{"id":803836,"date":"2026-05-17T23:21:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T23:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/803836\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T23:21:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T23:21:13","slug":"thousands-gathered-in-washington-for-an-america-themed-prayer-rally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/803836\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands gathered in Washington for an America-themed prayer rally"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Thousands of people streamed onto the National Mall for a daylong prayer rally<\/a> Sunday billed as a \u201crededication of our country as One Nation under God.\u201d<\/p>\n

Against the backdrop of the Washington Monument, worship music blared from a stage that made clear the event\u2019s Christian focus. Arched stained-glass windows, set underneath grand columns resembling a federal building, depicted the nation\u2019s founders alongside a white cross.<\/p>\n

Most speakers celebrated Christianity\u2019s ties to American history, a blending of ideas that critics flagged ahead of the prayer gathering as supporting Christian nationalism.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump read a passage of Scripture<\/a> in a video shown at the rally. Filmed in the Oval Office, it was the same footage used during a marathon Bible-reading event last month. The verses from 2 Chronicles are often cited by those who believe America was founded as a Christian nation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways,\u201d Trump read, \u201cthen will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other top Republicans, including Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., were also on the schedule as part of the celebrations this year marking 250 years of U.S. independence.<\/p>\n

Only one name on the Rededicate 250 program was not Christian. Most were among Trump\u2019s longtime evangelical supporters, including Paula White-Cain of the White House Faith Office<\/a> and evangelist Franklin Graham of Samaritan\u2019s Purse.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are deeply concerned that what is really being rededicated is a nation to a very narrow and ideological part of the Christian faith that betrays our nation\u2019s fundamental commitment to religious freedom,\u201d said the Rev. Adam Russell Taylor, a Baptist minister who leads the progressive Christian organization Sojourners.<\/p>\n

The conservative Christian lineup featured guests who often argue that the United States was founded as a Christian nation<\/a>, a narrative disputed by many historians and other religious traditions.<\/p>\n

Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, noted the religious diversity of early America, including Jews, Muslims and Indigenous people. \u201cI want to shine a light on America\u2019s history as a nation that welcomes, celebrates, and protects people of all faiths and those of no faith,\u201d Pesner said.<\/p>\n

Attendees believe prayer event is significant <\/p>\n

Many in the crowd wore Trump hats and patriotic colors, joining the festivities under a sweltering sun. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about Jesus,\u201d said Denny Smith, 72, of Rhode Island, who rented a motorized scooter to traverse the National Mall.<\/p>\n

Retha Bond, 58 and from southern Illinois, also heard Trump speak not far away on Jan. 6, 2021. She said she did not join the protesters who rioted later that day at the Capitol<\/a> but has remained a steadfast Trump supporter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not saying Trump is the savior,\u201d Bond said. She added that \u201cthis is one of the most important things that could be going on in the world, for us to rededicate our nation back to God.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speakers mentioned the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk<\/a> from the stage. Kirk\u2019s activism has been a powerful example for Alessandra Seawright, 15, of Santa Fe, New Mexico, who came to Rededicate 250 with her mother.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we just need more of this in our country, and we just need to share the word of the Lord,\u201d she said. \u201cWe love going to events like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

They also attended Kirk\u2019s memorial service<\/a>, which mixed Christian worship and political messages. Events like these, Seawright said, help her feel less alone in her conservative Christian beliefs.<\/p>\n

Prayer event spurs protest <\/p>\n

Hegseth, who has infused Christian language and worship<\/a> with his role leading the Pentagon<\/a>, asked the gathering in a video to pray to \u201cour Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.\u201d Referencing George Washington\u2019s faith, he said, \u201cLet us pray without ceasing. Let us pray for our nation on bended knee.\u201d<\/p>\n

Orthodox Jewish Rabbi Meir Soloveichik was the only non-Christian religious leader listed on the program. To applause, he told the crowd, \u201cAntisemitism is utterly un-American\u201d \u2014 a seeming reference to debates dividing the right<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Soloveichik serves on the Trump administration\u2019s Religious Liberty Commission<\/a> along with White-Cain, Graham and Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Bishop Robert Barron, Catholic clerics also featured on the program.<\/p>\n

The event was organized by Freedom 250, a public-private partnership backed by the White House. Congressional Democrats have questioned the nonprofit\u2019s structure and finances<\/a>, which they see as a Trump-controlled end run around a separate commission charted by Congress a decade ago to prepare semiquincentennial events.<\/p>\n

Progressive groups staged counterprogramming. Among them were the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which advocates a strict separation of church and state, and the Christian organization Faithful America. The two groups displayed a large balloon near the mall of a Trump-like golden calf, in a biblical reference to idolatry.<\/p>\n

On Thursday evening, the Interfaith Alliance projected protest slogans onto an exterior wall of the National Gallery of Art. \u201cDemocracy not theocracy,\u201d said one. Another said: \u201cThe separation of church and state is good for both.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press writer Peter Smith in Pittsburgh contributed to this report. <\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP\u2019s collaboration<\/a> with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Thousands of people streamed onto the National Mall for a daylong prayer rally Sunday billed…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":803837,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[327220,327221,238093,19719,8571,354,12785,84,69,327218,57,59915,2055,51,2066,410,327222,8119,33993,50,294915,6986,80,365,367,327219,92507,52,89,93],"class_list":{"0":"post-803836","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-adam-russell","9":"tag-alessandra-seawright","10":"tag-america-at-250","11":"tag-charlie-kirk","12":"tag-christianity","13":"tag-church-and-state","14":"tag-dc-wire","15":"tag-district-of-columbia","16":"tag-donald-trump","17":"tag-franklin-graham","18":"tag-general-news","19":"tag-george-washington","20":"tag-government-and-politics","21":"tag-headlines","22":"tag-jd-vance","23":"tag-marco-rubio","24":"tag-meir-soloveichik","25":"tag-mike-johnson","26":"tag-nationalism","27":"tag-news","28":"tag-paula-white-cain","29":"tag-pete-hegseth","30":"tag-politics","31":"tag-religion","32":"tag-religion-and-politics","33":"tag-robert-barron","34":"tag-timothy-dolan","35":"tag-top-stories","36":"tag-u-s-democratic-party","37":"tag-washington-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=803836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803836\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/803837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=803836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=803836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=803836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}