Christian employee group at US state department unexpectedly suspended | Trump administration

A Christian employee organization at the US state department has been unexpectedly suspended, with leadership instructed to immediately cease all programmatic activities.

Grace, an employee resource group founded during the first Trump administration to promote religious diversity within the diplomatic corps, has been directed to pause its operations by Global Talent Management, according to an internal email obtained by the Guardian.

Kurt Finley, the group’s president, informed members in a missive that the organization would be suspending all “ministries and programs” pending further departmental guidance.

“We have been promised additional guidance in the future,” Finley wrote in the email.

During his first term, Donald Trump cultivated unprecedented access for evangelical Christian leaders, transforming government institutions into platforms for religious conservative ideology.

The state department, under then Secretary Mike Pompeo – an evangelical Christian who frequently intertwined personal faith with diplomatic strategy – became a particular focal point for this religious recalibration.

The sudden suspension is just the latest in the administration’s new approach to dismantling DEI initiatives and inclusive workplace networks, and shows what could happen to faith-based and affinity groups within a federal workplace.

“While the future of Grace as an employee organization at the state department is uncertain, I take heart in knowing that God’s sovereignty is certain,” Finley wrote in the email.

A state department spokesperson did not return a request for comment.