Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth’s conservative evangelical non secular ideals drew consideration even prior to his affirmation hearings in January 2025. He’s a member of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Church buildings – CREC – whose ideals had been influenced through a Twentieth-century motion referred to as Christian Reconstructionism.
Many CREC leaders name for the implementation of biblical regulation and a theocratic state structured on Christian patriarchy. Theocratic states are dominated in accordance to non secular regulations, which on the subject of the CREC method a conservative evangelical working out of Christianity.
The CREC site claims to have over 160 church buildings and parishes unfold throughout North The us, Europe, Asia and South The us.
Hegseth’s use of non secular language and prayers has raised questions on his non secular ideals on the subject of his function as secretary of protection. At a prayer carrier on March 25, 2026, all the way through the present warfare in Iran, Hegseth stated, “Let every round find its mark against the enemies of righteousness and our great nation.” He went on so as to add: “Give them wisdom in every decision, endurance for the trial ahead, unbreakable unity, and overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.”
As a pupil of the Christian proper, I’ve studied the CREC. To grasp Hegseth’s rhetoric, it’s useful to know what the CREC is and its debatable management.
What’s the CREC?
The CREC church is a community of church buildings around the globe. It’s related to the congregation of Doug Wilson, the pastor who based Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho. Christ Church is the flagship church of the CREC and operates as a denominational headquarters. Wilson grew up within the the town, the place his father was once an evangelical minister.
Wilson co-founded the CREC in 1993 and is the general public determine maximum related to the community of church buildings. Christ Church operates because the hub for Trademarks Colleges, Canon Press and New Saint Andrews Faculty, all situated in Moscow.
Trademarks is a collection of personal colleges and homeschooling curriculum; Canon Press is a publishing space and media corporate; and New Saint Andrews Faculty is a school. All of those had been based through Wilson and related to Christ Church. All espouse the view that Christians are at odds with – or at warfare with – secular society.
Whilst he isn’t Hegseth’s pastor, Wilson is essentially the most influential voice within the CREC, and the 2 males have spoken approvingly of each other.
Hegseth invited Wilson to provide a prayer carrier on the Pentagon in February 2026. Wilson instructed the assembled army individuals, “If you bear the name of Jesus Christ, there is no armor greater than that. Not only so, but all the devil’s R&D teams have not come up with armor-piercing anything.” In different phrases, Wilson tied the luck and protection of army individuals and their missions to a trust in Jesus Christ and the army’s enemies as brokers of the satan.
Pastor Doug Wilson leads others at a protest in Moscow, Idaho.
Geoff Crimmins/The Moscow-Pullman Day by day Information, CC BY-SA
As Wilson regularly grew Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho, he and its individuals sought to unfold their message through making Moscow a conservative the town and setting up church buildings past it. Of his place of origin, Wilson it seems that states, “Our desire is to make Moscow a Christian town.”
The CREC doctrine is adversarial to non secular pluralism or political issues of view that diverge from its theology. On its site, the CREC says it’s “committed to maintaining its Reformed faith, avoiding the pitfalls of cultural relevance and political compromise that destroys our doctrinal integrity.”
CREC church buildings adhere to a extremely patriarchal and conservative interpretation of Scripture. Wilson has stated that during a sexual courting, “A woman receives, surrenders, accepts.”
Church-state separation
In a broader political sense, CREC theology comprises the realization that the established order clause of the Charter does now not require a separation of church and state. The commonest studying of the established order clause is that freedom of faith prohibits the set up of a state faith or non secular assessments to carry state workplace.
In line with pupil of faith Julie Ingersoll, on this non secular neighborhood there’s “no distinction between religious issues and political ones.”
The CREC extensively asserts that the federal government and any individual serving in it will have to be Christian. For Wilson, this implies Christians and best Christians are certified to carry political workplace in the USA.
‘Church planting’
Pupil of faith Matthew Taylor defined in an interview with the Nashville Tennessean, “They believe the church is supposed to be militant in the world, is supposed to be reforming the world, and in some ways conquering the world.”
Whilst the CREC would possibly not have the title popularity of a few massive evangelical denominations or the visibility of a few megachurches, it boasts church buildings throughout the USA and the world over.
Like every other evangelical denominations, the CREC makes use of “church planting” to develop its community. Planted church buildings don’t require a centralized governing frame to ordain their founding. As a substitute, the ones excited by beginning a CREC congregation touch the CREC. The CREC then supplies fabrics and literature for other folks to make use of of their church.
CREC controversies
Pete Hegseth at his affirmation listening to in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 14, 2025.
AP Picture/Alex Brandon
Because the church community has grown, it has drawn consideration and scrutiny. In 1996, Wilson revealed a ebook undoubtedly depicting slavery and claiming slavery cultivated “affection among the races.”
Hegseth’s movements in Would possibly and June of 2025 as secretary of protection relating to gender identification and banning trans other folks from serving within the army, along with stripping homosexual activist and flesh presser Harvey Milk’s title from a Army send, introduced extra consideration to the CREC.
Hegseth’s non secular rhetoric
Because the Trump management engages in army conflicts around the world, Hegseth steadily makes use of non secular language to justify them.
In a March 5, 2026, speech to South American and Central American leaders, Hegseth justified intervention in Venezuela, the blockade of Cuba and the assaults on boats around the area through invoking a shared Christian identification.
Hegseth stated, “We share the same interests, and, because of this, we face an essential test – whether our nations will be and remain Western nations with distinct characteristics, Christian nations under God, proud of our shared heritage with strong borders and prosperous people, ruled not by violence and chaos but by law, order, and common sense.”
Hegseth’s feedback about Iran since bombing started on Feb. 28 have additionally invoked faith. A few of these invocations align with Hegseth’s routine references to the Crusades within the Heart Ages – a centuries-long holy warfare between Christians and Muslims. Hegseth has a tattoo that claims “Deus Vult” – “God wills it” – the rallying cry of Crusaders, every other with the Arabic phrase for infidel, and the Jerusalem move, a outstanding Christian nationalist image. He additionally revealed a ebook titled “American Crusade.”
In framing using overwhelming pressure in Iran, Hegseth stated, “We’re fighting religious fanatics who seek a nuclear capability in order for some religious Armageddon.”
So long as Hegseth stays the secretary of protection, his association with the CREC and spiritual language will most probably supply perception into how those conflicts are controlled at house and in another country.
That is an up to date model of a work first revealed on June 20, 2025.
