PORT TOWNSEND — The Rev. Dr. Rick Rouse will present “Christian Nationalism: A Threat to the Gospel and Democracy” at noon Sunday.
Rouse will speak in the Fellowship Hall at Grace Lutheran Church, 1120 Walker St.
Rouse, author of “The World is About to Turn: Mending a Nation’s Broken Faith,” calls Christian nationalism “an anti-democratic movement that will gain or retain power by any means.”
“It’s a movement that has had a loud voice in the public sphere and gives the impression it represents all Christian believers,” said the Rev. Sean Janssen, pastor at Grace Lutheran. “It doesn’t. The presiding bishop of our national church body has come out adamantly against it and I think Dr. Rouse is a very capable advocate for why this is a distortion of both the faith and a healthier version of patriotism.”
Rouse has been ordained as a pastor for nearly 50 years in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the denomination to which vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz belongs.
“We had lined up Dr. Rouse to speak a few weeks before Tim Walz came into the spotlight,” Janssen said. “Then that suddenly brought the ELCA to the attention of national media and one side of it really attacked the church in ways that misrepresented our values. I think it’s important that we tell our own story so others don’t get to define us.”
There is no need to RSVP for the event.
For more information, call the church at 360-385-1595 or email gracelutheranpt@gmail.com or Janssen at revseanjanssen@gmail.com.
