Christian Singer Out at Pentagon Prayer Service
Grammy-winning Christian singer Michael W. Smith was to have led Hegseth's service this month
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Grammy-winning Christian singer Michael W. Smith is no longer set to perform at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s monthly prayer service, according to a Pentagon email today.
Instead, the twice-rescheduled service will be led by Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins this Wednesday, March 25.
The sectarian and flagrantly unconstitutional monthly event has had a rocky March.
This month’s prayer service was first announced on March 13. That email, shared with me by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), said that this month’s event would be “a Christian prayer and worship service led by Grammy award winning singer and song writer, Michael W. Smith.” It was scheduled for Tuesday, March 17.
But on Monday, March 16, another Pentagon email went out moving the prayer service back a day, to Wednesday, March 18. That email was obtained by Brian Kaylor, a Baptist minister and journalist who tracks government services at Word&Way, and shared the text with me.
Smith wasn’t mentioned in the Monday email. And then, on Tuesday, the day before the rescheduled service, Pentagon sent out another email that the MRFF also got, announcing that the rescheduled Wednesday service was off and would be rescheduled again. No new date was provided. Smith wasn’t mentioned.
Today’s email without explanation simply states that Collins will lead the service.
I asked the Pentagon on Tuesday what had happened to cause the rescheduling, whether Smith had pulled out, and, if so, why. In a statement last week, the Pentagon confirmed the rescheduling but said, “We have nothing further to provide on this!”
As I wrote last week, Smith may have represented a de-escalation from Hegseth’s previous speakers. He’s fairly mainstream, as far as conservative Christian singers go.
Hegseth’s previous speakers have been considerably more controversial, much more in line with his bellicose brand of Christianity. That approach doesn’t seem to have been packing the Pentagon auditorium or winning believers.
More aggressively than any other cabinet secretary, Hegseth has sought to inject his sectarian beliefs into the government bureaucracy he’s been entrusted to oversee. In addition to his prayer services, he sponsors an antisemitic, far-right White House Bible study.
He has also weakened chaplaincy rules against sectarian proselytizing. And despite the deaths of 13 service members in the Iran War, Hegseth has claimed that God is on America’s side. “The providence of our almighty God is there protecting those troops,” he told CBS.
As I reported on March 6, the MRFF claims that the Pentagon had considered defending commanders who gave Christian briefings on the Iran War.
That same day, Reps. Jared Huffman (D-CA) and Jamie Raskin (D-MD), co-chairs of the Congressional Freethought Caucus, led 28 House members asking the Pentagon inspector general to investigate the briefings. The Pentagon has yet to comment on them.
Today, I emailed Smith’s management asking about his absence from this month’s service, but did not immediately get a response.
His tour calendar doesn’t appear to show any conflicts. But on Friday, Smith released a new single called Hymn for Communion.
A press release for the single says it “extends a universal invitation – reminding listeners that there is a place for everyone, regardless of their past, their struggles, or where they find themselves today.”
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I don't know anything about Smith, but a lot of Christian musicians seem to be somewhat universalist and inclusive in nature, meaning they're not as dogmatic as the lunatic, fundamentalist clergy that feeds off and promotes Hegseth's rapture/end times nonsense.
"...there is a place for everyone, regardless of their past, their struggles, or where they find themselves today," very much fits the more inclusive mindset. I don't know, of course. For all I know, they just weren't paying him enough.
Jonathan,
As I said when the first was called off, Smith is probably “too woke” for them. I assume that he withdrew.
All the best.
Steve Dundas