Lenten Worship Series and Study

Repenting from Christian Nationalism, Introduction from Pastor Becky

This Lent, we will be working through a worship series designed by the Wisconsin Council of Churches titled, Repenting From Christian Nationalism. In this series, we are invited to examine a pressing issue that challenges our faith and witness as followers of Christ.


You may be asking, “Pastor, what is Christian Nationalism and why are we going to spend so much time with this topic?” Great questions! Christian Nationalism should not be confused with Christians who love their country, or with any particular denomination of Christianity, or any one political party.


Christian Nationalism conflates faith with a particular national identity, suggesting that allegiance to a nation is synonymous with allegiance to God; and vice-versa, seeks to eliminate the separation of church and state, using the arm of the government to enforce Christian values (as defined by those in power).


Below you'll find more information and a list of topics we will cover each Sunday. Wednesday night dinners during Lent will serve as opportunities for deeper discussion and activities of prayer and reflection. We will have a daily devotion available for you as well in print or email. I encourage you to reach out to me if you have any questions or concerns with these topics.


Grace and Peace,

Rev. Becky Rokitowski, Pastor at Mount Horeb UMC

Christian Nationalism should not be confused with Christians who love their country, or with any particular denomination of Christianity, or any one political party.

This ideology distorts the gospel by prioritizing political power, cultural dominance, and national loyalty over the call to love our neighbors, seek justice, and walk humbly with God. It often places boundaries on who belongs in God’s kingdom, fostering division, exclusion, and the misuse of Scripture to justify oppression. We are going to spend the whole season of Lent on this, because Jesus spent so much time preaching about the Kingdom of God, and we humans have a tendency to conflate that with our own kingdoms. 

Through scripture, prayer, and honest conversations, we will seek God’s guidance to turn away from distorted loyalties and reclaim our primary identity as citizens of God’s kingdom. This journey of repentance is vital for the health of the church, the integrity of our faith, and the healing of a divided world. Join us as we confront this challenge and rediscover the radical, inclusive love of Christ that transcends all borders. 



Schedule of topics

Day of Week Date Topic Scripture
Ash Wednesday March 5 Repentance (Isaiah 58:1-12)
Sunday March 9 Repenting from Self-Reliance (Luke 4:1-13)
Sunday March 16 Repenting from Systemic Violence (Luke 13:31-35)
Sunday March 23 Repenting from Avoidance (Luke 13:1-9)
Sunday March 30 Repenting from White Supremacy (Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32)
Sunday April 6 Repenting from One Right Way (John 12:1-8)
Sunday April 13 Repenting from Domination (Luke 10:28-40)
Holy Week April 14 - 19 “My kingdom does not belong to this world” (John 18:1-19:42)

Last September, The United Methodist Council of Bishops published a pastoral letter where they wrote:



We strongly denounce political violence, which severs community bonds and supplants the rule of law. We equally denounce authoritarianism and secular and Christian nationalism, which foster centralization and abuse of power, accompanied by racism, xenophobia, tribalism, and misogyny. Nationalism is a political ideology that defies God’s love by pitting the interests of one group of people against others.

Christian nationalism demands laws, culture, and public policies be based on a distorted interpretation of the Gospel that elevates power and control over love. These ideologies are in direct contradiction to our Christian faith because our “love of God is always linked with love of neighbor, a passion for justice and the renewal of life in the world.” (“Our Doctrinal Heritage” Book of Discipline p 53).

Logo for the Wisconsin Council of Churches

Additional Resources

  • 1. A Letter from Bishop Kennetha of the Iowa Conference

    Link to letter: Being Vehicles of God’s Love and Grace in a Divided World — Reflections on Christian Nationalism

  • 2. A Letter from the UMC Council of Bishops

    Link to letter: Beloved Community - An Antidote to Extremism, A Pastoral Letter to All United Methodists dated September 19, 2024

  • 3. Book: "Faithful Resistance: Gospel Visions For the Church in a Time of Empire"

    by Rick Ufford-Chase


    Synopsis:

    “Is it possible for a church that has been at the heart of Empire for as long as we have to make a course correction and move intentionally from the center of Empire to the margins?” Rick Ufford-Chase has touched the deep longing that exists in so many of us who are Christian in the United States, and responded with ideas that offer a future we know God has in store for us but can’t seem to imagine is really possible. This is a book we should read and discuss with friends who share our longing and are ready to take a risk. If this book stays in our heads, it fails and we fail. If we use it as a springboard for daring, it is quite likely to change everything about being church in the heart of Empire. Fourteen contributing authors offer their own ideas for ways to move the Christian church to a place of faithfulness in the midst of the empire, and Rick adds his own observations about the compromised condition of our church institutions with concrete suggestions for bringing us home to the heart of the gospel. Contributors: Annanda Barclay, Michael Benefiel, Aric Clark, Linda Eastwood, Alison Harrington, Rabia Terri Harris, Jin S. Kim, Alex Patchin McNeill, Brian Merritt, Ched Myers, J. Herbert Nelson, II, John Nelson, Laura Newby, Germán Zárate. Foreword by Carol Howard Merritt.

  • 4. Book: "Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States"

    by Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry


    Publisher's Description:

    Why do so many conservative Christians continue to support Donald Trump despite his many overt moral failings? Why do many Americans advocate so vehemently for xenophobic policies, such as a border wall with Mexico? Why do many Americans seem so unwilling to acknowledge the injustices that ethnic and racial minorities experience in the United States? Why do a sizeable proportion of Americans continue to oppose women's equality in the workplace and in the home?


    To answer these questions, Taking America Back for God points to the phenomenon of "Christian nationalism," the belief that the United States is-and should be-a Christian nation. Christian ideals and symbols have long played an important role in American public life, but Christian nationalism is about far more than whether the phrase "under God" belongs in the pledge of allegiance. At its heart, Christian nationalism demands that we must preserve a particular kind of social order, an order in which everyone—Christians and non-Christians, native-born and immigrants, whites and minorities, men and women recognizes their "proper" place in society. The first comprehensive empirical analysis of Christian nationalism in the United States, Taking America Back for God illustrates the influence of Christian nationalism on today's most contentious social and political issues.


    Drawing on multiple sources of national survey data as well as in-depth interviews, Andrew Whitehead and Samuel Perry document how Christian nationalism shapes what Americans think about who they are as a people, what their future should look like, and how they should get there. Americans' stance toward Christian nationalism provides powerful insight into what they think about immigration, Islam, gun control, police shootings, atheists, gender roles, and many other political issues-very much including who they want in the White House. Taking America Back for God is a guide to one of the most important-and least understood-forces shaping American politics.

  • 5. Book: "Active Faith: Resisting 4 Dangerous Ideologies with the Wesleyan Way"

    by Paul W. Chilcote. This book also addresses other topics, but is very easy to read and has a great chapter on Christian Nationalism.


    Publisher's Description


    Christians are invited to practice the way of Jesus by engaging in four formative practices representing central themes of the Wesleyan way: humility, hospitality, healing, and holiness. These four practices function as counterpoints to four growing dangers based on fear in the contemporary church and in society:


    1. Christian fundamentalism

    2. Nationalism

    3. Dispensationalism

    4. Antinomianism.


    Each of the four practices is an antidote related to the quest for a particular virtue as well, namely, truth, joy, peace, and love in resistance to these dangerous movements.


    Each of the four chapters discusses the relationship of these practices to scripture, identifying a signature biblical text or story related to each. They introduce the reader to a spiritual mentor who can help them understand and embrace the practice more fully. They describe contemporary forms of Christianity that distort or compromise our received faith tradition, directing their attention to a contemporary issue in which these distortions figure prominently and in which a progressive Wesleyan perspective offers an alternative vision of Christian authenticity. Finally, the chapters offer guidance showing how readers can engage in these practices on a very practical level.