Brooke Rollins, secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, oversees multiple agencies that support farmers and ranchers, safeguard the nation’s food supply, provide food assistance for at-risk individuals, promote rural development and steward national forests and grasslands. Recently she spoke with Decision about God’s call on her life to serve Him through public policy and to shine His light in dark places.
Q: How have you seen God’s hand guiding you to your current position?
A: God’s hand has been the driving force in everything I’ve ever done. God has been, for as long as I can remember, such a massive part of everything, even in times when I didn’t really want to. I’m reminded of Moses and the burning bush in Exodus, that we’re called to meet the moment, and certainly I’ve found that to be true for me.
Q: Looking at your previous jobs and education, it seems like you were tailor-made to be the secretary of agriculture.
A: Through all the years—as an agricultural major at Texas A&M and then earning a law degree at the University of Texas, I really thought I’d end up at seminary and be a youth minister, that’s where my heart was. But I also realized that maybe my ministry would be larger than a church or a youth group.
And I think God’s hand was in this 100%: I was drawn to law school and the idea that maybe I would lean into public policy, where I could make a macro difference in terms of bringing real change to people in a real Matthew 25 sense—that what you do for the least of these, you do for Christ.
I founded the Texas Public Policy Foundation and built that over 15 years, never planning to leave, but once I ended up in the White House in the last Trump administration, with the idea that I was going to build out a pretty significant and aggressive policy effort, I kind of looked around and said, “Oh, I see Your plan now, God. I see what You had in store for me. When I built that policy think tank in Texas, You were preparing me for this moment.”
But then, when the second term didn’t happen right away and I built the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), I remember thinking, Oh, now I get it; now I see what Your plan was. Your plan was to give me that experience in the White House to really understand what Your work entailed and what I needed to do to keep effectuating it. And it made perfect sense, and I thought that was it.
And then the president came to me with the secretary of agriculture position, and I now realize all of that was prelude and preparation for this job, which has been the honor of a lifetime.
Q: When did you get serious about serving Jesus Christ through your vocation?
A: It really began in earnest when I was about 13 years old at our family farm in Minnesota. That’s when I really felt a calling, and I didn’t know what that meant, but I just felt God speaking to me that my life was important, and He was going to guide me, and He had His hand on my heart, and I had to trust Him. And that took me to Texas A&M and looking into seminary, but realizing that maybe I was being called in a different direction. I went to law school with the idea that policy and government could be used for such good and freedom and liberty and values, and making sure that we had the right plan in place to move all of that forward in a Biblical way. But it really started at my family’s farm.
And then I really found a new purpose when I became a mom about 20 years ago. My heart expanded in about 100 different directions with my kids. We have four: Luke, Jake, Anna and Lily. It has been the greatest blessing in my life, serving God and growing and raising my children with my husband over the last two decades.
Q: You have been a mainstay in the Cabinet Bible study; what are you studying now?
A: We are very deep into studying service and being servants of God and servant leaders, but also being able to resist the temptation that comes with power—staying humble and serving God in these positions. And for me, it’s one of my greatest joys to share that time with my fellow Cabinet members, many of whom I have known for a very long time, which makes the brotherhood, the sisterhood, even more special. I was part of the Cabinet Bible studies at the end of the first Trump term, and then we kept them going in the interim with the first Trump cabinet—many of them very regular, from Rick Perry to Sonny Perdue to Ben Carson. And now to marry that crew with our current crew has been really special.
Q: Is there a particular Scripture passage that you think about often?
A: Right now, the one that’s really speaking to me is Romans 13:12, putting on the armor of light. And I feel that very sincerely. There is just a lot of darkness—not with this White House or my current boss, President Trump, or our Cabinet, but with government in general, and with the other side fighting for the soul of America. And it’s all about bringing the light, being the light, shining the light. Jesus talks a lot about the light, all the way through Scripture, and that has always really spoken to me, but more recently it is that armor of light—and it is an armor. For me to be able to do this job and to fight for America and to protect my family all at the same time, I’ve got to have that armor. And when people ask me what they could do to help, I just say pray—pray for the light. Pray that we continue to shine it in all corners of what we’re doing, and that we put on the armor of light as we’re doing it.
Q: In an all-consuming job like yours, how do you prioritize your relationship with God?
A: I feel such joy in the work, as difficult as it is and as long as the hours are. But I’m still putting my family and God first and working within the contours of that framework. I guess you could define this job as all consuming, but it’s also so joyful that I find and see God in everything we’re doing. So it’s not a job where I get sad or down or discouraged, because I never do. I always feel the light in everything we’re doing, and I feel like I’ve been called and prepared for a time such as this.
Q: How do Biblical principles guide the way you do your work?
A: We wrote a book at AFPI called Biblical Foundations for an America First Agenda. So much of what we do as devout Christians in terms of public policy is very clear: It’s pro-life. It’s pro-family. It’s pro-Israel. Those are so clearly stated in Scripture. But I wanted a book that was much deeper than that. I wanted to talk about how border security is Scripturally based. How education choice is based in Scripture. We went through and systematically built an entire policy agenda based on Scripture. So, for me, it isn’t just doing for the least of these or putting on the armor of light or being called like Moses or being called for a time such as this. All of those really speak to me, but it’s also the deeper level of public policy that is woven throughout the New Testament. All of that, for me, is the playbook, the blueprint for my life and what I have dedicated my life to do. And I see it every day—in every move that we make, in every Cabinet meeting and every agency meeting.
Q: How can our readers pray for you?
A: Pray for energy and intentionality, and for finding the light in every dark corner of the battle that we’re in for the soul of America. ©2025 BGEA
Interviewed by Bob Paulson, editor.
Photo: Kayla Bartkowski / Getty Images