National Prayer Service Gone Wrong: Activist Take Over
President Trump spent his first morning in office at the National Prayer Service where he was preached at by activist Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, who called on him to show “mercy” to those who break American law, as well as those who live an LGBTQ lifestyle.
The first woman to hold the position as a Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, this was an honor for Budde, an honor in which she spoiled.
Instead of utilizing this opportunity to unify the country and share the good news of the Gospel, she disgraced herself and her office with a lecture that could have been heard on some woke campus.
Sean Feucht posted on X that “This is wokest church I’ve ever been to in my life!!!”
This is wokest church I’ve ever been to in my life!!!
— Sean Feucht (@seanfeucht) January 21, 2025
I cancel every word of Mariann Edgar Budde in Jesus name!!
We are going to have a REAL Born-again, faith filled church service after this mess!
JESUS IS ALIVE AND ITS REVIVAL TIME IN AMERICA!!!
Meanwhile, Executive Director of North Carolina’s Faith & Freedom Coalition, Jason Williams posted:
“The “prayer service” at the National Cathedral is an absolute joke. It’s an insult to Christianity and the President who graciously attended. I will not return to one of these until this liberal DEI leadership at the cathedral changes.”
The post-inauguration national prayer service, which dates back to 1933, is traditionally used as a time to talk about unity and the start of a new administration, but Budde used it as a chance to push for her own leftist agenda.
In her “sermon,” Budde begged President Trump to “have mercy” on “gay, lesbian and transgender children,” as well as illegal aliens.
To this, Trump appeared to roll his eyes whilst Vice President J.D. Vance raised his eyebrows and looked increasingly annoyed.
Bishop Budde just pleaded with Donald Trump to protect LGBT children and not deport Illegal Aliens at the “bipartisan” Interfaith Prayer Service.
— Cillian (@CilComLFC) January 21, 2025
No, this is not a joke. She completely politicized the prayer service. pic.twitter.com/kcbuxkvJCn
Speaking to Todd Starnes, Franklin Graham remarked on how the National Cathedral has fallen into the hands of LGBT activists. “So, it’s not surprising this “lady bishop” spewed hate at Donald Trump today. National Cathedral has become a sanctuary of Satan,” Starnes posted.
Interestingly, the page about Budde for the Episcopal Diocese of Washington describes her as “an advocate and organizer in support of justice concerns, including racial equity, gun violence prevention, immigration reform, the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons, and the care of creation.”
Pleading for those who broke the law in entering the U.S., Budde stated:
“The people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meat-packing plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals, they … may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals.”
More than a little racist but that’s exactly, word for word, what Budde stated.
When George Floyd died and St. John’s Church was burned, this was Budde’s message.
— David Santa Carla :bat: (@TheOnlyDSC) January 21, 2025
Who cleared her to lecture President Trump!? pic.twitter.com/RQ4SGwP1DO
“I ask you to have mercy. Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger.”
Attended national prayer service today at the Washington National Cathedral during which Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde insulted rather than encouraged our great president @realDonaldTrump. There was palpable disgust in the audience with her words. @POTUS
— Dr. Robert Jeffress (@robertjeffress) January 21, 2025
Unsurprisingly, Budde was found to be a donor and supporter of former President Barak Hussain Obama.
So, based upon her political activism, along with her beliefs that President Trump needed to be replaced, as she stated back in 2020, why was she chosen to preside over this significant service?
Perspective
Absent from her sermon was a Biblical understanding of truth from Scripture.
God calls us, as followers of Jesus Christ, to obey the laws of the land as seen in Romans 13. In light of this, we need to reflect on Budde’s sermon and try it against the truth of God’s Word.
Ask yourself – do illegal aliens obey the laws of the U.S.? No, they do not. So why is a “minister of the Gospel” advocating for a position which stands in direct contradiction to God’s Word?
Elon Musk also commented on the service, stating that Budde “got the woke mind virus real bad,” and he isn’t wrong.
TRUTH
Taking on the role of a bishop or pastor should not be taken lightly for as it says in James 3:1 that, “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.”
As ministers of the Gospel, you submit to a higher standard and answer to a holy authority!
Titus 1:7-8 says, “Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless – not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.”
A pastor is supposed to genuinely love what is good, what God deems is good, and not to be swayed by the ways of the world.
To advocate for that which God says is wrong whilst sitting in the office of a minister, is a dangerous place indeed.
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