A standing committee of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has expressed its support for Episcopal Church Bishop Mariann Budde, who rebuked President Donald Trump in a sermon last Wednesday.
The PC(USA) Advocacy Committee for Women and Gender Justice has expressed their support for Budde, who garnered headlines for her sermon during the inaugural worship service at the Washington National Cathedral attended by Trump.
In a statement Monday, the advocacy committee outlined the history of notable women in the history of the Presbyterian denomination, including Margaret Towner, who in 1956 became the first American woman to be ordained a Presbyterian minister.
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“This legacy of courage and truth-telling is mirrored in the actions of Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, who preached a message of mercy from the pulpit of the National Cathedral,” stated the committee.
“For proclaiming the Gospel, she has faced ridicule, threats, and attacks. Yet, like the women who have come before her, she remains steadfast in her calling.”
The advocacy committee stated the PC(USA) entity “stands in solidarity with Bishop Budde” and “condemn[s] the hate-filled rhetoric directed at her and call for an end to such threats.”
“Her witness reminds us of the courage of the women at the tomb who, when the disciples were huddled in fear, were the first to encounter the risen Christ,” they continued.
At the National Cathedral’s Service of Prayer for the Nation, Budde directly addressed Trump, seated in the front row alongside his wife, first lady Melania Trump.
“In the Name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now,” Budde stated. “There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families. Some who fear for their lives.”
“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.”
Budde asked the newly sworn-in president “to have mercy” on the people “in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away and that you help those who are fleeing warzones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here.”
Budde’s words have received mixed reactions, with some arguing that she politicized a religious service while others believe that she courageously spoke truth to power.
Rob Pacienza, senior pastor at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was among the critics, saying in a recent interview with The Christian Post that he believed it “wasn’t really a sermon” but rather “a lecture that really came across as mean and divisive.”
“I think the irony was she attempted to preach on unity, but her rhetoric and her very unwelcoming spirit — from the beginning to the end of her message — actually created more division in the end,” he said.
“She was advocating for transgenderism. She was advocating for open borders. She was advocating for lawlessness in America. She was advocating for an administration to embrace sexuality that is against God’s design.”
