Hegseth, Barron, evangelical leaders to join Trump event rededicating America to God

WASHINGTON (RNS) — ‘Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving,’ is part of a series of events and initiatives meant to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

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WASHINGTON (RNS) — A slate of political, military and religious leaders is scheduled to participate in a major faith-themed event on the National Mall next month, where members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, musical guests and a list of mostly conservative Christian speakers plan to lead participants in “solemnly rededicating our country as One Nation under God.”

The event, titled “Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving,” is part of a series of events and initiatives designed to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Organized by the group Freedom 250 as part of a public-private partnership with the White House and other government bodies, the gathering roughly coincides with the anniversary of an order sent by then-General George Washington in 1776 seconding the Continental Congress’ call for a day of “fasting, humiliation and prayer.”

The speaker lineup for the Rededicate event, which is scheduled for May 17 and expected to last all day, appears to reflect the core of Trump’s base of conservative religious support: Speakers are almost entirely Christian and mostly evangelical, with some notable conservative Catholics.

According to a list provided to Religion News Service, among the major political figures on the lineup are Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Catholic, who will speak via video; Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who worships in churches associated with the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches; and House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Southern Baptist. Former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, a Seventh-day Adventist, will also speak, as will Monica Crowley, the chief of protocol of the U.S., and retired Maj. Gen. Patrick Brady.

An array of evangelical pastors is also on the docket to speak. Some have served as evangelical advisers to Trump, such as Pastor Jack Graham of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Texas; Jentezen Franklin of Free Chapel in Georgia; and the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference.

Other evangelical pastors include Jonathan Falwell, who leads Thomas Road Baptist Church in Virginia and serves as chancellor of Liberty University; Jonathan Pokluda of Harris Creek Baptist Church in Texas; Lorenzo Sewell, who leads 180 Church in Detroit and prayed at Trump’s second inauguration; Gary Hamrick of Cornerstone Chapel in Virginia; and Andy Frank, whom organizers describe as a “national ministry voice.”

President Donald Trump speaks to the Rev. Franklin Graham as they attend a ceremony to honor the late Rev. Billy Graham in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, on Feb. 28, 2018, in Washington. (Chip Somodevilla/Pool via AP)

The Rev. Franklin Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and of Samaritan’s Purse, will also speak via a video message. His daughter, Cissie Graham Lynch, who works at both of the organizations her father leads, will address the crowd. Conservative commentator Eric Metaxas, an evangelical and staunch Trump ally, is also on the list of people offering remarks, as is Christian Broadcasting Network correspondent Abigail Robertson.

Two Catholic bishops are participating: Bishop Robert Barron, who leads the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota; and Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who recently retired from his position as bishop of the Archdiocese of New York. Both prelates sit on Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, but Barron will speak in person, while Dolan is submitting a video message.

The only non-Christian religious leader listed is Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, who leads Congregation Shearith Israel in New York City and also serves on Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission.

Notably absent from the lineup are representatives from other non-Christian faiths, such as Islam or Indigenous spiritual traditions, or leaders from mainline Christian or historically Black denominations.

Various musical acts, such as the United States Marine Band and choirs from evangelical Christian schools such as Liberty University and Hillsdale College, will also perform.

At least two people who were initially rumored to be associated with the event — activist and musician Sean Feucht and Pastor Mark Driscoll — are not on the program.

President Donald Trump bows his head during the National Prayer Breakfast, Feb. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The event has been celebrated by many of Trump’s religious supporters. When he first announced the gathering earlier this year at the National Prayer Breakfast, the crowd erupted into a standing ovation.

“We’re inviting Americans from all across the country to come together on our National Mall to pray, to give thanks,” Trump said. “We are going to do something that everyone said, like, ‘That’s tough.’ We’re going to rededicate America as one nation under God.”

The narrow scope of faith traditions on the program is unlikely to quiet religious critics who have accused the Trump administration and its allies of pushing a vision of the U.S. that centers a conservative form of Christianity. Some have also accused the administration of forwarding a version of U.S. history they say overlays modern forms of conservative Christianity onto the U.S. founding, sometimes by relying on erroneous historical claims: The webpage for the National Mall event features an image of George Washington praying in the snow, a reference to a story historians — including the head of the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon — have widely dismissed as a fabrication.