April 29, 2025
The anniversary of America’s birth should be a time for unity and reflection on the ideals that founded our republic. Yet this week, Attorney General Pam Bondi took the remarkable step of launching a federal task force to eradicate anti-Christian bias, shining a spotlight not only on overt assaults on religious liberty, but also on the more subtle ways Christianity has been excluded from our national narrative. As Bondi noted in her announcement, “True religious freedom means telling all of our history—not just the parts that make us comfortable.”
When Faith Shapes Freedom: The Omission of Christian Influence
Despite its pivotal role in rallying early patriots, Christian faith and leadership are often omitted from mainstream retellings of America’s founding. This past weekend’s coverage of the 250th anniversary of the “Shot Heard ’Round the World” at Lexington and Concord was emblematic: dozens of news reports recounted Paul Revere’s ride and the clashes of April 19, 1775, yet few mentioned the pastors whose pulpit sermons and parsonage gatherings sparked local resistance.
A Hillsdale College video produced for the White House’s America 250th series featured historian Wilfred McClay discussing the events at Lexington and Concord—but made no reference to Reverend Jonas Clark, the parish pastor whose home became the overnight refuge for John Hancock and Samuel Adams. On CBS’s “Sunday Morning,” a segment shot inside Clark’s restored parsonage discussed Hancock and Adams’s escape from British forces—yet omitted that these “traitors” found sanctuary in Clark’s very living room. Such silences, intentional or not, erase the profound influence of Christian leadership on the dawn of American liberty.
Pastor Jonas Clark: The “Patriot Pastor” of Lexington
Jonas Clark assumed the pulpit in Lexington in 1765, fresh from Harvard at age 20. Quickly, he became more than a spiritual guide—he was a civic leader. Historian Alice Baldwin recounts that Clark’s home served as a “patriot hangout,” where Sunday sermons on natural rights and constitutional resistance seamlessly transitioned into town-hall discussions on militia training and defense measures. Under his guidance:
- 1765—Stamp Act: Clark denounced the tax as “a door to numberless evils.”
- 1768—Quartering Act: He called forced billeting of British troops “an infringement of our natural and chartered rights.”
- 1773—Tea Act: He urged townsfolk to see any purchaser of British tea as “an enemy of the town.”
By late 1774, Clark had led Lexington to arm and train its militia. When Paul Revere arrived on April 18, 1775, Clark’s parsonage sheltered Hancock and Adams, while Clark himself prepared to rally the men under his spiritual charge. At dawn on April 19, roughly 70 minutemen—many of whom were his congregants—took their stand on Lexington Green. Clark later recorded that a British officer fired “the first shot” and incited a volley that left eight patriots dead, including many from Clark’s flock. He preached a memorial service that morning, burying the slain under brush to protect their graves from British reprisal. “From the 19th of April, 1775,” he later reflected, “we may venture to predict…the liberty or the slavery of the American world.”
William Emerson: Concord’s Spiritual Sentinel
Just miles away in Concord stood another pastor-patriot: Reverend William Emerson, grandfather of Ralph Waldo Emerson. From his 1765 arrival, Emerson intertwined biblical exhortation with calls to defend political rights. He preached on “the whole Armor of God” and organized his congregation into minutemen companies. On April 19, 1775, he led the Concord militia at North Bridge, famously urging, “Stand your ground…If we die, let us die here!” Under his leadership, farmers and tradesmen—the same men who worshiped in his meetinghouse—repelled British regulars and launched a guerrilla campaign that would echo through American history.
The Cost of Erasure: Why Christian Heritage Matters
Omitting the Christian dimension of the Revolution does more than distort history—it weakens our understanding of religious freedom under attack. The pulpit was not separate from the battlefield; it inspired the resolve that men needed to stand against tyranny. When mainstream outlets ignore figures like Clark and Emerson, they perpetuate a sanitized narrative that downplays faith’s role in shaping America’s founding principles.
Attorney General Bondi’s task force vows to review government policies and public education materials for anti-Christian bias, ensuring that American schoolchildren learn not only about shot lists and battle maps, but also about the sermons and spiritual convictions that fired the patriots’ hearts. As Bondi emphasized: “We cannot protect religious liberty in one arena while whitewashing it in another.”
Toward a Fuller America 250th Narrative
The America 250th celebration offers a second chance to tell the whole story. Scholars, educators, and media outlets can:
- Integrate pastoral leadership into Revolutionary War coverage, highlighting sermons, letters, and meetinghouse assemblies.
- Preserve historical sites like the Clark and Emerson parsonages as living museums of faith-driven patriotism.
- Develop educational curricula that examine the interplay of theology and political theory in the 18th century.
By doing so, we honor not only the men who fired muskets on April 19, 1775, but also the pastors who prepared them in body and soul.
Conclusion: Remembering the Black-Gowned Regiment
In 1774, British General Percy dubbed the colonial clergy the “Black Regiment,” decrying their “seditious” Sunday sermons. Today, as we commemorate 250 years of independence, we must remember that it was these “black-gowned” ministers who preached resistance from their pulpits and galvanized ordinary citizens to defend liberty. Thanks to Attorney General Bondi’s new task force, the subtle strands of anti-Christian bias in our national memory may finally be unraveled—making room for a richer, more authentic telling of how faith fueled the fight that forged a nation.
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