One person in Washington, D.C., who doesn’t seem to fear President Donald Trump is the Episcopal bishop of Washington, Mariann Budde.
In a homily at the traditional “Service of Prayer for the Nation” held the day after Trump’s inauguration, the bishop offered a sermon on national unity that ended with a direct appeal to Trump to show mercy to immigrants and the LGBTQ community.
“Let me make one final plea, Mr. President. Millions have put their trust in you and as you told the nation yesterday you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now.
“In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now.”
“There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families, some who fear for their lives. And the people, 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, they pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, wadara and temples.
“I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away, to 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 for we all once were strangers in this land. May God grant us the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, speak the truth to one another in love and walk humbly with each other and our God for the good of all people in this nation and in the world.”
Just hours before the morning service, Trump had signed a raft of executive orders, including several shutting off immediate access of immigrants to asylum claims and closing down the process for legal refugee resettlement. He also made a show of declaring the United States will now recognize only “two genders” and took action to stigmatize and cut off transgender citizens.
President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance attend the National Prayer Service at Washington National Cathedral on January 21 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Budde is no stranger to tangling with Trump. When in his first term he took a photo op in front of St. John’s Church near the White House, the Episcopal bishop took him to task publicly.
The traditional interfaith service took place in Washington National Cathedral one week after the Episcopal congregation hosted the state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter. Both services were filled with high-church pageantry and music.
The inaugural service, however, included prayers and speakers from various faiths and featured music ranging from “Ave Maria” to “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.” The service included elements from Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu traditions.
Budde told the gathered crowd of dignitaries the purpose of the service was “to pray for unity and a nation, not for agreement political or otherwise but for the kind of unity that fosters community across diversity and division, a unity that serves the common good.”
Unity was the theme of her message, which showcased a gospel at direct odds with Trump’s divisive campaign rhetoric and self-aggrandizing personality.
“Unity is a way of being with one another that … encompasses and respects our differences, that teaches us to hold multiple perspectives and life experiences as valid and worthy of respect, that enables us in our communities and in the halls of power to genuinely care for one another even when we disagree,” she said.
She later added: “Unity at times is sacrificial in the way that love is sacrificial, a giving of ourselves for the sake of another.”
“Jesus went out of his way to welcome those whom his society deemed as outcasts.”
Jesus, she reminded, taught his disciples “to pray for those who persecute us, to be merciful as our God is merciful, to forgive others as God forgives us. … Jesus went out of his way to welcome those whom his society deemed as outcasts.”
This kind of unity may be aspirational in the political context of modern America, she said, “but there isn’t much to be gained by our prayers if we act in ways that further deepen the divisions among us. Our Scriptures are quite clear about this: That God is never impressed with prayers when actions are not informed by them.”
According to the Associated Press, when Trump returned to the White House, he was asked about the sermon.
“Not too exciting, was it?” the president reportedly said. “I didn’t think it was a good service. They could do much better.”
Also present at the service were Vice President JD Vance, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth, Dallas pastor Robert Jeffress and Trump spiritual adviser Paula White-Cain.
This was the 10th inaugural prayer service held at the Cathedral in a tradition that dates to 1933.
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