Ralph Drollinger, president of Capitol Ministries, who leads the cabinet’s weekly bible study
Members of President Trump’s cabinet—including Vice President Pence—are studying the bible with a minister that’s notoriously anti-LGBTI and misogynistic.
The group
Ralph Drollinger of Capitol Ministries is leading these cabinet bible study groups—the first in at least 100 years. He believes that homosexuality is ‘illegitimate,’ that women shouldn’t preach, and that Catholicism is a ‘false’ religion.
Regular attendees include Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and Secretary of State nominee Mike Pompeo. In total, 10 cabinet members attend the group.
The meetings are held weekly on Wednesdays at an undisclosed location. They last between 60 and 90 minutes, and members are able to contact Drollinger after hours with questions.
Drollinger’s bible studies can be found on the Capitol Ministries website. According to Newsweek, the stated aim of the organization is to ‘evangelize elected officials and lead them toward maturity in Christ.’
The organization, founded in 2010, also holds bible study groups for elected officials in 43 states and over 20 locations globally.
‘Homosexuality and same-sex ceremonies are illegitimate in God’s eyes. His word is repetitive, perspicuous [clearly expressed], and staid on the subject,’ Drollinger wrote in one post.
Trump’s feedback
BBC reports that President Trump himself gives Drollinger feedback on his bible study groups. While Trump doesn’t personally attend, he still reads Drollinger’s sermons.
‘He writes me back notes on my bible studies,’ Drollinger said about Trump. ‘He’s got this leaky Sharpie felt-tip pen that he writes all capital letters with. “Way to go Ralph, really like this study, keep it up.” Stuff like that.’
People critical of Drollinger
Back in January, the New York Times published an opinion piece referring to Drollinger as a ‘Christian nationalist.’ He objected to this, and wrote a 1,400 word response—of course, deeming the newspaper to be ‘fake news.’
‘It has the idea of tyranny when you take it to its extreme,’ he wrote. ‘It means that I’m meeting with the Cabinet members clandestinely in order to overthrow the government – in the form that we presently have – for a theocracy. I mean, at the end of the day, that’s the accusation, and I have to be strong on that.’
Drollinger describes himself as a conservative Republican. He rallies against ‘environmentalist wackos’ and the ‘welfare state.’
Though he lives in California, he flies to Washington D.C. each week for the bible study group.
‘One of the emotions is, who am I to be here?’ he says of flying to Washington each week, before comparing himself to Moses.
‘You know, kind of like Moses. “Lord, I can’t even speak…”
‘I’m just a jock with some bad knees, and here I am. Only you [God] could have done this – why me? So that goes through my mind a lot, and I think that’s healthy.’
‘But then there’s the other standpoint – where I sense that I’ve got 21 years of expositing the word of God, specifically to apply to the life of a public servant.’