Hegseth Brings Christian Nationalist Pastor Doug Wilson to Lead a Pentagon Worship Service

Doug Wilson, senior minister of Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho and co-founder of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, led a roughly 15-minute worship service at the Pentagon on February 17, 2026. The service was part of a monthly Christian gathering that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth instituted in the summer of 2025; hundreds of service members attended voluntarily. Wilson, a Navy veteran who served from 1971 to 1975, told Military Times his message was "Stand firm, don't be cowed." He opposes women serving in combat and bars women from church leadership.

Officially sponsored religious observance inside the Pentagon, led by a minister identified with Christian nationalism, raises establishment questions about the department's neutrality toward the varied faiths of the force, even where attendance is voluntary.

A spokeswoman for Hegseth defended the invitation, saying that "despite the Left's efforts to remove our Christian heritage from our great nation, Secretary Hegseth is among those who embrace it." No legal challenge or inspector general review was reported in the sources reviewed.