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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth hosted his first monthly Christian worship service at the Pentagon since the Iran war began, welcoming civilian employees and uniformed military personnel to a livestreamed event on Wednesday.
Hegseth told those gathered that “every month it is fitting to be right here,” adding that it was “all the more fitting this month, at this moment, given what tens of thousands of Americans are doing right now.” During the service, he prayed for military success, saying, “Let every round find its mark against the enemies of righteousness and our great nation,” and he asked God to provide “unbreakable unity” and “overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.”
Hegseth said he read a prayer he described as originally given by a military chaplain to the troops who captured then-President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela. He also read words from Psalms, saying, “I pursued my enemies and overtook them, and did not turn back till they were consumed,” as part of the service, which he framed around his evangelical Christian faith as the leader of the armed forces.
The Pentagon worship service comes as Hegseth’s Christian rhetoric has drawn renewed scrutiny during the expanding Iran war and other global conflicts. The report described his past defense of the Crusades and said his public faith references have included calls for Americans to pray “in the name of Jesus Christ,” including last week, and again during Wednesday’s service.
The legal challenge to the Pentagon religious gatherings is also moving forward. Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a lawsuit on Monday, seeking to enforce a public records request from December that asks the Pentagon for internal communications about the worship services, their cost, guests and any complaints received from employees. In a statement, Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United, alleged that Secretaries Hegseth and Lori Chavez-DeRemer are abusing their government roles and “taxpayer-funded resources” by imposing a preferred religion on federal workers and that “Even if these prayer services are presented as voluntary, there is pressure on federal employees to attend in order to appease their bosses.”
Separately, the service highlighted how chaplaincy and military religious practice intersect with policy changes Hegseth has said he wants to make. Military chaplains typically provide worship services within the Defense Department, ministering to troops of any faith or no faith even as they operate as ordained clergy from specific traditions. Hegseth has described his effort to “make[] the chaplain corps great again” as including a shift in chaplains’ focus from therapeutic “self-help and self-care” toward God, and he has said chaplains would stop wearing rank on their uniforms and instead be identified by religious insignia.
The changes also extend to the way the military recognizes religious identities. Hegseth said the military would use 31 religious affiliations, down from more than 200, which previously included many small Protestant denominations and identifications for Wiccans, atheists and agnostics. The report said the Pentagon did not respond to requests for more information about those changes, and it noted that the Defense Department has not yet released the updated list of religious affiliation codes.
Wednesday’s sermon was delivered by Doug Collins, the Veterans Affairs secretary, who is also an Air Force chaplain and a Southern Baptist pastor. Collins preached on overcoming fear and following Jesus, and the report said he continued a pattern of only evangelicals presiding at Hegseth’s services, while Hegseth began hosting worship at the Pentagon in May 2025. The report said that service was initially preached by Hegseth’s Tennessee pastor, Brooks Potteiger, and that Potteiger is expected to relocate to Washington, D.C., to lead Christ Church DC, a new CREC congregation that Hegseth has attended.