On Sunday, crowds gathered on the National Mall for a conservative prayer service tied to America’s 250th birthday, with faith leaders, musicians and lawmakers taking part in a program focused on worship, praise and prayer. The event was promoted around the idea of giving thanks for God’s providence and rededicating the country as “One Nation under God,” organizers said.
The gathering was organized by Freedom 250, a public-private group working with the White House on the broader America 250 celebration that is set to run this summer. Prominent faith figures featured in the program included Paula White-Cain, senior adviser in the White House faith office, along with the Rev. Franklin Graham and Bishop Robert Barron, who leads the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota. Of the 19 faith leaders scheduled to speak, the reporting said 18 are Christian and most are evangelical, with Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, who leads Congregation Shearith Israel in New York and serves on Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, the only non-Christian religious leader who spoke.
President Donald Trump, who was golfing Sunday afternoon, did not attend the National Mall event in person. Trump instead sent a video message that read Bible scripture from 2 Chronicles 7:11-22, a passage that describes God’s response to King Solomon after Solomon completed the temple in Jerusalem. Other administration officials also participated through video messages, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Congressional lawmakers were among those speaking during the service. Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina participated in the program, and House Speaker Mike Johnson led the crowd through a prayer. In that prayer, Johnson asked God for courage and favor to “preserve this republic,” and he said “our rights do not derive from the government, they come from You, our Creator and heavenly Father,” according to the account.
Chris Tomlin, a Grammy-winning Christian musician, performed at the event. The service also included praise and worship songs and prayers by religious leaders, alongside speeches tied to the America 250 commemoration.
The event has drawn criticism centered on church-state separation and the question of whether the gathering fits within longstanding boundaries between religion and government. Interfaith Alliance said it responded by projecting messages supporting religious freedom onto the National Gallery of Art on Thursday night. The group also said in a social media post that Trump’s “Rededicate 250” rally on the National Mall was an attempt to turn the United States into an “authoritarian theocracy.”
Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a nonprofit that advocates for a clear separation between church and state, also criticized the event. Rachel Laser, the group’s president and CEO, described it as “less a ‘Jubilee of Prayer’ than a ‘Jubilee of Christian Nationalism.’” In a statement, Laser said that if Trump and his allies truly cared about America’s legacy of religious freedom, they would be celebrating church-state separation as an invention that has allowed religious diversity to flourish; instead, she said they were advancing what she called a Christian Nationalist crusade to impose one narrow version of Christianity on all Americans.
The reporting on the National Mall event was produced by NPR’s Chandelis Duster, with additional contributions from Kathryn Post and Yonat Shimron.