HATE mail and threatening phone calls have been directed at the wider Episcopal Church community in the United States, after the Bishop of Washington, the Rt Revd Mariann Edgar Budde, preached a sermon in which she urged President Trump to exercise mercy (News, 24 January).
Bishop Budde preached at the interfaith service at Washington National Cathedral, after the inauguration of the President, on Tuesday of last week. During her sermon on unity, she addressed President Trump directly, asking him to display compassion for migrants and the LGBTQ+ community — people who have been targeted in an early slew of executive orders by the new President.
Her sermon, which earned much support and praise in some quarters, has inspired an advertising campaign to attract people back to church. Churches across the country have this week posted the advertisement on their social-media channels.
It reads: “Episco curious? If the inspiring words of Bishop Mariann Budde have made you curious about the love, justice and compassion preached in the Episcopal Church, join us on Sundays to learn more!”
Bishop Budde has also, however, received “death wishes” and a barrage of abuse on social media and from Republicans. In one media interview this week, she said that she “had people wish me dead”. Those closest to her were concerned for her safety, she said.
She told The New Yorker magazine: “The people around me are almost universally concerned. I can’t say whether that’s accurate, or it’s just that there’s a state of fear in the air about the levels of violence in our society. I think there is a case to be made that we have become more violent in our rhetoric, and that there is greater licence given to unguarded speech.”
In response to her sermon, Billy Graham’s son, Franklin Graham, commented that Washington Cathedral had been “taken over by gay activists”.
Rep. Mike Collins, a Georgia Republican, in a post on X, suggested that the Bishop, who is a US citizen, should be deported.
On Facebook, the Bishop of Idaho, the Rt Revd Jos Tharakan, who migrated to the US from Kerala, India, reminded his followers of the US’s history of immigration — and colonisation. “It is unfortunate that some of our clergy, laity, and churches in the Diocese of Idaho are receiving phone calls and emails condemning them to hell when ‘Thou shall not judge’ is conveniently forgotten in the name of protecting a nation of immigrants from immigrants. What an irony and self-deception!
“But also for context, let us also acknowledge that once upon a time, we violently forced ourselves upon the Indigenous people of this nation without guilt or shame.
“If we are truthful to ourselves, we should admit that we don’t have the moral, spiritual, or even simple, commonsensical grounds to call anyone calling for mercy an anti-American.”
Bishop Budde trained at Virgina Theological Seminary. The seminary issued a statement this week saying that it was proud of her “faithfulness to the Biblical witness”, though it said that they it had also received complaints.
“To ask a President to be merciful is in the tradition of the prophets of the Hebrew Bible. While the overwhelming response VTS has received about her sermon has been positive, we have also received various complaints about our work because of her training in our Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry programs.
“To be clear, we teach the Gospel as reflected in Holy Scripture. We support and stand alongside our Bishop alumna.”
The pressure group Catholic Women’s Ordination described Bishop Budde as “wonderful. . . We who campaign for the ordination of women salute her courage. What a shining example of what happens when women get the opportunity to minister and preach the gospel.”
The Bishop of Los Angeles, the Rt Revd John Harvey Taylor — who previously served as chief of staff to Richard Nixon — said: “The Rt Revd Mariann Edgar Budde of Washington held Trump accountable to his face for ten years of hate speech.”