‘Pay-to-pray’: Trump reportedly charging supporters $100,000 to attend church service with him

The day before his inauguration, President-elect Donald Trump will reportedly be attending an interfaith prayer service in Washington D.C. His wealthiest supporters can also attend — if they write or solicit a big enough check.That’s according to a recent report in Religion News Service (RNS), which published promotional material from Trump’s inaugural committee showing a list of different tiers of “benefits” depending on how much a donor gives. On Saturday, January 18, donors can get tickets to a “Make America Great Again Victory Rally,” a Cabinet reception and a dinner with Vice President-elect JD Vance. And on Sunday, January 19, donors who give $100,000 or raise $200,000 can get two tickets to the “One America, One Light Sunday Service.” RNS reporter Jack Jenkins described it as a “pay-to-pray” event.Jenkins reported that the location of the service has yet to be announced and that it remains unclear who is hosting the “One America, One Light” prayer service. But Sean Feucht — a conservative Evangelical activist who has promoted Christian nationalism — is hosting an event dubbed “Revive in ’25” the day before Trump’s inauguration.READ MORE: Even ‘devout Christians’ are appalled as OK mulls $3.3 million bid on ‘Trump Bibles’ for schoolsFeucht’s event is reportedly being hosted at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church on Capitol Hill. However, the Rev. William H. Gurnee, who is the pastor at St. Joseph’s, insisted that he hadn’t given Feucht permission to use his church.”While I was asked to host the event, I informed the organizer that I needed more information and it was mistakenly reported that final permission was granted,” Gurnee told RNS. “It is my feeling that this event would be better hosted at another location.”In a post to his X account last week, Feucht tweeted that his event would still be happening and that he wouldn’t “back down.” He added: “This is STILL happening. ‘Judah will go first’ on January 19.” St. John’s Episcopal Church — the same church across from the White House where Trump ordered a violent crackdown on Black Lives Matter protesters in 2020 before staging a photo-op with a Bible — hosted an inaugural service for Trump in 2017. But the church has since been noncommittal about whether it will be hosting an inaugural service in 2025. The Rt. Rev. Marianne Budde, who is in charge of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, said she was “horrified” at the violence police used against protesters.READ MORE: Talk of ‘Christian nationalism’ is getting a lot louder — but what does the term really mean?Click here to read RNS’ report in full.

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