Southern Baptist Sen. Lindsey Graham’s memorial service at Washington National Cathedral Tuesday closed with a rousing evangelistic sermon from his pastor, Tim Tate, who told members of the Trump administration, congressional leaders and world leaders they needed to get right with God and “know Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior” before it’s too late.
The service opened with “How Great Thou Art” and closed with “It Is Well with My Soul.”
“We’ve all sinned. It’s risky business for us to live our lives not being ready.”
A separate funeral for Graham will be held Wednesday at First Baptist Church of Columbia, S.C., which is a larger space than his home church, Corinth Baptist Church in Seneca, S.C.
“I didn’t see this coming,” Tate said of Graham’s sudden death July 11, two days after his 71st birthday. “I don’t think anybody did. … It was so fast.”
Then Tate said Graham was ready to meet his Lord and Savior, but some aren’t similarly prepared, he warned. “We’ve all sinned. It’s risky business for us to live our lives not being ready.”
One of those speaking on behalf of Graham, President Donald Trump, has said he never has done anything requiring God’s forgiveness but isn’t sure he’ll go to heaven when he dies.
Graham called Trump unfit for office when he ran against him in 2016 and broke with Trump after the January 6 attack on Congress. In remarks at the Tuesday memorial, Trump recalled his response to Graham’s early criticism in what appeared to be unscripted remarks.
Donald Trump delivers remarks during the funeral service for the late U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) at the Washington National Cathedral on July 28, 2026 in Washington, DC.. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
“Naturally, I did something I shouldn’t have done,” Trump said. “I shared his personal cell phone number with millions of people (and the) phone exploded” with calls from Trump supporters.
“Virtually everyone, Republican or Democrat, liked Lindsey,” said Trump, before looking up from his script and correcting the comment. “Well, not everybody, but it sounds good, but not everybody. I have to veer from this for a second. He was a tough cookie.”
Trump said Graham “had unwavering faith in the righteousness of American power” and “was extremely hawkish. He never saw a war that he didn’t like.”
One person notably absent from speaking at the service — held at the cathedral church of the Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., was Mariann Budde, bishop of the diocese. She drew national headlines in January 2025 when she preached at the prayer service related to Trump’s inauguration.
Officiating for the cathedral were Randolph Marshall Hollerith, dean of the cathedral, and Jan Naylor Cope, provost at the cathedral.
Guests included leaders of two countries Graham fervently supported: Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, president of Ukraine, who saw Graham during the senator’s 10th visit to the country shortly before his death.
Scripture passages were read by Graham’s loyal evangelical supporters: Tony Perkins of Family Research Council (Isaiah 61:1-3); Marjorie Jones Dannenfelser of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, and Franklin Graham (Revelation 21:2-7) of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse.
Fox News host Sean Hannity said Graham’s “finest moment” from his decades in Congress was his rejection of credible claims of sexual abuse at the nomination hearing for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who attended the service with his wife.
Hannity differed with Trump on one point. “Lindsey was falsely characterized as a warmonger,” he said. “The truth was the opposite.”
Hannity said that in the afterlife, Graham would “want to imitate his dearest friend in life” with “a heavenly version of Mar-a Lago, it may even be a little bigger, it may even have more gold, with one big, beautiful ballroom and an arch somewhere on the property.”
Graham’s niece, Emillie Boggs Roberts, remembered a “selfless man” who “put everyone above himself” and showed his love by his presence in loved ones’ lives.
“A godly man, he has gone home to reunite with his mother and father that he lost far too young,” she said in her tearful closing remarks.
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