Trump Cabinet has Bible study meetings with pastor who wants 'disciples of Christ' to take over the government

Cabinet officials in the President Donald Trump's White House meet for a weekly Bible study group led by a right-wing pastor dedicated to "making disciples of Christ in the Capitol" and spreading Christian fundamentalism among U.S. leaders.

Fusion.net reported Thursday that Energy Secretary and former Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry attends the weekly prayer and Bible study meetings which are held in the Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday mornings.

Fusion obtained a copy of Perry's schedule from Apr. 5 which included the meeting, but did not list who else would be in attendance. Pastor Ralph Drollinger's website Capitol Ministries, however says that the Christian pastor presides over weekly Bible Study meetings with Trump Cabinet officials.

Drollinger, Fusion's Brendan O'Connor wrote is "(a) former college basketball star turned evangelical Christian whose own church disavowed him over his bigotry and radical theology."

The controversial pastor, O'Connor said, "has variously proclaimed that Catholicism is 'the world’s largest false religion,' that female legislators who continue working after having children are sinners, and that homosexuality is an 'abomination.' He has also written that social welfare programs are un-Christian. 'It is safe to say that God is a Capitalist,' Drollinger once wrote, 'not a Communist.'"

Drollinger is a devoted friend and supporter of Attorney Gen. Jeff Session, who he said in January "hungers and thirsts for the Scripture." The pastor takes credit for inculcating Sessions with radical anti-immigrant views, which were on display during Sessions' contentious confirmation hearings.

“I’ve had the distinct honor of teaching him on this subject, and many others,” Drollinger said. “There’s nothing more exciting, when you’re a Bible teacher, to see one of the guys you’re working with -- to see him or her articulate something you’ve taught them when they’re under the gun.”

Capitol Ministries, Drollinger says, is a "para-church ministry"  that caters to a "target audience" of U.S. legislators. In Sep. 2015, Drollinger told an interviewer that his dream is to set up a "factory" that pumps out right-wing Christian politicians like former U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN).

Bachmann serves on the board of Capitol Ministries and Drollinger has praised her as having unerring instincts when it comes to applying her Christian faith to the law.

“She thinks Biblically,” he said. “She doesn’t need a whole lot of time to figure out how to vote because she sees the world through a scriptural lens. We need more men and women like her in office.”

O'Connor reported that Drollinger holds three weekly prayer and Bible study groups: "one for Cabinet members ('7:00 am Wednesdays Mornings. Location Undisclosed. Light Refreshments Served.'); one for the Senate ('8:00 am Tuesdays, Rotating Offices of Senators. Hot Breakfast Served.'); and one for members of the House ('Capitol H324: Monday or Tuesday Evenings after First Votes Back. Dinner Served.')"

Capitol Ministries groups have been sponsored by now-CIA Director Mike Pompeo, Vice President Mike Pence, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price and Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX).

Capitol Ministries' website proclaims that the group "plants and develops biblical ministries of evangelism and discipleship to Public Servants" and that it has "birthed ongoing outposts for Christ in more than 60 capitols throughout the world since our founding in 1996."