“Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving” was held on May 17, 2026, at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The speakers included an array of MAGA evangelicals, Seven Mountains Dominionists, Independent Network Charismatic “prophets and apostles,” Christian nationalists, court evangelicals with a couple of Roman Catholics and an Orthodox rabbi thrown in as tokens.
The theme: “God’s presence in our national life throughout 250 years of American history,” according to the event’s website. And what did we get for eight hours of prayer? Repetition of the playbook of the Religious Right.
The masters of the event had one goal: Take the Message (as they see it, there is only one) and present it. If it fails, deny its failure, recruit other speakers, and try it again and again … and again.… But, above all, keep saying the same thing.
Christian nationalism in full display
Turns out “Rededicate 250” wasn’t a prayer meeting; it was a fake history class with textbooks written by David Barton and Robert Jeffress. The speakers offer Americans a map to the buried treasure of a nation created Christian by God, but these yellow parchments are as fake ats Peter Pan’s Neverland.
Robert Jeffress insists the founders would have “gladly embraced” the label “Christian nationalist”. He proudly claims to be one.
Jeffress told more truth than he intended. He connected the gathering to” pomp and circumstance, sporting events and parades.” “Nobody can plan a party better than President Trump.” “Rededicate 250” was a spectacle gathering to celebrate an America never in existence. The carnivalesque rhetoric was neither Christian nor nationalist but an undisguised authoritarianism determined to “lord it over” the American people.
A parade of nationalist preachers gladly repeated the same story.
Lou Engle yells about Trump reading 2 Chronicles 7 as the harbinger of revival .Paula White claims to uphold the “dignity of all human beings.” Jonathan Roumie, the actor who plays Jesus on “The Chosen,” claims America was founded as a nation “deeply rooted in the Christian tradition.” Jack Graham of Prestonwood Baptist Church says we are “Christian patriots.”
Ben Carson says the Declaration of Independence affirms that our rights come from God. “We are the only nation defined by a dream,” Carson says. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson sees God’s hand on the nation from Columbus to Plymouth to the American Revolution. He says that the United States is the greatest and “most benevolent” nation in the world.” U.S. Senator Tim Scott asserts America has a “Judeo-Christian foundation” and has always been a nation of prayer.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said George Washington bowed his head and prayed in the snow at Valley Forge. He claims Washington prayed in the name of “our Lord and Savior Jesus Chris” Washington actually prayed, “So help us God.”
Detroit pastor Lorenzo Sewall says that when the Founding Fathers were considering the American Revolution, they were thinking only of Christians.
Jonathan Falwell, the chancellor of Liberty University prays for national unity: His language is Christian nationalism in spades: “This is one nation under God.” He prays that the United States will be a “shining city on a hill.”
Prayer by video
Where were our leaders on this alleged “sacred” occasion?
President Trump played golf. The event organizers played a recording of Trump’s Bible reading from II Chronicles 7:14. One critic marveled at reading “a Bible verse from a teleprompter,”
Cardinal Timothy Dolan in his video says it is impossible to be a patriot until one first realizes they are a “child of God.” Does he know “patriotism” is not a Christian virtue?
Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence, in her video, criticizes today’s world leaders for seeking power and glory. This is an odd plea given she is a leader in an administration in pursuit of power, glory, and wealth.
Vice President J.D. Vance via video asserts, “all morality comes from religion,” and when the founders spoke of religion, they meant Christianity and “the divinity of Jesus Christ.” Considering Thomas Jefferson didn’t believe Jesus was divine, Vance can only plead ignorance or confess he’s lying.
Franklin Graham, in his video, claims America is in moral decline. He says, “America is…sick with sin,” in a reference to transgenderism, violence, and video games.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s video celebrates American exceptionalism, complete with references to Winthrop’s “City Upon a Hill,” Manifest Destiny, the telegraph (“What hath God wrought”), and Apollo 8’s citation of Genesis 1.
David Barton, the architect of the imagined history of America on display at Rededicate 250 was not present. David Barton. Nearly every nationalist claim made in the meeting comes from Barton’s revisionist, false history of America.
Barton created an idol – a mythological story of America founded by evangelical Christians. In this sense, “Rededicate America 250” was an act of idolatrous worship. This was a “temple of the king” and a worship of fake gods.
