One Nation Under God: America Rededicates Itself at Historic Rededicate 250 Jubilee

The National Mall has witnessed many of history’s defining moments; inaugurations, marches, memorials but what unfolded this past Sunday may be remembered as something altogether different: the day America knelt.

 

From sunrise to sundown, thousands of believers poured onto the National Mall in Washington, D.C., for Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving. This was a sweeping, Spirit-filled gathering calling the nation back to the God who founded it.

Long lines stretched across the capital despite hot and humid weather, but no forecast could dampen the fire in the hearts of those who came. Families, veterans, young people, pastors, politicians, and everyday Americans stood shoulder to shoulder, unified by one purpose: to bow before the Lord and declare that this nation belongs to Him.

 

The spiritual momentum didn’t begin Sunday morning, but the night before.

On Saturday, May 16, worship leader Sean Feucht and his Roots of Revival tour brought fire to the Washington Monument grounds in a four-hour prayer and worship service that served as a powerful prelude to the main event.

 

Feucht, who launched the Roots of Revival tour in partnership with America250 and the White House Faith Office, has spent 2026 calling America back to God at historic revival sites from coast to coast, and Washington, D.C. was the crescendo.

Pastor Mark Driscoll joined the stage that night alongside Eric Metaxas, Lorenzo Sewell, and other faith leaders, calling the faithful to “recommit and rededicate this nation, one nation under God.” Driscoll described the evening as “four hours of prayer and worship to Jesus Christ,” reminding the crowd that the battle for America’s soul is ultimately a spiritual one.

 

The Roots of Revival event was exactly what its name promised, a return to the roots, a stirring of the soil before the planting of something new. By the time Sunday’s sun rose over the Capitol dome, the ground was ready.

 

Revival Nation News was proud to be on the ground this weekend, covering both the Roots of Revival gathering on Saturday night and the Rededicate 250 Jubilee on Sunday.

 

Our team moved through the crowds, bearing witness to what can only be described as a move of God in the heart of the nation’s capital. We will continue bringing you coverage and testimony from this historic weekend in the days ahead.

 

Sunday’s main event opened with evangelical leader Samuel Rodriguez setting the tone with an opening prayer: “Father, we come before you today not merely to remember, but to rededicate. Not just to reflect on history, but to realign our future.”

 

Rodriguez didn’t shy away from spiritual warfare in his prayer: “We recognize that there is a battle in America,” he declared. “Yet the battle is not primarily between the donkey and the elephant. The battle is between the serpent and the lamb. And your word reminds us in Colossians 2:15 that the lamb already defeated the serpent.”

 

Cissie Graham Lynch, daughter of Franklin Graham and granddaughter of the legendary Billy Graham, carried her family’s legacy onto that stage, declaring: “For 250 years, this nation has returned again and again to the God who created this beautiful country that we get to call home,” she said. “Woven into the fabric of America is a deep and persistent belief that we cannot persevere on our own, that we need God.”

 

What made Rededicate 250 unlike any event in modern American history was the convergence of national leaders all gathered in one place, not to campaign, but to worship and intercede.

 

Vice President JD Vance honored Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, invoking the historical foundations of the American faith tradition: “As my dear friend Charlie Kirk put it … the morality and religion that formed the American consciousness were decidedly Christian, founded upon the principles and the divinity of Jesus Christ.”

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson stepped to the microphone and led what may have been the most consequential prayer spoken from a public platform in a generation, a formal prayer of rededication echoing the very act of America’s Founders.

“I was honored to lead a prayer of rededication at today’s @Freedom250 Rededicate250 event on the National Mall. Just as 56 brave men dedicated this land in the Lord’s name at our nation’s founding, we rededicate the United States as ‘One Nation Under God’ as we mark 250 years of American independence.”

In a Fox News interview at the celebration, Johnson pointed to the physical inscription that hangs above his place in the House Chamber every day: “If you walk into the House Chamber, you will see ‘In God We Trust’ inscribed in the marble right above the head of where I stand as the Speaker. Congress put that there as a recognition of who we are: one nation under God.”

 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio captured the day’s spirit beautifully in a post that rang with the clarity of conviction:

 

“From our country’s beginning, for as long as America has embodied freedom and exceptionalism, the soul of our nation has been rooted in the Christian faith. Today we gather, as our forefathers did on this day centuries ago, to rededicate our nation to God.”

 

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, appearing in a video message, called every American to follow the example of the nation’s first president:

 

“On this day of Rededicate 250, let us follow George Washington’s example. Let us pray as he did. Let us pray without ceasing. Let us pray for our nation on bended knee, and let us ask our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, as Washington did on that momentous day, ‘So help us God.’ May God bless you and may God continue to bless our great republic.”

 

In a video message aired to the gathered thousands, President Donald Trump did something remarkable — he opened the Bible and read aloud from 2 Chronicles 7, the ancient passage that has long served as the scriptural heartbeat of revival movements:

 

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

 

Trump had first announced the event at the National Prayer Breakfast in February, declaring that America would “rededicate America as One Nation Under God” on the National Mall, a declaration that drew a standing ovation.

 

He later released a statement promoting the gathering: “We rejoice in the triumph of the American spirit and in the love and grace of Almighty God. And just as our Founders came together in prayer before declaring independence, thousands of Americans will gather on Sunday, May 17, on the National Mall to rededicate the United States as One Nation Under God.”

 

Perhaps the most quietly powerful story of the weekend was visible in the faces of the crowd. Among the thousands on the Mall were young Americans who have been rapidly turning back to faith in record numbers, most especially amongst Gen Z. They came not because they were told to, but because something in their generation is hungry for what no algorithm or social media platform can provide: truth, meaning, and the presence of God.

 

This is the Jubilee generation, and yesterday, they showed up.

 

Two hundred and fifty years ago, 56 men signed their names and pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor, to a document that acknowledged the Creator as the source of all human liberty. They prayed before they signed. They prayed after they signed. They understood that apart from God, the American experiment wouldn’t hold.

 

On Sunday, May 17, 2026, Americans returned to that same conviction.

 

As Samuel Rodriguez prayed at the opening, so let it be the prayer of every American: “Father, we come before you today not merely to remember, but to rededicate not just to reflect on history, but to realign our future.”

 

One nation. Under God. Indivisible.

 

God bless America.

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