Budde worked in urban ministry in
Arizona and then as a missionary in
Honduras before joining the clergy. She was accepted as a
postulant in the Episcopal Church at the age of 24. Her first position after seminary was as
assistant rector at
Trinity Episcopal Church in
Toledo, Ohio. She became rector of St. John's Episcopal Church in
Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1993, and served 18 years in that position.
Episcopacy Budde was
elected the ninth
bishop of Washington on June 18, 2011, at a special convention at
Washington National Cathedral to replace the retiring bishop,
John Bryson Chane. As bishop, Budde heads the
Episcopal Diocese of Washington, which comprises 86 Episcopal congregations and 10 Episcopal schools across the
District of Columbia and in four
Maryland counties: and as an
ex officio member of the Governing Board of the
National Cathedral School.
Advocacy and initiatives Budde oversaw
the 2017 removal of the
Washington National Cathedral's
stained-glass panes honoring
Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and
Stonewall Jackson. In place of the old windows (donated in 1953 by the
United Daughters of the Confederacy), new windows depicting the struggle for
African Americans' civil rights (entitled
Now and Forever and executed by
Kerry James Marshall) were installed in 2023. In October 2018, Budde and
Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Episcopal bishop, presided over the
interment service of the ashes of
Matthew Shepard, a gay man murdered in 1998. Shepard's parents had hesitated for years to bury Shepard's remains out of fear that anti-gay activists would vandalize the site, but due to the support of Budde and Robinson, they felt his remains would be safe at the National Cathedral. In June 2020, amid the
George Floyd protests in Washington, DC, Budde criticized the use of police and
National Guard to forcibly clear protestors from
Lafayette Square ahead of President
Donald Trump's pose for a photo op in front of
St. John's Church, enabling its use "as a backdrop for a message antithetical to the teachings of
Jesus." In August, Budde offered the
benediction at the closing of the
second night of the
2020 Democratic National Convention. In her prayer, Budde asked God for the "grace to do something big for something good" (quoting
William Sloane Coffin). When convention organizers suggested she deliver the benediction from in front of St. John's Church, she declined, saying the idea was "wildly inappropriate." In September 2024, Budde was one of about 200 Christian leaders and scholars to sign an open letter calling for the preservation of pluralist
democracy, and opposition to
authoritarian rule, citing it as an imperative of the Christian faith. The statement described democracy's
balances and constitutional protections as indispensable means to rein in "human tendencies to dominate, demean, and exploit" and thus fulfill Christian principles (such as
the call to be peacemakers, the belief that humans are created in
God's image, and the injunction to
love one's enemy).
2025 presidential inauguration service On January 21, 2025, the day after
Donald Trump's second inauguration as president, Budde delivered the
homily at the
interfaith prayer service traditionally held at the Washington National Cathedral after each
presidential inauguration. Also in attendance were the new vice president,
JD Vance; House speaker
Mike Johnson; and
Pete Hegseth, Trump's nominee for
defense secretary. In the sermon, Budde addressed Trump, who was sitting in the first pew, urging him to show mercy and compassion to vulnerable people, Budde specifically cited the
LGBTQ+ communities,
immigrants, and
refugees fleeing from war in their countries. Trump called the service "very boring" and demanded an apology from Budde and the Episcopal Church. Trump allies also attacked Budde; evangelical pastor
Robert Jeffress condemned the bishop for having "insulted rather than encouraged our great president" According to
Baptist News Global,
Megan Basham and other far-right religious figures used the incident to press their views against the
ordination of women as pastors. Budde's remarks were welcomed by
civil rights advocate
Bernice King,
Pope Francis's biographer
Austen Ivereigh and other public figures, including the Episcopal Church's
senior bishop,
Sean Rowe, who said that "a plea for mercy, a recognition of the stranger in our midst, is core to the faith ... but it's not bound to political ideology". When asked by
Times Brian Bennett about Trump's reaction to her message, Budde said, "I don't hate President Trump. I strive not to hate anyone and I dare say that I am not of the 'radical left' either, whatever that means. That is not who I am." When asked if she would heed Trump's demand for an apology, she replied, "I am not going to apologize for asking for mercy for others." Budde described her sermon as fairly mild, with the intended message to the new president that "The country has been entrusted to you. And one of the qualities of a leader is mercy."
D.C. Police investigated threatening phone calls made to Budde in the aftermath of the service. == Recognition and honors==