Pete Hegseth is a former U.S. Army National Guard officer and media commentator who now serves as the U.S. Secretary of Defense (referred to in the article as Secretary of War), the top civilian official in charge of the Defense Department and the Pentagon.
The Rev. Franklin Graham is an American evangelical Christian pastor and missionary, the son of Billy Graham. He is the president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse, the Christian humanitarian aid organization that organized much of his relief work, and he also leads the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
Samaritan’s Purse is an international evangelical Christian humanitarian aid organization. It responds to disasters and conflicts with emergency relief (food, shelter, medical care, and field hospitals), runs longer-term projects such as clean water, health and livelihood programs, and operates initiatives like Operation Christmas Child that deliver gift boxes and Christian materials to children worldwide.
Matthew West and Anne Wilson were there as musical performers: they provided music during the Christmas worship service, singing Christmas songs and their own Christian music for the crowd.
The service was held outdoors in the Pentagon’s central courtyard. It was a voluntary event for people who work at the Pentagon—described as hundreds of Defense/War Department employees, including military service members, civilian staff, and contractors with access to the building, rather than the general public.
Religious services themselves are not unusual at the Pentagon: its chaplain’s office routinely sponsors worship opportunities for multiple faiths and regular services in the Pentagon chapel for Defense Department personnel. What is new is the series of explicitly evangelical Christian prayer and worship services initiated by Secretary Hegseth in 2025—held in the Pentagon auditorium or courtyard, led or hosted by the secretary, and broadcast internally—which commentators and legal experts have noted as a first-of-its-kind practice. These Hegseth-led events are official in the sense that they are organized and promoted by the Office of the Secretary of Defense and covered on defense.gov, but attendance is voluntary and limited to people with Pentagon/DoD access.