Faith leaders carry a banner lifting up Jesus’ call for social justice in Matthew 25 during a Palm Sunday Witness in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News)
March 30, 2026 | NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UM News)
Key points:
- Christians in some 30 cities and 16 states across the U.S. joined on Palm Sunday to protest rising authoritarianism, racism and Christian nationalism.
- In Nashville, marchers waving palm fronds and protest signs walked in silence to the Tennessee State Capitol.
- Event organizers estimate some 500-700 people from across Middle Tennessee participated in the march.
United Methodists joined with other Christians on Palm Sunday to stand in solidarity with the marginalized.
The Rev. Eric Mayle told marchers gathered at First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Nashville, Tennessee, on March 29 that they were joining with people of faith in 30 cities and 16 states across the U.S. for the Palm Sunday witness.
“Today we wave our palm branches; we march and cry out in solidarity with our neighbors, ‘Hosanna. God save us,’” said Mayle, pastor of Edgehill United Methodist Church in Nashville.
Marchers carrying palm fronds and protest signs walked in silence from First Lutheran to the Fred D. Thompson Federal Building and the William Snodgrass Tennessee Tower Plaza near the Tennessee State Capitol, crossing busy downtown streets with the help of Metro Nashville police and event volunteers.
The Rev. Stephen Handy (left) leads a litany outside the Fred D. Thompson Federal Building in Nashville, Tenn. Handy is lead pastor of McKendree United Methodist Church in Nashville. At right is Patrick Camacho of Edgehill United Methodist Church in Nashville. (Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News)
The Rev. Stephen Handy, senior pastor of McKendree United Methodist Church in Nashville, spoke to marchers gathered at the federal building.
“Horrific racism is embedded in the soul and the soil of America and evident in institutions and power structures that we live by. We are not the United States of America; we are the United States of Amnesia.
“To proclaim freedom is to stand with those targeted by … systems that profit from human suffering (and) confront powers that resist human dignity,” Handy said.
At the second stop, the Rev. Timothy Holton-Overcast said the state’s General Assembly is making life and death decisions, and he criticized Gov. Bill Lee’s decision to forgo federal funding for a summer food program for low-income children. Citing the state’s refusal because of administrative burdens, Holton-Overcast said, “feeding hungry kids should never be a burden.”
In February, Holton-Overcast helped organize United Methodist Day on the Hill, which he called “a field trip for faith in action.”
Event organizers estimate some 500 to 700 people from across Middle Tennessee participated in the Palm Sunday march to stand against rising authoritarianism, racism and Christian nationalism.
Participants hold up signs and palm fronds during an ecumenical Palm Sunday Witness on March 29 in Eugene, Ore. (Photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News)
On the other side of the U.S., in Eugene, Oregon, about 450 people marched to the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza in the center of Eugene for "Reclaiming Christianity in the Public Square: Standing Up and Speaking Out Against White Christian Nationalism."
The ecumenical effort was sponsored by about a dozen churches in Eugene, including First United Methodist and Asbury United Methodist Church.
The Rev. Ryan Scott (center), pastor of First United Methodist Church in Eugene, Ore., waves a palm frond during “Reclaiming Christianity in the Public Square: Standing Up and Speaking Out Against White Christian Nationalism” on March 29. The ecumenical celebration was one of at least 30 faith actions held across the U.S. on Palm Sunday. (Photo by Paul Jeffrey, UM News)
Mike DuBose is a freelance photographer and longtime UM News correspondent based in Nashville, Tenn. Freelance photojournalist Paul Jeffrey contributed to this report.