US EditionPreacher Tells Pentagon’s Christmas Service: ‘God Also Hates’
The service supported spiritual reflection after recent military losses and drew hundreds, as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushes to refocus chaplains on religious ministry.
- On Dec. 17, 2025, the Pentagon held its first Christmas worship service led by Reverend Franklin Graham, with voluntary attendance by military personnel and civilian employees in the courtyard.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has pushed to expand faith-based events across the Defense Department and hosted Pentagon monthly evangelical prayer services since May, while ordering the Army to stop using its spiritual fitness guide to refocus the U.S. military chaplain corps on religious ministry.
- Preacher Franklin Graham quoted `We know that God loves, but did you know that God also hates?` and read scripture including `Utterly destroy all that they have` during his sermon.
- Hegseth briefly attended after a dignified transfer for three service members and closed the service remembering soldiers killed in Syria last week, acknowledging the difficulty speaking with grieving families present.
- The event spotlights policy changes that could limit which beliefs qualify for recognition in the military, with officials warning the proposed military policy changes may curtail recognized faiths, recalling the 2017 Defense Department list of 221 groups.
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Preacher tells Pentagon’s Christmas service: ‘God also hates’
The Rev. Franklin Graham on Wednesday told U.S. service members and Pentagon employees during a Christmas service that “God loves” but also that “God also hates.” Graham, whose father Billy Graham served as the faith leader for several presidents, recited the Bible verse John 3:16, which states that “God so loved the world that he…
Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, Hosts First Christmas Worship Service At The Pentagon
Grammy-nominated Singer/ Songwriter Anne Wilson It was a beautiful day in DC on Wednesday. A brisk chill was in the air, far from the cold of the previous week. Christmas is just barely a week away, and it seems there is no shortage of gloom and doom stories in the news and on social media. This story seeks to bring you Joy and hope in our country and military. As new members of the Department of War Press Corps, The Gateway Pundit was invited t…
Franklin Graham Says ‘God Also Hates’ and ‘Is a God of War’ at Pentagon’s ‘Christmas Worship Service’
Evangelical preacher Franklin Graham told participants at the Pentagon ‘s “Christmas Worship Service” that the “God of love” they’re familiar with “also hates.” Graham addressed troops and Pentagon employees Thursday at the event hosted by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his wife, Jennifer Hegseth. “You know, we think about, God is a God of love,” Graham said before reciting Bible verse John 3:16, “God so loved the world that he gave his only…
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