As for Potteiger, the pastor of Hegseth’s church in Tennessee, the Times quoted the reverend’s Trump-specific comments at the Pentagon.

In his sermon, the pastor said, “We pray for our leaders who you have sovereignly appointed — for President Trump, thank you for the way that you have used him to bring stability and moral clarity to our land. And we pray that you would continue to protect him, bless him, give him great wisdom. ... We pray that you would surround him with faithful counselors who fear your name and love your precepts.”

For those concerned about the administration and the emergence of Christian nationalism, this was a step in an unsettling direction.