By Ailia Zehra
The most striking figure at a recent church launch in downtown Washington wasn鈥檛 the pastor 鈥 it was Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, sitting just a few pews back. Hegseth attended the July 13 inaugural service of Christ Kirk DC, a church plant aligned with Idaho鈥檚 Christian nationalist Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC), according to a report by Religious News Service (RNS) published Monday.
According to the report, the gathering, led by Pastor Jared Longshore of Pilgrim Hill Reformed Fellowship, featured a subdued Reformed liturgy 鈥 Scripture readings, hymns in rich harmonies, and confessions of faith 鈥 though it bristled with political undertones.
Longshore, standing beneath an American flag hung upside-down, declared, 鈥淲e understand that worship is warfare,鈥 punctuating the statement with a deliberate pause: 鈥淲e mean that.鈥
READ MORE: ‘Embarrassing’: Trump keeps Club World Cup trophy and forces winners to hold fake award
Murmurs of excitement reportedly rippled through the crowd when