Screenshot from YouTube channel for On Fire Ministries
Matt Shea filmed a video at the Podium promoting the Christian nationalist event that Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward attended Sunday.
On Sunday evening, while parts of Spokane County burned, Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward appeared on stage at a Christian nationalist concert and worship event and accepted a prayer and endorsement from far-right former state Rep. Matt Shea, a Spokane Valley Republican.
Shea, a pastor with fringe religious beliefs who has been linked to extremist groups, spoke out against "homosexual marriage" and "transgender issues" and told the crowd to "vote our faith" one minute before inviting Woodward onstage.
"Father God, we pray a blessing over the leaders you have chosen for this time, " Shea said, placing his hand on Woodward's shoulder as the mayor bowed her head and raised her hands in prayer.
Joseph Peterson, who runs a local design studio, captured the prayer on video and posted it on social media, where it quickly spread.
To some in the community, it was a pretty shocking moment.
Woodward tends to position herself as a moderate conservative and, like almost everyone else in mainstream politics, previously stayed far away from Shea. In 2019, Shea was expelled from the state Republican legislative caucus after a report found he participated in domestic terrorism during the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupation. He also authored a manifesto that seemed to call for the killing of non-Christian males in the event of Biblical warfare.
When she ran for mayor in 2019, Woodward condemned Shea's "divisive and extreme rhetoric and ideology."
On Sunday, she hugged him as she left the stage.
THROWN UNDER THE BUS
On Monday morning, amid widespread condemnation, Woodward released a statement saying she only attended the event to join citizens in healing from the wildfires, and that she was "deeply disturbed that Matt Shea chose to politicize the event."
Later that afternoon, Woodward's campaign followed up with a stronger denunciation that described Shea's political beliefs as a "threat to our democracy."
Woodward wasn't the only candidate to appear with Shea that night. Earl Moore, a retired respiratory therapist who is running to represent northwest Spokane on City Council, also appeared on stage.
In a statement, Moore said she was invited by a personal friend, and that the event "was not advertised to me as an event with any ill will."
"I was not standing on a platform of any individual, but there to pray for my city and for unity," Moore said. "I stand strong against hatred of any kind."
In her own statement, Woodward claimed she didn't know Shea would be at the event, and that she didn't seek or accept his support.
"I should have made better efforts to learn who would be speaking at the event," Woodward said.
Sunday's event was part of a nationwide "Kingdom to the Capitol" tour led by Sean Feucht, a musician and political figure. The tour is a partnership between Feucht's "Let Us Worship" group and Turning Point USA Faith, a right-wing political organization.
Shea's presence on Sunday wasn't a huge surprise. In addition to saying he would be there on Facebook and Twitter, Shea also appeared at a previous stop on Feucht's tour in Olympia last month. Several days before the event, RANGE Media published an article detailing the close ties between Shea and Feucht.
Shea also filmed a promotional video for the event.
"There's gonna be baptisms, there's gonna be giveaways, there's gonna be a lot happening, " Shea said in the video. "But most important, we're going to be lifting up Jesus Christ in the spirit of worship."
Maybe Woodward didn't know any of that. But even then, Feucht was very clearly marketed as the event's headliner. He and Shea run in the same circles, and Feucht shares many of Shea's well-documented Christian nationalist beliefs.
"We want God to be in control of everything, we want believers to be the ones writing the laws," Feucht said in a speech last spring where he described himself as a Christian nationalist.
Feucht rose to prominence in 2020 with his protests against pandemic restrictions on church services. He recently released a movie about the protests with the tongue-in-cheek title "Superspreader."
In July, dozens of faith leaders in Washington, Oregon and Idaho sent a letter to local legislators warning them of Feucht's plans to perform at state capitols. The letter was organized by the nonprofit Western States Center, a Portland-based civil rights group.
"Feucht has spent the past year capitalizing on anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments by railing against Pride Month, even embracing the exclusionary label of 'Christian nationalist,' and declaring that people with his narrow view of Christian theology should make all laws in the United States," the letter said. "We reject these attempts to cloak bigotry in religious language, and we ask you to do the same."
In a Monday tweet, Shea suggested that Woodward knew what she was getting into and accused her of politicizing the event. He noted that the event was planned months in advance, and claimed that Woodward accepted the invitation before the fires started on Friday.
Shea did not respond to a message on Twitter asking who invited Woodward, or if her claim that she didn't know he would be there is accurate. The question was sent with a newly-created alternate account, because Shea has me and most other reporters in Spokane blocked on Twitter.
