Doug Wilson Preaches at the Pentagon as Media Erupts Over Christian Worship in Government

Doug Wilson Preaches at the Pentagon: Is Christian Worship in Government Buildings Constitutional?

Pastor Douglas Wilson of Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho, delivered a sermon at the Pentagon on February 17, 2026, as part of a monthly Christian worship series launched by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth last summer.

The service drew a standing room only crowd of military service members and civilian employees inside the Pentagon auditorium. Wilson's 15 minute sermon was broadcast live on the department's internal TV network.

CNN anchor Pamela Brown questioned whether the service violated the constitutional separation of church and state. Wilson pushed back firmly in a blog post, arguing that worship services were once held in the U.S. Capitol building up until the Civil War.

Worship services used to be held in the Capitol building...up until the Civil War.

Douglas Wilson, responding to First Amendment concerns

Wilson contended that the Establishment Clause was designed solely to prevent a federally subsidized national church denomination, not to eliminate religious expression in government spaces. He stated that "every society is theocratic" and the real question is whose theology governs.

Hegseth, who is a member of one of Wilson's churches in Tennessee, personally invited the pastor to deliver the sermon. Hegseth posted on X alongside a photo with Wilson, writing: "We have gathered at the Pentagon for our monthly worship service. We are One Nation Under God."

Wilson praised the monthly services and compared them to a potential new revival, likening the gatherings to the Great Awakening and the biblical Day of Pentecost.

The event drew criticism from some quarters. Kris Fuhr, co founder of the Women in the Service Coalition, called Wilson's appearance "beyond inappropriate." CNN's Pamela Brown is promoting a March 8 documentary examining "Christian nationalism." Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also recently criticized Wilson in The Atlantic, linking him to "MAGA faith."

Pete Hegseth Invites Pastor Doug Wilson to Lead Pentagon Christian Prayer Service

Wilson, 72, founded Christ Church in the 1970s and has since grown it into a network of more than 150 churches internationally. He is part of a group of Christian leaders finding growing influence among conservative circles.

Hegseth moved to Tennessee in 2022 specifically to send his children to a school within a Christian education network that Wilson helped establish. The secretary has made the monthly Pentagon prayer services a defining feature of his leadership at the Department of War.

The Crusader's Opinion

For decades, secularists have worked to scrub every trace of God from public life while bending over backwards to accommodate every other belief system under the sun. A pastor preaches at the Pentagon and suddenly the Constitution is under threat? America was founded by men who prayed openly in government halls, printed Bibles with congressional funds, and declared national days of prayer and fasting. The First Amendment protects religious expression from the government. It does not protect the government from religious expression. If Pete Hegseth wants to invite a pastor to preach to willing participants in a voluntary worship service, that is not theocracy. That is freedom. The real question the media should be asking is: why does a Christian praying in a government building terrify them more than a government that refuses to acknowledge God at all?

Take Action

• Pray for Secretary Hegseth and the men and women serving in our armed forces, that they would be strengthened and encouraged in their faith.
• Share this article with your church community to raise awareness about the ongoing effort to suppress Christian expression in public life.
• Write to your congressional representatives expressing your support for voluntary religious services in government buildings. Find your representatives at congress.gov.
• Support military chaplaincy and religious liberty organizations like First Liberty Institute which defends religious freedom for service members.
• Support persecuted Christians worldwide through The Shepherd's Shield and Open Doors USA.