Sen. Roger Marshall, a Republican in Kansas, is a longtime member of a mainline Protestant congregation. But on Sunday night (Oct. 25), he showed up on stage at a church in Doug Wilson’s denomination to join numerous evangelical and charismatic pastors in attacking the faith of the pastor of one of the largest mainline Protestant churches in the country. As the Sunday night service relitigated the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy of the last century, preachers called on Marshall’s Democratic opponent, Rev. Adam Hamilton, to repent — while also praising President Donald Trump.
The crowd gathered for the partisan rally Sunday night at Exodus Church in Wichita, which is part of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, a denomination started and led by Wilson, a Christian Nationalist pastor in Idaho, self-described “paleo-Confederate,” and a patriarchal figure who wants to repeal the 19th Amendment (and who has a history of condoning sexual abuse). A prominent member of the CREC is Pete Hegseth, who likes to call himself “secretary of war.” Hegseth invited Wilson to preach at the February 2026 Pentagon service and has had CREC pastor Brooks Potteiger preach at four Pentagon services.
While the “sanctity of life” was the dominant theme for the anti-Hamilton service, no one called on CREC member Hegseth to repent for killing more than 200 people — including fishermen and perhaps human trafficking victims — in boats off the coasts of South America or for launching a war against Iran that included a strike in February when U.S. Tomahawk missiles struck a girls’ school in Iran and killed more than 160 civilians, most of them children.
Instead, the focus of the service, billed as a “Kansas State Gathering for Prayer & Repentance,” was to support Republican candidates like Marshall and attack the faith of Democrats like Hamilton. And they did so with a cast of rightwing preachers and Republican activists, including Tony Perkins, Jim Garlow, Troy Newman, Colin Smothers, and others.
The service came together after an “open letter” to Hamilton published earlier this month by Kyle Lammott, lead pastor at Exodus Church. In the missive, Lammott called on Hamilton “to repent of what you have taught and to withdraw from the Senate race.” He criticized Hamilton for comments in sermons about how people from other faiths could go to heaven, that there are errors in the Bible, and that same-sex couples can be married. While such positions are classically deemed as “unbiblical” by fundamentalist and evangelical pastors, they are not unusual or unorthodox within the mainline Protestant tradition. Lammott also criticized Hamilton for his campaign position against criminalizing abortion.
“If you will not keep faith with the word you were ordained to preach, why should Kansas expect you to keep faith with her?” Lammott wrote. “Repent of what you have taught concerning salvation, Scripture, marriage, and the unborn. Then step out of this race rather than carry the name of Christ into an office you intend to use to mock God by shielding those who desire the blood of the innocent.”
During Sunday night’s event at his church, Lammott further explained his claim that Hamilton is unfit for office because of theological beliefs (despite a constitutional prohibition on religious tests for office). Lammott insisted that political leaders must follow God’s will.
“The president, the governor, the Senate, the House — they’re all called by God to be his servants. And when the magistrates enact godless laws, approve tyranny, legalize evil, he is committing high treason against the one who has all authority in heaven and earth,” Lammott declared. “Political reform without faithful allegiance to Christ is merely repainting a sinking ship. … We are to proclaim the obedience of the gospel as the only way, the only hope for our nation and our state.”
In addition to attacking Democrats on the issue of abortion, he also claimed they should be rejected for supposedly not believing the Bible or Jesus.
“One political party has already told us that they do not hold to the authority of God’s word. One political party has already told us that salvation is not by faith alone in Christ alone,” he said.
Garlow, an evangelical pastor in California, took a stronger shot against the UMC and the mainline tradition. Long involved in Republican politics, Garlow has worked closely with Trump, Newt Gingrich, and Mike Johnson. After recounting the “explosive” growth of Methodism in the early years of the United States, he argued the denomination was “a powerhouse for God until late 1800s German historical criticism started creeping in.”
“By 1960s, the undercurrent of liberalism had literally taken away the firepower of the once phenomenal movement called, at the time originally Methodist Episcopal Church, then eventually United Methodist Church. They had 11 million strong in 1968. Today, there’s 3.8 million, and shrinking every day,” Garlow added without noting that in recent decades evangelical denominations have also been shrinking.
Garlow criticized Hamilton, pastor of the largest UMC church, for not opposing the affirmation of LGBTQ individuals within the UMC. Saying Hamilton was “once very biblical, once orthodox,” Garlow claimed Hamilton was “affirming that for which God had destroyed Sodom” — by which Garlow meant homosexuality, even though the Bible says it was for pride and refusing to help the poor and needy. Apparently knowing that his interpretation has been challenged, when he again repeated his Sodom remark, Garlow declared, “And by the way, for the adherents to Hamilton, Sodom wasn’t destroyed for its inhospitality. Check out Jude 7.” In addition to ignoring Ezekiel 16, which does say it was for inhospitality, Garlow’s prooftext doesn’t actually mention homosexuality and might instead allude to an apocryphal text about supposed angel-human sex. But maybe that’s just the historical criticism talking.
Garlow added that he doesn’t “blame Adam Hamilton alone,” which is a shift from Marshall’s rhetoric in inaccurately claiming that Hamilton “split” the UMC. Still, the strong supporter of Trump insisted that Hamilton’s theology makes him unfit for office.
“If elected, his abhorrent theology and the tragic politics that flows out of that will be more mainstream than it already is. He’ll misuse the Scripture to justify wrong votes,” Garlow said. “Adam Hamilton, we appeal to you to repent of being in violation with the word of God.”
During his meandering remarks, Garlow also praised the addition of “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance and the adoption of “In God We Trust” as the national motto — two Christian Nationalist moves that occurred in the 1950s. And Garlow praised rightwing Brazilian politician Flávio Bolsonaro, who Garlow said he had met with in Brazil last month. Garlow expressed his hope that Bolsonaro would be elected president that day, but the results shortly thereafter showed Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva narrowly won reelection. Bolsonaro, son of a former president in prison for his role in a failed insurrection after the last time Lula won, has thus far refused to accept the results.
Parade of Pastors
Anti-abortion activist Troy Newman, who leads the Wichita-based group Operation Rescue, emceed the event. In 2009, abortion doctor George Tiller, a key target of Operation Rescue, was assassinated while serving as an usher at an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America congregation in Wichita. The killer had been involved with Newman’s group, though Newman denounced the murder of Tiller and claimed there were no connections. Newman, who is apparently part of the CREC host church, kicked off the program by mentioning the “amazing” Trump rally last week and announcing this would be “a Jesus rally.”
Newman set the tone for the night by attacking abortion and transgender people. Several pastors offered remarks or led prayers during the nearly two-and-a-half-hour service.
One pastor prayed for “boldness to shake up the political realm” since they have been “called for such a time as this” to “wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities. And so, Father, we come against the principalities.” Yet, he then prayed not against the principalities but for President Donald Trump.
“Father, we know that this is our hour. This is our day. Your kingdom has come and your will is being done. We pray for our president and chief, Pastor Donald Trump,” the unidentified pastor declared. “We pray for every man and woman of God that’s in the corridors of the White House. God, we decree and we declare in the name of Jesus that every weapon formed against them, it is not going to prosper.”
Rob Rotala, a charismatic pastor in Wichita, prayed that Marshall, Masterson, and the other Republican candidates present would approach their governance positions by asking, “Lord what can I do, Father?” Rotala is part of the leadership team of the Kansas chapter of City Elders, a Christian Nationalist group based in Oklahoma that has worked with Republican politicians like DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, and former Oklahoma Secretary of Public Instruction Ryan Walters. During Sunday night’s event, he also prayed that “Christians and citizens would stand up and be bold.”
Wayne Cash, pastor of Calvary Chapel Fellowship in Wichita, prayed over the Republican politicians present for having “accepted the call to fight for life, to get into the fight, to take possession of the land of Kansas and the United States.”
“They have accepted the call to battle the forces of evil through the desire to lead by your word as the one and only absolute truth,” Cash added. “So, Father, tonight we recognize that getting into the land is the only beginning battle for them; taking possession of it is going to be the real battle to come. … Establish the work of their hands for us — yes, establish the work of their hands for your glory.”
Con Howerton of Temple Baptist Church in Wichita spoke as a representative for Faith Wins, a rightwing Christian group that focuses on getting Christians engaged in politics and voting. The group, which helped sponsor the event at Exodus Church, was founded by former Republican National Committee faith director Chad Connelly.
“This election may well decide whether or not Iran gets a nuclear weapon. I’m not exaggerating, I’m telling you what’s absolutely true. This election could decide how safe our streets are and all the things involved in that,” Howerton said before mostly focusing his remarks on abortion. “We’ve got a man running for governor, and I’m telling you God will use that man. That man is fearless. He’ll proclaim the gospel. He doesn’t care where he’s at. I’ve heard him do it 100 times. Amen. He came to our school 20 years ago and preached the gospel. Amen. Love Brother Ty, and I want you to send him to Topeka. Amen. Let’s get him there. Hallelujah.”
Another pastor, Jordan Friesen of Vine Community Church in El Dorado, prayed for families with “husbands who know how to lead and exercise their headship” and “wives who are submissive and clothed with strength and dignity.” He added, “In the book of Exodus, you multiplied a family to the point where Pharaoh himself feared what the sons of Jacob had become, and we want to ask you would do the same today, that you would give us strong families.” He didn’t mention that Pharaoh’s response was to enslave the descendants of Jacob for hundreds of years.
Others who prayed included Colin Smothers, a Southern Baptist pastor in Kansas who also serves as executive director of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (which promotes a patriarchal reading of Scripture), and Sam McVay, the executive director of ENGAGE, an initiative of the Kansas Family Foundation to evangelize public officials.
In between the speeches praising Trump and attacking Hamilton, a music leader led those gathered in singing hymns, including “How Great Thou Art,” “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” and the “Doxology.”
Marshall, for his part, affirmed the attacks on Hamilton’s faith offered throughout the event.
“What Kansans want is someone that protects our values. And to be frank, my opponent doesn’t. He does not represent Kansas values,” Marshall said. “We just want to protect those traditional Kansas values: faith, family, community, hard work.”
During the service, Marshall invoked the “armor of God” from Ephesians 6 to say what he wanted people to pray he would have. Lammott and others during the service also mentioned that passage. Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council led the prayer for Marshall and his campaign. Perkins also brought on stage Republican gubernatorial hopeful Ty Masterson, state Attorney General Kris Kobach, and U.S. Rep. Ron Estes to offer remarks and to be prayed over.
Polls show the race between Marshall and Hamilton statistically tied in a state Trump won by 16 points just two years ago and which hasn’t sent a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in nearly a century. While the political campaign comes to an end in eight days, the century-old debate between Fundamentalists and mainline Protestants appears to be nowhere near a conclusion.
As a public witness,
Brian Kaylor
I am never disappointed in your reporting or writing. Christian Nationalism is the serpent in the tree whispering to humankind, you can be like God. Thank you for this story. My prayers are with the people of Kansas that they can filter out this misinterpretation and find the word of grace Jesus has for all people. (Would Jesus sue the women for the care they received if they didn't have the "mite"? I think not)