Trump official attends launch of Christian nationalist church displaying upside-down flag
A supporter of President Donald Trump during a rally in Wildwood, New Jersey on January 28, 2020 (Image: Shutterstock)
The most striking figure at a recent church launch in downtown Washington wasn’t the pastor — it was Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, sitting just a few pews back. Hegseth attended the July 13 inaugural service of Christ Kirk DC, a church plant aligned with Idaho’s Christian nationalist Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC), according to a report by Religious News Service (RNS) published Monday.
According to the report, the gathering, led by Pastor Jared Longshore of Pilgrim Hill Reformed Fellowship, featured a subdued Reformed liturgy — Scripture readings, hymns in rich harmonies, and confessions of faith — though it bristled with political undertones.
Longshore, standing beneath an American flag hung upside-down, declared, “We understand that worship is warfare,” punctuating the statement with a deliberate pause: “We mean that.”
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Murmurs of excitement reportedly rippled through the crowd when Hegseth arrived; upon exiting, RNS reported he was swarmed by admirers. The defense secretary’s presence added symbolic weight to the service, signaling that national defense and Christian nationalism, at least in Longshore’s framing, share spiritual underpinnings, per the report.
About 120 congregants, many visibly moved, nodded vigorously as Longshore stressed that “liberty and equality are concepts that only make sense if they are attached to conservative Christianity.” He cautioned, “If you get rid of God, you lose all sense of what equality is.”
The report also highlighted that this new church plant underscores how Pastor Doug Wilson’s influence continues to expand among conservative circles often labeled as the “New Right.” After establishing Christ Kirk (also called Christ Church) in Moscow, Idaho, several decades ago, Wilson has since built a network that includes a small denomination.
Throughout his career, Wilson has courted controversy, from employing overtly anti‑LGBTQ+ language to minimizing the horrors of American slavery, the report noted.
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Hegseth, who has expressed admiration for Wilson’s writings, said that relocating his family to Tennessee was a strategic move to enroll his children in a school influenced by Wilson’s Christian education philosophy. He also became a member of a nearby CREC congregation. In May, he invited his pastor, Brooks Potteiger, to lead a prayer service at the Pentagon, per the report.
