WASHINGTON (RNS) — A prominent Lutheran leader invoked the story of a martyr while defending work to help the needy after Elon Musk, a billionaire who runs the Department of Government Efficiency, described federal funding for Lutheran aid organizations as “illegal” over the weekend.
Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the largest Lutheran denomination in the country, posted a video debunking comments by Musk and others on Sunday (Feb. 2).
“Despite misinformation and baseless doubt cast today on funding that supports Lutheran organizations across our country, the ELCA remains steadfast in our commitment and work with our many Lutheran partners and expressions of our church,” Eaton said. “The ELCA is also concerned for other faith-based communities and organizations who have similarly come under attack.”
Eaton recounted the story of Saint Lawrence, a deacon in Ancient Rome. In the presiding bishop’s retelling, the Roman emperor demanded the Christian church turn over its riches, but Lawrence responded by selling the church’s possessions and giving the money to the poor. When the emperor finally confronted him and demanded the riches, Eaton said, Lawrence pointed to the “hungry, the poor, the naked, the stranger in the land, the most vulnerable.” He then declared: “These are the treasures of the Church.”
“He was martyred for that,” Eaton concluded. “Be of good courage, Church, and let us persevere.”
The controversy began late Saturday evening, when Michael Flynn, a Catholic and retired Army general who previously served as an adviser to President Donald Trump, published a post on X alongside screenshots of a spreadsheet detailing federal funding dispersed to Lutheran groups in the last two years. The spreadsheet — which also included organizations that were not Lutheran — listed groups such as Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (now Global Refuge), one of several organizations that partner with the federal government to resettle refugees; Lutheran colleges such as Pacific Lutheran University; and various local chapters of Lutheran Social Services.
Elon Musk speaks as part of a campaign town hall in support of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump in Folsom, Pa., Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Without citing evidence, Flynn accused the groups — who have longstanding funding agreements with the government — of “money laundering,” a federal crime. He also insisted the numbers amounted to “billions” of American taxpayer dollars, a claim not supported by the attached spreadsheet.
Musk, who describes himself as a “cultural Christian,” quote-posted Flynn’s claims, saying, “the (Department of Government Efficiency) team is rapidly shutting down these illegal payments.”
Global Refuge was quick to respond to the post, with CEO Krish O’Mara Vignarajah saying in a statement she “condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the false accusations being lodged against our humanitarian work.”
“As a faith-based nonprofit, we have proudly served legally admitted refugees and immigrants for more than 85 years,” she said in a statement to Religion News Service. “This includes Afghan Allies who risked their lives to protect U.S. troops, as well as persecuted Christians, all of whom have been extensively vetted and approved by multiple U.S. government agencies before traveling to our country. We also remain committed to caring for legally admitted unaccompanied children forced to flee to the United States.”
She added: “Across Democratic and Republican administrations, we have partnered with the U.S. government to ensure vulnerable children are safe from human trafficking and can be safely reunified with their parents or guardian.”
Flynn’s post also noted funds granted to Lutheran Social Services of the South, the legal name of a Texas-based group that does work under the name Upbring such as assisting parents who wish to adopt a child.
Efforts to reach DOGE — also known as as the U.S. DOGE Service, which is the new name of the U.S. Digital Service — were unsuccessful.
The targeting of Global Refuge comes after Trump already all but froze the United States Refugee Admissions Program in one of his first executive orders, shutting down the entry of refugees into the country aside from rare exceptions. Seven of the 10 groups that partner with the federal government to resettle refugees are faith-based, including Global Refuge. Several of the groups condemned Trump’s executive order at the time and have since vowed to aid refugees in whatever ways they can.
In addition, Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic, recently accused U.S. Catholic bishops of “resettling illegal immigrants” — a claim made without evidence — in an interview with CBS, as well as accusing prelates who defend the work of only being concerned with their “bottom line.”
Over the weekend, the Trump administration also began dismantling the United States Agency for International Development, with Musk saying on X early Monday morning that his DOGE team “spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper.” In the past, USAID has partnered with religious groups that do international work, such as Lutheran World Relief and Catholic Relief Services.