Zac Brown talks about his performance at the White House’s UFC Freedom 250 Fan Fest
Zac Brown talks about his upcoming performance at the UFC Freedom 250 event in June on the South Lawn of the White House.
Next on the agenda for America’s 250th anniversary is a gathering of worshipers in the nation’s capital.
Rededicate 250, a free event scheduled for May 17 on the National Mall, aims to bring together “Americans of all backgrounds” to prepare for the nation’s 250th birthday by “rededicating the Bible, witness, prayer, and our nation to God,” according to the Rededicate 250 website. The event is open to the public.
What’s in the name? Charles Matthews, a religious studies professor at the University of Virginia, said the idea of ”rededication” means restoring one’s commitment to one’s faith.
“The theological resonance is this idea:[In Christianity]we need to renew our commitment to our faith from time to time.[In Christianity]we have an obligation to continually give ourselves to the mission we have been given,” Matthews says. As relationships and lives change, he explains, believers pause, step back, and reevaluate what their faith means.
Here’s what you need to know about Rededicate 250 and how it plans to celebrate Americans’ relationship with their faith.
What is Lydicate 250?
The religious event is one of many initiatives undertaken by the Freedom 250 Commission, created by President Donald Trump to celebrate national birthdays throughout the year. The schedule is divided into three “pillars” that examine the role of faith in our country’s past, present and future.
All attendees must register through the RSVP form on the Rededicate 250 website. Prospective attendees are encouraged to bring blankets and chairs and watch the program on the mall’s lawn, organizers said. Further information regarding children and accessibility, food and safety can also be found on the official webpage.
Organizers say the event is open to believers from all backgrounds. However, 14 of the 15 faith leaders participating in Rededicate 250 are Christian, including seven evangelical leaders and two Catholics, according to a news release. Orthodox Jewish rabbi Meir Soloveitchik is the only non-Christian religious leader listed as a participant.
The limited range of religions represented at Rededicate 250 has drawn criticism from Matthews and others who say the event does not capture the dynamic range of religions that America has represented over 250 years.
When and where will Rededicate 250 take place?
The event will take place on Sunday, May 17th on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Gates for participants will open at 9 a.m. ET and the program is scheduled to last from 10:45 a.m. to 6 p.m.
According to the event’s website, attendees can enter the event from the National Mall on 7th Avenue between Madison Drive and Jefferson Drive.
Faith is part of America’s 250 years
Faith is at the heart of American history, Matthews said, from the spirituality of Native Americans to the Christian practices of the first Protestant settlers who came from Europe to the country’s strong Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist communities.
“These were people who thought deeply about the value and importance of religion,” Matthews says of America’s Founding Fathers.
America’s mission as a government separate from faith was novel and risky at the time, he says, and the Founders sought to create a self-determining nation that balanced the power of church and people.
“The idea of America was both a political idea and a quasi-religious idea,” he says. For the Founders to consider establishing a self-amending government unaccountable to the church was effectively a rebellion, he says.
The idea of a higher moral cause has long been associated with the presidency, he says. For example, Abraham Lincoln used the Gettysburg Address to evoke morality and civic life, to evoke principles of goodness, and to renew the aspirations of the American project “under God.”
At Rededicate 250, Matthews says you can pray to whatever power you believe in, regardless of who leads the session.
Contributor: Carissa Wadick
