WASHINGTON — On February 17, 2026, Idaho pastor Doug Wilson stood at a lectern inside the Pentagon’s auditorium and delivered a 15-minute sermon to a standing-room-only crowd of service members and civilian employees. The invitation had come directly from Pete Hegseth, the recently appointed U.S. Secretary of Defense and a member of Wilson’s denomination.
The event, billed as the “Secretary of Defense Christian Prayer & Worship Service,” has sparked debate about the boundaries between personal faith and public authority, and about the visibility of Christian nationalist theology within senior levels of government.
Wilson’s appearance was not the first explicitly Christian gathering hosted under Hegseth’s leadership. A previous service, led by Tennessee pastor Brooks Potteiger, centered on “King Jesus” and was likewise well attended. But Wilson’s presence carried particular weight. He is a founder of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC) and recently launched Christ Kirk DC, a Washington congregation affiliated with his flagship church in Moscow, Idaho. Hegseth is a member of that denomination and attends the D.C. church.
29th Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth Official Portrait (DoD photo by Chad J. McNeeley)
On stage, Hegseth thanked Wilson for his “leadership” and “willingness to be bold,” adding, “It’s the type of thing we are trying to exercise here.” Wilson, in turn, framed the gathering as an example of divine providence. “God can do what he likes,” he said. “Take a prayer meeting at the Pentagon for a possible example.”
By most accounts, the sermon avoided explicit policy prescriptions. Yet the symbolism of the setting, the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense, combined with Wilson’s well-documented views, has amplified concern among critics who see the event as part of a broader normalization of Christian nationalist thought in public institutions.
“Yes, I’m a Christian Nationalist”
Wilson has long embraced the label “Christian nationalist.” In a recent interview with CNN, when asked directly whether he identifies as such, he responded, “Yes.” He has described Christianity as a “public truth” that should shape not only private devotion but civic life. He characterizes the United States as a “backslidden Christian republic” and argues that society should be governed according to Scripture, what he calls “sacred writ,” rather than secular neutrality.
His theology routinely mocks the Catholic Church and extends into cultural and political questions. Wilson teaches a patriarchal model of family and church life, asserting that wives are to submit to husbands and that leadership in church and society is reserved for men. He has argued that the Nineteenth Amendment, which granted women the right to vote, should be repealed. In prior remarks, he suggested that political representation should rest with the “federal head” of a household, typically the husband or father, rather than with individuals as such.
We have gathered at the Pentagon for our monthly worship service.
We are One Nation Under God. pic.twitter.com/o5L8GgjFS8
— DOW Rapid Response (@DOWResponse) February 17, 2026
Wilson is also an outspoken opponent of same-sex marriage and has stated that homosexual conduct should be illegal. In discussing American slavery, he co-authored the 1996 pamphlet Southern Slavery as It Was, which argued that antebellum slavery was more benign than abolitionists portrayed and not inherently unbiblical if conducted according to biblical principles. Though he has distanced himself from some of its phrasing, he continues to defend aspects of its argument.
More recently, Wilson has argued that in an ideal Christian republic, practitioners of non-Christian religions, including Hindus, which he mentioned explicitly, would not be eligible to hold political office.
While he has stated that the Church itself does not wield “lethal coercion,” he affirms that it may appeal to the state, or “civil magistrate,” to enforce biblical moral order.
Controversy in Context
Hegseth’s decision to invite Wilson comes amid a series of controversies surrounding the Secretary of Defense. In one widely circulated video, Hegseth, who has self-described as “Secretary of War,” filmed himself conducting a workout session at Fort Campbell while U.S. warships headed toward the Middle East. His public embrace of martial imagery has drawn both praise and ridicule.
No better way to start a day.
RAKKASAN! https://t.co/HYWUn5nRMB
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) February 20, 2026
Last year, speaking at Quantico, Hegseth made comments widely interpreted as directed at practitioners of Norse Pagan faiths within the armed forces. “No more beards, long hair, superficial individual expression,” he declared. “We’re going to cut our hair, shave our beards, and adhere to standards… We don’t have a military full of Nordic pagans.” While acknowledging an exemption for Special Forces, his remarks were criticized by some as dismissive of religious accommodations.
Against that backdrop, critics argue that hosting a denominationally aligned prayer service at the Pentagon sends a powerful message about which faith expressions are welcome, and which are not.
Religious Freedom?
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), led by founder Mikey Weinstein, reported receiving complaints from service members following the event. In an anonymous message shared with the organization, one participant questioned whether leaders from other traditions would receive similar access:
“Can I, as a leader, reserve a room or auditorium at my unit and bring in the Wiccan Priestess from my local Wiccan temple to lead a prayer service? Or is only SECWAR able to do this? Or only Christians?”
An anonymous source told Military.com that such events are “inherently discriminatory,” even absent overt coercion. “It provides an opportunity for Christians to get face time and be in the room with higher-ups,” the source said. “Jews, Muslims, and other non-Christians are not provided this opportunity.”
Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell responded that the Secretary is “a proud member” of a CREC-affiliated church and “very much appreciates many of Mr. Wilson’s writings and teachings.”
Supporters of the event note that voluntary prayer gatherings have long been part of American public life and that service members remain free to attend or abstain. They emphasize that the sermon itself did not explicitly call for policy changes.
Yet critics counter that when the nation’s top defense official invites a pastor whose theology envisions a Christian-ordered state, one that would exclude non-Christians from office and roll back women’s suffrage, the line between personal faith and governmental endorsement grows thin.
A Broader Question
The U.S. military reflects the religious pluralism of the nation it serves. Its ranks include Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Pagans, atheists, and others. According to a 2019 Congressional Research Service report, approximately 70 percent of service members identify as Christian, but millions do not. That diversity has long required military leadership to balance individual religious expression with institutional neutrality.
In the days following the Pentagon prayer service, Hegseth elaborated on themes consistent with Wilson’s remarks, making his own perspective unmistakable.
On Thursday, February 19, 2026, speaking at the National Religious Broadcasters’ International Christian Media Convention in Nashville, Hegseth reinforced themes echoed in Doug Wilson’s sermon the previous week. Addressing a supportive Christian media audience, Hegseth invoked “Western values,” warned against foreign ideological influences, and denounced what he called “godless leftists.”
He framed global conflict not only in strategic or geopolitical terms, but in explicitly theological ones. The world, he said, is beset by “dangerous and godless foreign ideologies that sow doubt, confusion, and death.” He argued that there is a “direct through line from the Old and New Testament Christian gospels to the development of Western civilization and the United States of America,” presenting American identity as inseparable from Christian foundations.
Hegseth also tied domestic policy debates to religious conviction. “Gone is godless and divisive DEI, gone is gender-bending quotas, gone is climate change worship of a false god,” he declared. “We are not in woke we trust, we are in God we trust.”
He continued, contrasting his vision of American life with what he described as “godless and toxic ideologies, foreign to the Western way of life.”
In closing, Hegseth explicitly fused policy priorities with biblical mandate. “Protecting our borders from criminals who steal from us, assault our loved ones and poison our citizens is not political, it’s biblical,” he said. “Standing guard over our children rather than letting them be taught perverse sexual practices … is not political, it’s biblical.”
Taken together, the remarks signaled that the Pentagon prayer service was not an isolated spiritual gathering but part of a broader public alignment between senior defense leadership and an explicitly theological vision of American identity, governance, and moral order. This framing raises questions for service members who do not share that worldview.
For minority faith communities, including Pagans and Wiccans who have historically fought for recognition within the armed forces, the symbolism of a Christian nationalist pastor preaching inside the Pentagon with the explicit support of the Secretary of Defense carries particular resonance. The question is not whether Christian service members may gather for worship — they can and do, of course — but whether the machinery of state power should visibly align itself with a theology that envisions a Christian republic over a pluralistic democracy.
Wilson described the event as “a great blessing.” Whether it feels like one to all who serve under the Department of Defense is a question now at the center of a widening national debate.
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