‘Worship warfare’ event in Seattle was planned to be violent

“TODAY WAS WILD!!! A RIOT BROKE OUT IN SEATTLE!!”

Those were the exuberant words of revivalist Ross Johnston celebrating on Instagram in all caps as chaos erupted during a worship protest Saturday in Seattle’s Cal Anderson Park.

“NO MORE CUTE WEAK CHRISTIANS, WE SERVE THE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS!”

Soon after, videos began surfacing online of worshipers jumping, singing and yelling with smiles and scowls on their faces as Seattle police flung women by their shirts, kneed people in the back, and shoved their faces into the dirt.

Russell Johnson, pastor of Pursuit NW and one of the speakers for the intentionally provocative event, wrote on X they were simply “holding a peaceful worship event” and were “violently assaulted for the high crime of expressing their deeply held religious beliefs in the form of a permitted worship event on city property.”

The event was part of the MAY DAY USA 2025 tour of Her Voice MVMT that organizes “worship warfare” events across the nation in an attempt to convert LGBTQ people to become heterosexual, conservative evangelical Republicans.

“Our nation is in a crisis,” the website claims. “Families are being ripped apart at the seams by an agenda determined to sexualize our kids. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Mama bears across the nation are rising up to join the #dontmesswithourkids movement and pray, fast and stand for their families.”

One of the group’s promo videos calls those who affirm transgender kids “butchers.”

The video promoting the MAY DAY tour shows clips of rioters being arrested, of Donald Trump getting shot, of worshipers in battle through singing, and of new converts being baptized.

They act like they’re innocent victims who are surprised by what happened on Saturday. But the violence this weekend in Seattle looks exactly like what they feature in their promo videos leading up to the events. That’s why they’re so excited it happened. The event delivered what they advertised.

This specific tour includes stops in New York City, Miami, Houston, Seattle and Los Angeles.

Just as “Let Us Worship” founder Sean Feucht did in the lead-up to the 2024 election, Her Voice MVMT targets every state capitol as well. But Feucht wasn’t in attendance at the Battle of Seattle because he was performing one of his own events on the beaches of Florida by waging worship warfare and conducting mass baptisms with Russell Brand, the actor who was charged last month with two counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault.

While Brand likes to baptize people in his tighty-whities, thankfully he wore swim trunks this time. But in their battle on the beach, Brand laid out the same vision that was being carried out in Seattle. He declared, “It’s a war that we’re in. And it’s no longer a defensive one, but an aggressive one. We are in the armory of the Lord.”

The worship warfare these self-proclaimed Christian supremacists are waging on our nation is going to spread throughout the country during Trump’s second presidency. They’re already catching the eye of United States Attorney General Pam Bondi after Saturday’s events. So it’s important for us not only to analyze what happened on Saturday, but to understand how it fits into their larger campaign.

‘As it is in heaven’

Ross Johnston’s Instagram video of the Battle of Seattle immediately began drawing strong reaction. At the time of this writing, it’s nearing 40,000 likes with seemingly endless support in the comments.

“Set free the captives!” celebrates one user. “Go into the land of Canaan and destroy the giants! The milk and honey is for the children of the True King.” This is in reference to the Canaanite conquests in the Hebrew Bible, during which the Israelites committed genocide against their neighbors.

“The violent taketh it by force,” claims another, referring to Matthew 11:12.

“Let them try that at a Southern Baptist location, down South,” warns another.

The event stage featured a #DONTMESSWITHOURKIDS banner overhead, with an “As it is in heaven” banner hanging stage left.

The phrase refers to the Lord’s Prayer, when Jesus prays for God’s kingdom and will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. It’s a common prayer reworked by Christian nationalists who desire to overthrow American democracy in favor of something that looks like a theocracy.

As I reported in October 2024 from Washington, D.C., Russell Johnson proclaimed on the National Mall: “Let me remind you, friend, the kingdom of God is not a democracy. It’s a theocracy.” I also shared a debate he and I had about his invoking of the term.

Matthew D. Taylor, author of The Violent Take It By Force: The Christian Movement That is Threatening Our Democracy, wrote on X: “This is a spiritual violent vision of Christianity, rooted in dominion theology,” which is a theology that teaches Christians are to rule over society in order to ensure that God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven.

When understood in the context of U.S. history, this typically means everyone serves the supremacy of heterosexual white men.

Referring to the video Johnston posted, Taylor wrote: “I’ve been warning for roughly the past yr of an apparent convergence that’s occurring between the violent far-right (militia, white supremacy world) & these NAR networks. This event and, even more, this video are two of the most concerning signs I’ve seen of that far-right convergence out in the open. I’m not an expert on Neo-Nazism, but this video looks like straight-up Neo-Nazi propaganda. Like Feucht, Johnston regularly leads revival style worship events. … I’ve heard from activists on the ground who’ve seen it, this is a regular thing. Proud Boys, Neo-Nazis, etc., at revivals.”

The army and family of God

The “Let Us Worship” event I covered in D.C. led by Johnson and Feucht, which included a welcome and greeting from Donald Trump himself, opened with Feucht shouting, “We are the army of God! We are the family of God!”

Similarly, a worship leader in Seattle yelled, “You don’t know who your family is until it’s time for war!”

The D.C. event began with a call to worship where Feucht asked for God’s enemies to be scattered and added, “May you blow them away like smoke as wax melts before the fire.” While seeing their enemies blown away, Feucht prayed the worship warriors would “be happy and joyful.”

It’s exactly the script in Seattle too.

“Welcome to the wild wild West called revival!” one worship leader shouted. As violence was breaking out, he added, “This is a sign that you are being saved and they are being destroyed!”

In this aggressive brand of worship, the songs are not considered love songs to God but weapons to defeat one’s neighbors. One worship leader shouted, “This is what we do! Prayer is a weapon! Worship is a weapon! Praise is a weapon! Your voice is a weapon! Your sound is a weapon!”

Targeted spiritual warfare

But why did they choose Seattle’s Cal Anderson Park in particular?

To understand this, again, consider the leadership of Feucht in D.C. Feucht explained in a private event at the National Press Club: “This movement is built to wage war. God has connected us over the last four years with, I feel, the Navy Seal gangsters of America. We know them now in every city. … And we’re going to empower them, we’re going to equip them, and we’re going to train them to do everything that we do, but on the next level.”

During his 2020 “Riots to Revival”  tour, Feucht targeted Black Lives Matter protest locations that were happening due to the murder of George Floyd and drowned them out with his worship sound systems.

“The Courage Tour” was a worship and revival tour that targeted key counties in swing states in order to create a “Third Great Awakening” by recruiting conspiracy theorists to be official poll workers in the 2024 election, as part of a “Trojan horse” strategy.

So it makes sense that those who define worship as warfare would target Cal Anderson Park because it’s part of a historic LGBTQ neighborhood in Seattle.

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell released the following statement on Saturday in response: “Seattle is proud of our reputation as a welcoming, inclusive city for LGBTQ communities, and we stand with our trans neighbors when they face bigotry and injustice. Today’s far-right rally was held here for this very reason — to provoke a reaction by promoting beliefs that are inherently opposed to our city’s values, in the heart of Seattle’s most prominent LGBTQ neighborhood.

“When the humanity of trans people and those who have been historically marginalized is questioned, we triumph by demonstrating our values through our words and peaceful protest — we lose our voice when this is disrupted by violence, chaos and confusion.”

He concluded: “In the face of an extreme right-wing national effort to attack our trans and LGBTQ communities, Seattle will continue to stand unwavering in our embrace of diversity, love for our neighbors and commitment to justice and fairness.”

To fight back, Johnston and Johnson are planning a new worship protest rally for May 27 at 5 p.m. on the front steps of Seattle City Hall. Their stated reason is, “Because mayor Bruce Harrell should either apologize or resign.”

Celebrating supremacy

Just like the worship gathering at the White House in April, the songs in Seattle primarily emphasized power, with such lyrics as “What a powerful name it is,” “He reigns from heaven above,” and “Your name stands above them all.”

This is where it gets tricky for Christians to recognize the problem. All the theology about Jesus’ name being the highest, about God reigning, and about every knee bowing is basic evangelical theology. These aren’t songs being sung by extremist cult members somewhere living off grid in the woods. They’re sung in congregations all across the nation every single week.

Taylor explained on X: “But look at this crowd dancing & chanting at Johnston’s event. They don’t think of themselves as far-right provocateurs. In their minds, they’re just Christians acting as Xns should: singing & dancing in the face of their enemies. They’re just worshiping Trump … oops, God. My expertise & research are in far-right Christian extremism, esp. of this charismatic variety: You would not believe how popular & rapidly spreading this form of Christian radicalization is right now. The scariest part is that these people are mainstream evangelicals today.”

Part of how normal the worship warriors in Seattle were was revealed in their emphasis on conversion and their practice of Communion. They preached a very typical sermon about Adam and Eve being created perfect, but falling by eating a forbidden fruit, and of Jesus paying the penalty for our sin on the Cross. While someone like me may consider these views problematic, they’re quite mainstream.

But notice how combative they are. To introduce Communion, the worship leader angrily yelled: “God called us all to stand in this moment. To stand for our families. To stand for Seattle. To stand for Washington. To stand for the United States. In this moment, the courageous brave few in this moment. And our greatest weapon of warfare, our greatest weapon of warfare is Communion. So right now, we’re going to take Communion!”

Then they yelled at the non-Christians: “You will not disrespect the blood of Jesus Christ!”

‘You want to throw down with me? Let’s go!’

For the Seattle worshipers to act like they’re innocent victims who were totally caught off guard by the violence of others is insulting.

As they declared their supremacy over their LGBTQ neighbors, someone responded by yelling back, “F**k Trump! Free Palestine!”

Then the worshipers responded by cheering and chanting, “Jesus!”

One protester threw a water balloon toward the stage.

Someone claiming to be an eyewitness said, “The police escalated the situation, assaulted multiple people and one of your people swung on someone with a noisemaker.”

Seattle Mayor Harrell wrote: “Anarchists infiltrated the counter-protesters group and inspired violence, prompting SPD to make arrests and ask organizers to shut down the event early, which they did.” However, despite ending early, the event lasted for three and a half hours. How much more yelling were they planning to do?

Harrell said the Parks Department and the Police Department will review everything that took place and added, “I am grateful for those who make their voices heard in support of our neighbors without resorting to violence.”

As violence broke out with protesters and the police, the worship leader addressed the protesters as if they were demons. “We command that to leave now! Command it to leave now! Shhh! Quiet! Quiet! Quiet! Quiet! Quiet you down! You’re done! You’re done! You’re done! You’re done!”

After thanking God for the police and asking God to bless the police with strength, the worship leader continued, “We command every spirit now, ‘Out! Out! Out! Get out! Get out! Get out! Get out! Get out! You bow at the name of Jesus right now! You bow at the name of Jesus right now! You’re done! Get out! Get out! You’re done! Command that unclean spirit. There’s more than one and they need to leave in Jesus’ mighty name. Your silenced! Your voice is cut! Your voice is cut! Fall to the ground!”

As Taylor observed on X: “In Johnston’s video, you have a crowd of Christians chanting ‘Let the Redeemed of the Lord say so’ as their ‘enemies’ are literally stomped to the ground.”

At one point, someone on the mic yells at the protesters, “You want to throw down with me? Let’s go! Let’s go!”

In an overwhelmingly LGBTQ-populated neighborhood park, the worship warriors brought up people who once identified as LGBTQ, but who say they “got saved” and changed their sexual orientations. Then they blamed their sexual orientation on sexual assault. Someone at the mic said the protesters were molested as children and yelled, “Don’t even try to deny it! You know what’s happened to you and that’s why you are what you are today.”

At one point, the worship leader invoked the story of David and Goliath and then instructed the worshipers to pretend like they were picking up rocks and throwing them at the protestors. “We’re going to roar!” they yelled. “Get your rocks ready!” Then the speaker turned toward the protesters and pretended to throw rocks.

During another moment, a worship leader shouted: “We’re just getting warmed up. We got 500 more people on the way right now. It’s about to get wild. We know some people who know some people who know some people.” Then they added, “Text all your friends, ’Get here now!’ We’re not backing down!”

These are hardly the words of innocent victims. They’re the words of worship warriors who advertised their events would turn out like this and then incited the very violence they advertised.

Let incense arise

With the sounds of sirens blaring all around them, the worship leaders asked for money and shared a QR code for people to give. Then as their worship warfare wrapped up, the worshipers stood over the rubble from their LGBTQ neighbors being blown away and scattered, considered their fear to be a pleasing aroma to God, and sang:

Day and night, night and day,
Let incense arise!

Then for their closing prayer, they added one final mocking. “We’re so glad we finally got you to come to church!” the worship leader delightfully told the protesters. “Can you see how happy we are?”

Then they asked, “Please bring more people next time!”

In his thread on X, Taylor described how deeply concerning this event and the worship protests that are happening all over the nation should be to us.

“I fear the United States is a powder keg,” he wrote. “The far left is (understandably) pissed off at Trump’s many abuses & authoritarianism & at Democratic electeds’ fecklessness. The far right is jubilant, eager to defend Trump & hankering for a fight. & Trump keeps pushing the envelope, daring people of decency to protest.”

He concluded: “They’ve been trained by popular, pro-Trump, charismatic Christian supremacist preachers like Ahn, Donnelly, Feucht, & Johnston to think that confrontation & spiritual violence are the path to Christian dominion. They believe the God-blown winds of revival are at their backs. These are spiritual accelerationists, eager to tear down the imperfect institutions of Amer democ to bring about a ‘Christian’ state where their Trump-aligned morality reigns supreme. Their ranks are growing. They’re eager for a fight. And they’re coming to a city near you.”

 

Rick Pidcock is a 2004 graduate of Bob Jones University, with a bachelor of arts degree in Bible. He’s a freelance writer based in South Carolina and a former Clemons Fellow with BNG. He completed a master of arts degree in worship from Northern Seminary. He is a stay-at-home father of five children and produces music under the artist name Provoke Wonder. Follow his blog at www.rickpidcock.com.

 

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