This website has published two articles about Christian Nationalism (see https://winonadfl.org/2024/06/26/christian-nationalism-not-christian-not-good-for-the-nation-says-winona-pastor/ and https://winonadfl.org/2025/07/28/local-pastor-doesnt-see-christ-in-christian-nationalism/).  Now, we have an opportunity to interview Jerry Gale, who is coming to Winona on November 13 to give a talk on the subject. The talk is titled “Understanding and Resisting Christian Nationalism,” and will be held at the Wesley United Methodist Church on Broadway, starting at 6:30 PM.  

Jerry Gale with theologian and Christian activist Jim Wallis

When we asked Jerry, who is a retired marketing executive from Columbia Heights, how he became interested in Christian Nationalism, he said that he watched in horror on January 6, 2021, as a violent mob broke into the U.S. Capitol. Jerry saw that “many of the rioters carried signs connecting Donald Trump and Jesus Christ.”  As a Christian, he was appalled. “I asked myself, ‘Who are these people?” and I began trying to find out,” he says.  He quickly discovered that many of the Jan. 6 rioters were followers of a movement that advocates overthrowing America’s secular government, by violence if necessary, and replacing it with a Christian theocracy. 

This didn’t sound Christian to Jerry.  Wondering if other Christians were concerned about this movement, he found his way to the website of Christians Against Christian Nationalism, which is an initiative started by the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty (BJC) in 2019.   BJC is dedicated to spreading the word that Christian Nationalism is a threat to both Christianity and to American democracy.  “If you look at what Christian Nationalists believe,” Jerry explains, “you find that they want to take the Christian message and turn it into the worship of power and white male domination. Christian nationalism is sometimes a cover for white supremacy.” To do this, they have to hide most of what Jesus taught about loving your neighbor and serving the poor and sick. “Let’s put it this way,” he says, “Christian Nationalists don’t spend a lot of time talking about what Jesus actually said. They like to quote the Old Testament and Revelations, but not the Gospel.” 

Jerry says Christian Nationalism threatens our democracy because it seeks to undermine the principle of the separation of church and state, a principle explicitly laid out in the U.S. Constitution. “Christian Nationalists believe they need to seize power and use the government to force Americans to accept their own version of Christianity,” Jerry says.  They conceive of government as being synonymous with the will of God. Jerry gave as an example a recent comment by U.S. Representative Jim Jordan, who claimed, “ICE agents are doing the Lord’s work.”  

Christian Nationalism has been around for a long time, Jerry explains.  What makes it more threatening now is the collusion between the Christian Nationalists and a network of billionaires who want less government regulation and lower taxes.  “These billionaires realize that Christian Nationalists will give them power to do that,” Jerry adds, “which is why they have poured money into the movement.” 

The Baptist Joint Committee has been around since 1934 and has acted as an advocacy group to protect religious liberty in America, but had not done community organizing.  Jerry, who worked on the campaigns of Tim Walz, Amy Klobochar, Dean Phillips, and the late Melissa Hortman, realized he could help them with this.  He approached the group, and they agreed to help him start Christians Against Christian Nationalism Minnesota in 2024.  Since then, Jerry has been travelling across the state, giving talks to whoever will listen.  

Jerry states that for the fight against Christian Nationalism to be successful, Christians must partner with people of other faiths and secular communities, but Christians must remain the face of this fight so that it cannot be labeled as anti-Christian. Jerry adds, “What makes me optimistic is that during the past two years, these partnerships are being formed all over America and are changing the discussion of religion in this country.”

For more information, please visit https://cacnminnesota.org/. Don’t forget to see Jerry in person on November 13th at the Wesley United Methodist Church on 114 West Broadway, from 6:30–8:00PM

Jerry Gale speaking at the Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church