On Sunday, thousands of individuals gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. for a daylong prayer rally titled "Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving." The event aimed to symbolically rededicate the United States as "One Nation under God,” with the Washington Monument serving as a backdrop.
Attendees experienced a strong Christian ambiance, characterized by worship music and visual representations such as arched stained-glass windows depicting the nation’s founders alongside a white cross. President Donald Trump was scheduled to deliver a message via video, accompanied by other notable Republican figures like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, as part of celebrations commemorating 250 years of U.S. independence.
The lineup for the "Rededicate 250" event largely featured Trump’s longtime evangelical supporters, including Paula White-Cain from the White House Faith Office and evangelist Franklin Graham from Samaritan’s Purse. Notably, only one name on the program was not Christian, raising concerns about the narrow representation of faith at the gathering. Rev. Adam Russell Taylor, a Baptist minister and leader of the progressive Christian organization Sojourners, expressed apprehension that the event reflected a limited ideological aspect of Christianity, which he believes contradicts the nation's foundational commitment to religious freedom.
The conservative Christian perspective was reinforced by participants who argue that the United States was founded as a Christian nation—an assertion that has been challenged by various historians and representatives of other religious traditions. Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, highlighted the multicultural religious heritage of early America, which included Jews, Muslims, and Indigenous populations. He emphasized the importance of celebrating and protecting a diverse array of beliefs and non-beliefs in the U.S.
Pete Hegseth, known for integrating Christian rhetoric into his role at the Pentagon, stated in a promotional video for the event, “Our founders knew two simple truths: Our rights don’t come from government; they come from God. And a nation is only as strong as its faith.” The program's only non-Christian religious leader was Orthodox Jewish Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, who serves on the Trump administration's Religious Liberty Commission alongside White-Cain, Graham, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, and Bishop Robert Barron.
The event was organized by Freedom 250, a public-private partnership supported by the White House, which has drawn skepticism from Congressional Democrats regarding its structure and financial management. Progressives voiced dissent through organizing counterprogramming, with groups such as the Freedom From Religion Foundation advocating for the separation of church and state, and Faithful America offering a Christian perspective against the event.
On the evening prior to the rally, the Interfaith Alliance projected protest messages onto the National Gallery of Art, with slogans such as “Democracy not theocracy” and “The separation of church and state is good for both," emphasizing the ongoing debate surrounding the role of religion in U.S. governance.
