NOTE: This piece was originally published at our Substack newsletter A Public Witness.
During the first Christian worship service at the Pentagon in 2026 — and the first since the U.S. military operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro — Secretary of War Pete Hegseth framed that military action as a godly mission. Hegseth also detailed the Bible passage he prayed during the mission and urged the military personnel present to similarly pray for their work decisions.
Hegseth mentioned the capture of Maduro on Jan. 3, which drew applause from those in the service. He then shared that he repeatedly read and prayed a biblical passage during the planning and execution of the operation.
“In the days leading up to it, the mounting weight of what it would mean was self-evident. And it brought me to the word and brought me to examining what passage I could reflect on and then pass along to the folks involved in that incredible mission, which brought me to Psalm 144, which I shared with from Admiral Bradley, everyone on down, and the chairman,” Hegseth said, before adding what he told people. “‘Hey, this is the psalm I’m going to be praying leading up to this, that I will be praying the day of, the night of over our warriors as they execute this incredible mission.”
“You’re there with the president, you’re there with the national security advisor, you’re there with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and you’re watching the reports. But as those birds are coming in, the only thing I could do was bow my head and pray. It’s the only thing I can affect. These guys are moving in on the objective,” he added. “What do you do but bow your head in silence and in prayer to our Lord and Savior for the protection, for the providence of those incredible warriors doing things that most Americans can absolutely never conceive of? … This morning, I want to thank God for answering and being with our warriors on that, on the conduct of that mission, being with leaders in discernment.”
Screengrab of Pete Hegseth reading Psalm 144 during a worship service at the Pentagon on Jan. 21, 2026.
Hegseth then read — in the English Standard Version — part of Psalm 144, which is attributed to David.
“Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle; he is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield and he in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me,” the psalm declares. “Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down! Touch the mountains so that they smoke! … Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall! Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord!”
Hegseth added immediately after the psalm his own hope that the U.S. military would be the kind of warfighters David spoke of: “And may our God be the Lord in the conduct of our activities in this department, wherever they may be or around the world. That’s why we gather once a month, is to simply center as a department and remember who we serve.” Hegseth also urged the military personnel at the service to pray as part of their decision-making process in the Pentagon.
“If we trust Christ we can never go wrong. Don’t forget to bow your head in the middle of the day when you’re making big decisions or when things feel like they’re outside of your control — happens a lot to me, provides a lot of clarity, and God’s got a plan. So bow your head with me,” Hegseth said before leading those present in prayer.
In his prayer, he thanked God “that we live in such a country that allows us to gather this way together and worship you and recognize the truth of your Scripture and bow before you and submit to your word.” Despite the claim in his prayer, church-state advocates have criticized the monthly worship services for violating the First Amendment’s prohibition of a government establishment of religion.
Stand Firm
The guest preacher at Wednesday’s service echoed Hegseth’s rhetoric, baptizing the U.S. military as divine instruments. Brooks Potteiger is the pastor of Pilgrim Hill Reformed Church in Goodlettsville, Tennessee — which Hegseth attended before joining the Trump administration (and Hegseth appeared on a controversial podcast cohosted by Potteiger). The church is part of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, founded by self-described “paleo-Confederate” Idaho pastor Doug Wilson.
Earlier this month, Wilson announced Potteiger would be leaving Pilgrim Hill and moving to D.C. this summer to lead the new CREC church launched last year (and that Hegseth has been attending). Potteiger preached at the first Pentagon worship service in May 2025, and is now the first preacher to return for a second sermon.
Hegseth noted that the monthly services for 2026 would be connected as a series, with Potteiger adding that the theme for the year is “The Call to Stand Firm” and the guiding verse is 1 Corinthians 15:58. For the January service, Potteiger said the focus was on “the call to stand firm in the hope of Christ.”
“What a blessing the Department of War is, and we thank God — we do as a church — we thank God for every person in this room,” Potteiger declared during Wednesday’s service as he greeted the “saints of God in this august assembly.”
Before leading the military personnel at the Pentagon in prayer, Potteiger justified it by telling a story about how Benjamin Franklin urged the delegates at the Constitutional Convention to stop and pray. Potteiger did not mention, however, the fact that Franklin’s request was overwhelmingly rejected by the delegates and the requested prayer did not actually occur. In his prayer, Potteiger asked God to bless the U.S. military’s actions around the world and domestically.
“May the strength and lethality of our capabilities, which you have entrusted to us and that we are called to steward, may they strike terror in the hearts of bad actors all across the world and in our nation, causing them to abandon their wicked schemes,” he prayed. “We would pray for Venezuela. We would ask that the arrest of Maduro would lead to a true revitalization of that land, both economically and spiritually. We would lift up our National Guard and the good work, the good work that they do — seen so clearly in the restoration of law and order in our capital in these months. We pray your blessing and protection upon them. We pray that you would give them stout hearts and thick skin to withstand the heckling from ingrates.”
Screengrab of Brooks Potteiger preaching during a worship service at the Pentagon on Jan. 21, 2026.
Other parts of the service also cast the Pentagon as God’s military force. A uniformed officer opened the service by declaring, “What a mighty God we serve!” He added in his prayer that he thanked God “for the call you have placed on each of us to serve our great nation and you.” The service also included a reciting of the Lord’s prayer and congregational singing of “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less” and the “Doxology.”
In addition to military personnel, some defense contractors have also reported receiving invitations to the monthly “Christian prayer and worship service.” A retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general who is now a contractor told Military.com that they fear not attending could impact one’s contracts.
“This becomes a litmus-loyalty test for who’s ‘in’ and who’s ‘out,’” they explained anonymously out of fear of reprisal. “It can have huge impacts on annual performance reports, promotion recommendations, and contract performance reviews. … All of these systems are so sensitive that varying one or two (often hyperbolic) adjectives can make a huge career or contract difference. It’s frightening.”
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Government Worship Watch
In May, Hegseth held his first Christian worship service in the Pentagon, during which he pledged to make it a monthly event. While the service garnered significant media coverage, the events have been virtually ignored since, other than the Christmas service that also received some coverage. In December, an investigation by A Public Witness documented the preachers at the other services, and A Public Witness broke the news about Franklin Graham’s “God of war” comments at the Christmas service.
Potteiger fits the pattern of Hegseth inviting rightwing preachers with records of pushing conservative political positions or even Republican candidates. The seven other previous preachers include Graham and one of his sons, four Southern Baptist ministers, and a former NFL player accused of insider trading. Two have been former pastors of Hegseth (including Potteiger), and another one leads a D.C. church Hegseth attended some this year. The son of another plays basketball with one of Hegseth’s sons on a homeschool team, and the former football player also has past ties to Hegseth (even sitting behind Hegseth during the Senate confirmation hearing earlier this year).
U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer attended the service in October since she happened to be touring the Pentagon that day. That inspired her to launch her own monthly prayer service in December. A Public Witness was the only publication to view the service and report on it and the only outlet to report on the January service.
With the spread of these government worship services and the lack of media attention to them, A Public Witness has launched our “Government Worship Watch” as a one-stop place to track the various official services and details about them. The page will be updated as new ones occur or new information is uncovered.
As a public witness,
Brian Kaylor
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