Bishop Mariann Budde’s rebuke of Trump honored by new sculpture at Virginia seminary
Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS) recently received a sculpture in honor of Episcopal Church Bishop Mariann Budde’s rebuke of President Donald Trump during last year's inaugural prayer service.
The Alexandria-based Episcopal seminary held a dedication service last week for the sculpture, titled “Bow of Burning Gold,” created by artist Murray Dewart years earlier. Dewart’s father graduated from VTS in 1941.
The sculpture’s title comes from the poem “Jerusalem” by William Blake, which serves as the lyrics for an English patriotic song and includes a line that inspired the movie title “Chariots of Fire.”
VTS spokeswoman Nicky Burridge told The Christian Post that Dewart reached out to the seminary shortly after Budde’s sermon to discuss dedicating the sculpture.
Burridge said the sculptor donated the piece “in honor of the moment” created by Budde's sermon at the National Cathedral's Service of Prayer for the Nation event last January. Budde garnered headlines for directly imploring Trump to show mercy to various groups, such as LGBT individuals and illegal immigrants, as he took office.
The seminary responded that “we would be honored to receive it," Burridge said.
“The gift is in direct response to the Budde moment. The creation of the sculpture predates it by a decade,” she explained. “The gift is inspired by the moment.”
Last week, VTS also announced the release of a series of essays honoring Budde’s remarks, titled Have Mercy: Following Jesus in Politically Perilous Times.
At the inaugural prayer service the day after Trump was sworn in for his second term, Budde addressed the president, who was seated in the front row.
“In the Name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now,” Budde stated. “There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families. Some who fear for their lives.”
“The people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meat-packing plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals. They may not be citizens, or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals.”
Budde asked the newly sworn-in president “to have mercy” on the people “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.”
While liberals praised Budde for her remarks, conservatives criticized the bishop for what they saw as divisive rhetoric that promoted partisan progressive views.
Rob Pacienza, senior pastor at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was among the critics. He told CP last year that he believed Budde's comments weren't "really a sermon” but rather “a lecture that really came across as mean and divisive.”
“I think the irony was she attempted to preach on unity, but her rhetoric and her very unwelcoming spirit — from the beginning to the end of her message — actually created more division in the end,” he said.
“She was advocating for transgenderism. She was advocating for open borders. She was advocating for lawlessness in America. She was advocating for an administration to embrace sexuality that is against God’s design.”
When CP asked whether she thought the sculpture might alienate conservative students at VTS, Burridge responded that “we’ve been very clear from the beginning is that we as a seminary we defend what is biblical, what is rooted in Gospel values.”
“Bishop Budde’s sermon was very much rooted in Gospel values,” Burridge continued. “The values that she was talking about, about being merciful, about being compassionate, they’re all biblical values. So, no, we’re not concerned, because the values are deeply rooted in Christian values.”
