President and several top administration officials are joining with a cast of mostly conservative Christian clergy this Sunday at the National Mall in Washington for a prayer gathering billed as a “rededication of our country as One Nation Under God鈥� upon America鈥檚 250th birthday.
But some critics call the Rededicate 250 event an effort to 鈥渉ijack鈥� with a false, narrative 鈥� one they say fuses American and Christian identities and threatens a constitutional separation of church and state.
The daylong program is being organized by a nonprofit called Freedom 250. Its website describes it as a public-private partnership 鈥渓eading the presidential programming for America’s 250th anniversary,鈥� which culminates with on July 4.
Congressional Democrats have questioned the organization’s , which they see as a Trump-controlled end run around a separate commission charted by Congress a decade ago to prepare semiquincentennial events.
Top Republican officials promote event
Organizers expect thousands of people to attend Rededicate 250, which will include worship music, prayers and speeches from and other Republican officials, along with religious leaders and others. Trump and several other speakers are addressing the crowd by video, while others will speak in person. The scheduled participants include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense and House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana.
“Our founders knew two simple truths,” Hegseth said in a promotional video for the event featuring a montage of Cabinet secretaries.
“Our rights don鈥檛 come from government, they come from God. And a nation is only as strong as its faith,鈥� added Hegseth, whose use of Christian rhetoric to justify the U.S. and Israel’s war against Iran and in other official settings has .
Another promotional video for Rededicate 250 blends various Christian and American imagery 鈥� scenes of a cross laid on an American flag, a robed choir, people raising their hands in worship 鈥� along with a brief scene of a man praying while wearing a Jewish skullcap. Voices of prominent preachers are heard, one proclaiming, 鈥淔aith in God is the value that most shaped America.鈥�
Religious leaders on the Rededicate 250 program include several longtime Christian supporters of Trump, among them evangelist Franklin Graham and pastors Paula White-Cain, who heads ; Robert Jeffress; and Samuel Rodriguez. Also scheduled are Catholic Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Bishop Robert Barron and Orthodox Jewish Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, the only faith leader on the program representing a non-Christian faith.
Musicians on the program include Grammy-winning contemporary Christian artist Chris Tomlin.
Some leading participants portray Rededicate 250 as a Christian gathering.
鈥淚 believe it鈥檚 a moment when the Body of Christ, the church, comes together and will boldly declare that America still needs God,鈥� said Georgia pastor Jentezen Franklin in a social media video posted on X. 鈥淭his is an opportunity for believers to stand together as one nation under God. … I鈥檓 honored that they鈥檝e asked me to speak and share the Gospel.鈥�
Johnson noted that the event comes 250 years after Congress declared May 17, 1776, a 鈥渄ay of Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer鈥� on behalf of the Revolutionary cause.
Critics say event ‘hijacked鈥� by Christian nationalism
Critics say Rededicate 250 is shaping up to promote Christian nationalism 鈥� whose adherents typically believe that the United States was and .
鈥淲hat should be a broadly unifying celebration has been politically hijacked and wrapped up in this MAGA narrative that tries to rewrite our history and promote the president鈥檚 agenda,鈥� said U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, referring to Trump鈥檚 鈥淢ake America Great Again鈥� movement.
Huffman said the movement erases the diversity of America鈥檚 religious and throughout its history and threatens the constitutional protections against government-established religion.
The event “would have the founders rolling in their graves,鈥� said Huffman, a California Democrat. He co-chairs the Congressional Freethought Caucus, which emphasizes separation of church and state.
鈥淭hey 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,” Huffman said.
He said it’s a movement that doesn’t speak for all Christians, noting Trump’s recent sparring with .
Conservative Christians cheer multiple Trump initiatives
The Rededicate 250 event is occurring in tandem with other appealing to Trump鈥檚 of conservative Christians, particularly Protestants.
Several participants 鈥� including Graham, White-Cain, Dolan, Barron and Soloveichik 鈥� also serve on the Religious Liberty Commission. That Trump-appointed panel is preparing a report on its findings after a year of hearings, many of which were focused on conservative Christian and right-leaning political grievances. Its chair, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Republican, repeatedly denies that the Constitution establishes .
Several participants in Rededicate 250 joined with Trump himself in .
And a separate Trump administration recently alleged discrimination against Christians under Democratic President Joe Biden 鈥� a report criticized by progressive groups as 鈥渁dvocacy dressed up as investigation.鈥�
That report alleged that such a bias resulted in heavy fines imposed on two Christian colleges 鈥� Grand Canyon University for allegedly deceiving thousands of students over program costs, a decision later reversed, and for its handling of crime statistics and sexual assault cases. Choirs from both colleges are performing at Rededicate 250.
Beliefs about Christian nationhood
Six in 10 U.S. adults, and eight in 10 white evangelical Christians, said they believed the founders originally intended America to be a Christian nation, according to a 2022 Pew Research Center report.
Historians generally agree that the founders鈥� religious beliefs varied, that doesn鈥檛 establish an official religion and that it was significantly influenced by Enlightenment thinkers.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation, which advocates a strict separation of church and state, hopes to stage a demonstration elsewhere in Washington on the day of the rally.
鈥淭his is the government putting on a Christian nationalist event,鈥� said Annie Laurie Gaylor, the foundation’s co-president. 鈥淓ven if it is accepting private money for it, it鈥檚 still putting it on. It鈥檚 outrageous.鈥�
Brian Kaylor, a Baptist pastor and president and editor-in-chief of Word&Way, a progressive site covering faith and politics, said that while the Continental Congress did call for a day of prayer, the founders crafted the Constitution to prevent the establishment of religion. Two early presidents, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, thought such official events were harmful to religion, he wrote.
The event “simply doesn鈥檛 represent what type of nation the founders later decided to create,鈥� Kaylor wrote.
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