Covering Christian Nationalism In Yakima For Cascade PBS
And a conversation with New Apostolic Reformation celebrity Sean Feucht about who should be in charge of the government
For the better part of a year, I’ve been working on a story about Christian nationalism in Yakima City politics.
Last year, a slate of candidates pulled off an electoral coup in the Yakima City Council election and shifted the center of gravity on the council from slightly left-of-center to solidly MAGA. Then they fired the city manager.
That and the fact that two of those city councilors, Deputy Mayor Matt Brown and Mayor Patrica Byers, are both pastors at the Yakima FourSquare church piqued my interest.
Fast forward to this May and the council’s symbolic refusal to pass a proclamation acknowledging June as Pride month in the City of Yakima.
“Why are we honoring this?” asked City Councilman Rick Glenn before the vote.
The move, and Glenn’s disdain for the concept of Pride month, garnered attention and praise from Christian nationalist leaders like Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk, who took to the X, formerly known as Twitter, and turned city leaders into a cause célèbre in rightwing circles.
“More good news from the Pacific Northwest. The city of Yakima, WA votes 8-2 to reject a “LGBTQ2S+ Pride Month Declaration,” Kirk wrote.
It was also retweeted by Yakima City Councilman Reedy Berg – although the vote was actually 5-2 because there are only seven members on the council.
Christian nationalist and New Apostolic Reformation celebrity Sean Feucht, a product of Bethel’s “School of Supernatural Ministry” in Redding, California, also shared the post and promoted the fact that he would be coming to Yakima in June.
Bethel and its leader Bill Johnson have garnered media attention for mixing politics and religion and attempting to influence the government, law enforcement and culture of Redding.
Feucht too has made a career of “advancing the Kingdom” by taking back the Seven Mountains of Societal Influence from what he sees as the forces of darkness. He first rose to national prominence after the COVID-19 pandemic hit and he filed a lawsuit against California Governor Gavin Newsom for making it “illegal to sing in church,” among other things.
It’s a story that should sound familiar to folks in the Wenatchee Valley, who had a front-row seat to Grace City Church Pastor Josh McPherson’s lawsuit against Washington State Governor Jay Inslee around the same time.
During the course of my reporting on the situation in Yakima, I connected with Cascade PBS Reporter Mai Hoang. She used to write for the Yakima Herald and now covers Central Washington for PBS. She was also looking into doing a story about the subject so we decided to join forces.
And I’m glad we did because I think the story turned out great.
You can read that piece – featuring stunning photojournalism by Genna Martin – here.
Supporting Subscriber Exclusive – My Interview With Feucht
Through persistence and a little luck I was able to swing an interview with Feucht.
I asked him if he believes the United States was founded as a “Christian nation” and if it was ever permissible by God for Christians to use violence to achieve their goals. I also asked if only Christians should be in charge of the government, among other things.
He didn’t like my questions and complained about them onstage later.
You can listen to that interview here: