The BBC has invited Bishop Mariann Budde, the US bishop who challenged President Donald Trump at an inauguration service in January, to give a Christmas message.
Bishop Budde, the Bishop of Washington since 2011, will broadcast a seasonal meditation on BBC Radio 4 on Boxing Day morning, December 26, at 12.15am.
Described as ‘a reflection on the meaning of Christmas’, the 14-minute programme forms part of the BBC’s festive programming. Bishop Budde is due to reflect “on the past year, her trust in God and her hope for all in times of challenge and division.”
Bishop Budde’s sermon in Washington National Cathedral in January was described as “nasty in tone” and from a “Radical Left hard line Trump hater” by Donald Trump.
She was preaching before President Trump, his family, and Vice-President JD Vance at a post-inauguration service of prayer on the President’s first full day in office.
During the sermon, the bishop addressed President Trump, sitting in the front row. She said: “In the name of God, I ask you to have mercy on the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic and Republican and independent families, some who fear for their lives.”
Referring to undocumented migrants and their families, Bishop Budde said, “they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. I ask you to have mercy, Mr President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here.”
She also called for “the kind of unity that fosters community across diversity and division, a unity that serves the common good … It is not conformity. It is not victory. It is not polite weariness or passivity born of exhaustion. Unity is not partisan,” she said.
In its publicity for the broadcast, the BBC notes, “At the start of the year, at the US President's inauguration, Bishop Budde preached a sermon that made an impact around the world.”
The BBC is in the midst of a crisis after its director general and head of news resigned, and Donald Trump is threatening it with a $1bn (£760m) lawsuit, for an edit in a TV documentary that, it is alleged, made it look like he was explicitly urging people to attack the US Capitol on 6 January 2021.
President Trump has demanded a retraction, an apology and compensation. The BBC has apologised to Trump but has rejected his demands for compensation.
In advance of the Christmas broadcast, Bishop Budde has written an article for British listings magazine, Radio Times.
Under the headline, ‘Seeing as God sees,’ Bishop Budde writes “The disparity between the promise of Christmas and the pain of this world is heartbreaking. But if you’re like me, believer or not, you’re grateful to have this yearly occasion as a respite from hate.
“So hold your broken heart before God this Christmas. Hold before God whatever belief you have, or don’t have, or long for. Hold whatever glimpses of joy, love, forgiveness and generosity you have known. For they too are God’s signs for you that the promise is real.”
Rev Peter Crumpler is a Church of England minister in St Albans, Herts, UK, and a former communications director with the CofE.
