When the world saw a President standing in front of a church holding a Bible like a prop in 2020, most people were just confused. But for the Right Rev. Mariann Budde, the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, it wasn't just a weird photo op. It was a line in the sand.
She didn't check with a PR team. She didn't wait for a consensus. Honestly, she just spoke. Her voice was trembling with a mix of fury and disbelief as she told reporters she was "outraged" that her sacred space—St. John’s, Lafayette Square—was used to justify a message antithetical to everything she stood for.
Fast forward to January 2025. There she was again at the Washington National Cathedral, standing a few feet away from a newly inaugurated Donald Trump. She didn't scream this time. She didn't have to. She looked him in the eye and asked for mercy. Mercy for the "scared" people—the immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community, and the marginalized. It’s that consistency that makes people pay attention to her, whether they love her or think she’s "gone too far" into politics.
Who Exactly is Mariann Budde?
You might think a high-ranking Bishop in the nation’s capital would be some kind of ivory-tower academic. Not really. Born in 1959, Mariann Edgar Budde grew up in New Jersey and spent time in Colorado. Her mother was a Swedish immigrant, which gave her a pretty grounded perspective on what the "American Dream" actually looks like for people coming from the outside.
She wasn't always the "social justice bishop." Early on, she worked in urban ministry in Arizona and spent a year in Honduras with her husband, Paul, helping at a home for abandoned boys. She spent 18 years as a rector at St. John’s in Minneapolis before moving to D.C.
Basically, she’s a parish priest at heart who happened to end up in the middle of a political hurricane.
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The 2011 Barrier
When she was consecrated as the ninth Bishop of Washington in 2011, she was the first woman to ever hold the job. That’s a big deal. The Diocese of Washington isn't just a few churches; it’s 88 congregations and 10 schools across D.C. and four Maryland counties. She also runs the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation. If the Washington National Cathedral is the "spiritual home" of the nation, she’s the one holding the keys.
The Moment Everything Changed
We have to talk about June 1, 2020. It’s the "Lafayette Square incident" that most people associate with her name. Federal authorities used tear gas and flash-bangs to clear peaceful protesters so the President could walk to the church.
Some critics, like Jeffrey Walton from the Institute on Religion and Democracy, felt her "outrage" was selective. They pointed out that she didn't seem as angry about the $20,000 in damage to the church nursery from a small fire the night before. But Budde’s logic was pretty simple:
"Buildings can be re-built. Windows can be replaced. We can never bring back the lives that have been lost due to senseless police violence."
She wasn't just defending a building. She was defending the idea that the Bible shouldn't be used as a political shield. She later testified before Congress, calling the event a "usurpation" of sacred space. It was a moment where the "Right Rev. Mariann Budde" became a household name for anyone tracking the intersection of faith and the federal government.
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Her Recent Plea: The 2025 Inaugural Service
If 2020 was the year of the "Prophetic No," 2025 was the year of the "Pastoral Please." At the interfaith prayer service following Trump’s second inauguration, she used her platform to talk about mercy.
She mentioned people who are "scared now."
It wasn't a partisan speech in the traditional sense, but it was incredibly pointed. She talked about how most immigrants aren't criminals—they’re neighbors and tax-payers. She talked about the "outrage industrial complex" that keeps Americans at each other's throats.
Predictably, the reaction was split. Trump himself reportedly said he "didn't think it was a good service." Meanwhile, progressive faith leaders hailed it as a masterclass in speaking truth to power.
It’s Not Just About the Headlines
If you only know her from the news, you’re missing the actual work. Budde has been quietly (and sometimes not so quietly) pushing for systemic changes within the church for years.
- Removing Confederate Symbols: In 2017, she oversaw the removal of stained-glass windows at the National Cathedral that honored Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. They were replaced in 2023 with windows depicting the Civil Rights movement.
- LGBTQ+ Inclusion: She presided over the interment of Matthew Shepard’s ashes at the cathedral in 2018. It was a massive symbolic gesture for a man whose 1998 murder became a catalyst for hate-crime legislation.
- Climate and Guns: She’s been a regular at marches for gun control and is constantly pushing for environmental stewardship.
Honestly, she views these things as "embedded in our faith." She once famously said, "If your Jesus always agrees with your politics, you're probably not reading deeply enough." That’s a pretty spicy take for someone in her position, but she applies it to herself too. She’s often talked about how the Episcopal Church has to reckon with its own history as the "church of slaveholders."
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The Books You Should Probably Read
If you want to understand the why behind the what, Budde has written a few things that aren't just dry theology.
- How We Learn to Be Brave (2023): This is her most personal book. She talks about "decisive moments"—the times you have to decide to stay, go, or start something new. She uses her own life as a canvas, which is refreshing.
- Receiving Jesus: The Way of Love (2019): A much more spiritual, "Jesus-focused" look at how to actually live out a life of faith without becoming a jerk about it.
- Gathering Up the Fragments (2007): This one is for the preachers. It’s about the spiritual practice of preparing a sermon and how to find God in the "scraps" of daily life.
Why Should We Care?
In an era where religion is often viewed as a voting bloc or a culture war weapon, Right Rev. Mariann Budde represents a different path. You don’t have to agree with her politics to see that she’s trying to hold the church to a moral standard that exists outside of a campaign cycle.
She’s a history major from the University of Rochester who turned into a Bishop who reads the room as well as she reads the Bible. She knows that in a city like D.C., silence is often taken as consent. So, she speaks.
Actionable Insights for the Curious
If you’re looking to dive deeper into the world of "public theology" that Budde inhabits, here are a few ways to engage with the issues she raises:
- Audit Your Sacred Spaces: Look at the history of your own community or religious institution. Does it reflect the values you hold today? Budde’s work on the cathedral windows shows that history isn't static; we can choose what to honor.
- Practice "Brave" Listening: In her 2025 sermon, she urged people to hold multiple perspectives as valid. Try engaging with one source of information this week that completely disagrees with your worldview, but does so with "mercy."
- Support Local Justice Initiatives: Budde frequently mentions that a Bishop is only as strong as the congregations behind her. If you care about immigration reform or racial equity, find a local group (faith-based or secular) and offer your time, not just your "likes" on social media.
- Read the Primary Sources: Don’t just take a pundit’s word for what she said. Go to the Episcopal Diocese of Washington website and read her full transcripts from the 2020 testimony or the 2025 prayer service. Context changes everything.
The Right Rev. Mariann Budde isn't going anywhere. Whether she's riding her bicycle through the streets of D.C. or standing at a pulpit in front of the most powerful people on Earth, she’s going to keep asking for mercy and demanding justice. It’s kinda just what she does.