Witness Moment

Confessing That ‘Every Life Is Valuable’

Lutherans stand up for life at the 2025 March for Life in Washington, D.C.

Story by Stacey Eising | Photography by Roy S. Askins | Spring 2025

On Jan. 24, LCMS Lutherans joined tens of thousands of other pro-life marchers at the 52nd annual March for Life in Washington, D.C.

This year, LCMS President Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison was one of several speakers — including U.S. Vice-President J.D. Vance — to address the huge crowd gathered beneath the Washington Monument for the pre-march rally.

U.S. Vice-President J.D. Vance speaks during the 2025 National March for Life. Below: LCMS President Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison walks with the Rev. Dr. Dien Ashley Taylor, president of the LCMS Atlantic District.

“Why do we march? Because the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanses us from all our sins. Why do we march? Because many consciences in America have died, and we believe in resurrections, and we say, ‘Lazarus, come out,’” said Harrison from the stage.

For the first time, the LCMS group was joined by a representative from the leadership of all 35 LCMS districts, including 22 district presidents.

“I’ve been to the national March for Life more than 20 times,” said the Rev. Christopher Esget, LCMS fifth vice-president and pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Alexandria, Va. “My first few years I saw it as a political statement. … I now see it as a confession that every life is valuable and a gift from God. … We’re testifying in the public square that there is something greater than politics — we’re setting the matter before God and peacefully ‘lifting high the cross,’ so to speak, to call the world to Jesus, in whom is life.”

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Stacey Eising

Managing editor for The Lutheran Witness.