Hegseth invited a controversial Christian nationalist pastor, who has argued that women should be denied the right to vote, to the Pentagon this week to lead a worship service.
Doug Wilson delivered a 15-minute sermon on Tuesday as part of the monthly Christian worship series kick-started by the Pentagon chief.
Wilson said he prayed for "a black swan revival," or another great awakening of Christianity in the country. The sermon that was broadcast on the Defense Department's (DOD) internal TV network.
"God can do what he likes, and as we should know by now, what he likes to do is to take the most unlikely materials and do something glorious with it," Wilson told the military personnel.
"Take a prayer meeting at the Pentagon for a possible example. Many stranger things have happened," he added. "God is great."
Hegseth prayed with his hand on Wilson's shoulder, according to a post by DOD's social media account, saying: "We have gathered at the Pentagon for our monthly worship service. We are One Nation Under God."
Wilson's church, the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches which was founded in Moscow, Idaho in the 1970s, has expanded into a network of over 150 churches.
Hegseth is the most prominent member of the church, which has a presence in Washington, D.C.
Wilson's professed beliefs include that women should submit to their husbands, that the 19th Amendment should be repealed, homosexuality should be a crime and that Christians who owned slaves in the South "were on firm scriptural ground."
Wilson's attendance at the Pentagon prompted pushback, but defense officials backed up the Pentagon head.
"Secretary Hegseth, along with millions of Americans, is a proud Christian and was glad to welcome Pastor Wilson to the Pentagon on Tuesday," Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said in a statement to The Hill on Wednesday.
"The Christian faith is woven deeply into the fabric of our nation," Wilson added. "Despite the Left's efforts to remove our Christian heritage from our great nation, Secretary Hegseth is among those who embrace it."
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