Summary

President Donald Trump and other administration officials will join a daylong prayer gathering on Washington’s National Mall this Sunday that organizers are billing as a “rededication of our country as One Nation Under God” to mark the U.S. 250th birthday. The event, called “Rededicate 250,” is scheduled around America’s 250th anniversary and is planned to culminate with the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, according to the nonprofit Freedom 250 that is organizing it.

Organizers describe Rededicate 250 as a public-private partnership “leading the presidential programming for America’s 250th anniversary.” While organizers have presented it as an effort to unite Americans in prayer, critics have said the event is being used to advance a Christian nationalist narrative that merges American and Christian identity in ways they argue challenge constitutional protections for church-state separation.

The program is designed as a broad religious and political gathering, with worship music, prayers, and speeches from Cabinet officials and other Republican officials alongside clergy and other faith leaders. Trump and several other speakers are addressing the crowd by video, while others are scheduled to appear in person.

Among the scheduled participants, organizers said Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and House Speaker Mike Johnson are taking part. Hegseth, in promotional material for the event, said, “Our founders knew two simple truths,” adding, “Our rights don’t come from government, they come from God. And a nation is only as strong as its faith,” according to the event’s promotional video montage of Cabinet secretaries.

Promotional materials for Rededicate 250 also interweave Christian and American imagery, including a brief depiction of people raising their hands in worship and a scene of a man praying while wearing a Jewish skullcap. The program’s materials also include statements attributed to prominent preachers, including one that says, “Faith in God is the value that most shaped America.”

Religious leaders scheduled to appear include evangelist Franklin Graham and pastors Paula White-Cain, who heads the White House Faith Office, as well as Robert Jeffress and Samuel Rodriguez, according to the event program described in the report. The lineup also includes Catholic Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Bishop Robert Barron, and Orthodox Jewish Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, the only faith leader on the program representing a non-Christian faith, organizers said. Organizers also listed Grammy-winning contemporary Christian artist Chris Tomlin among the musicians on the program.

Critics, including members of Congress who argue the United States should not be officially aligned with a particular religion, have characterized Rededicate 250 as politically “hijacked” by Christian nationalism. U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, a Democrat, said the event “would have the founders rolling in their graves,” and argued that what should be a broadly unifying commemoration has been “politically hijacked and wrapped up in this MAGA narrative that tries to rewrite our history and promote the president’s agenda.”

Huffman said he believes the effort narrows the range of what it means to be American and Christian and that it threatens constitutional protections against government-established religion. In remarks described with the report, he said, “They have narrowly defined what it means both to be American and to be Christian, and they are wrapping that in the official sanction of the U.S. government,” and also said the movement does not speak for all Christians.

The criticism comes as several participants in Rededicate 250 have also been tied to other Trump administration efforts aimed at conservative Christian audiences. The report said some of the same prominent clergy scheduled for Rededicate 250 serve on the Religious Liberty Commission, a Trump-appointed panel that has been preparing a report after a year of hearings, many focused on conservative Christian and right-leaning political grievances. The report also said the commission’s chair, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, has repeatedly denied that the Constitution establishes a separation of church and state.

The Rededicate 250 prayer gathering is also occurring alongside other faith-focused initiatives the report said have drawn controversy, including a Trump-appointed task force that alleged discrimination against Christians under Democratic President Joe Biden. Progressive groups criticized that effort as “advocacy dressed up as investigation,” and the report said the task force’s allegations included the imposition of heavy fines on two Christian colleges—Grand Canyon University and Liberty University—allegations that the report said were later challenged, including a decision that was reversed for one of the schools. The report said choirs from both colleges are performing at Rededicate 250.

Some advocacy groups that press for a strict separation of church and state said they plan to respond. Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, said in a statement, “This is the government putting on a Christian nationalist event,” adding, “Even if it is accepting private money for it, it’s still putting it on. It’s outrageous.”

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