Thread by @jackmjenkins

1. So, Turning Point USA, headed by Charlie Kirk, has pivoted to faith outreach — and, critics say, embracing Christian nationalism.

In doing so, they're urging pastors to embrace right-wing politics as a *church growth strategy.*

It may be working. religionnews.com/2023/06/09/wit…

2. Of note: there’s been lots of coverage of Turning Point’s faith pivot. Rolling Stone had a whole feature on it recently.

But I was curious about the churches involved — who they are, why they do it, how their involvement impacts congregations, etc. rollingstone.com/politics/polit…

3. To investigate this, I went out to Phoenix, AZ, to visit "Freedom Night" at Dream City Church — a congregation that has slowly become something of the model for TPUSA's church outreach.

And other things, church leaders expressed a desire to make Arizona "a Christian state."

4. The event — attended by hundreds when I was there — had praise and worship music, an offering, an altar call, etc.

But the main event is led by Kirk himself, typically with a special guest.

At the one I attended, Kirk linked Tucker Carlson's rhetoric to Christianity itself.

5. As Richard Ruelas and @brieannafrank at the Arizona Republic have reported, these gatherings are now held *monthly* at Dream City.

But here's the thing: they're not the only church doing this, as Kirk/TPUSA is encouraging others to follow suit. azcentral.com/in-depth/news/…

6. Here's Kirk just a month earlier, speaking at Awaken Church in San Marcos, California, where he listed the founding of the U.S. alongside Christ’s resurrection in a litany of the “most important events in history.”

7. Kirk does this a lot, and here's the subtext: His group, along with TPUSA Faith co-chair and Godspeak pastor Rob McCoy, are encouraging pastors to host these events or make their own, arguing that doing so is not only righteous but also a *way to grow their churches.*

8. To back up: McCoy, if you're unfamiliar, is a CA pastor who garnered a lot of media attention during the pandemic for defying COVID restrictions.

McCoy told me he and Kirk worked together to get the word out, and, per @skestenbaum, attendance surged. washingtonpost.com/religion/2021/…

9. After McCoy and Kirk hatched TPUSA Faith, they hosted a pastor’s conference and framed this pivot-to-(a particular brand of)-politics as a way to grow churches.

10. This message was repeated multiple times during the conference.

Here's McCoy at last year's Pastor's Summit encouraging Tim Thompson, who was detained for protesting COVID restrictions in California, to mention his church’s growth in the wake of his conservative activism.

11. Meanwhile, other churches who have started holding TPUSA-branded events have become ever bolder.

Here's the pastor of Freedom Life Church in PA pulling school board candidates onstage and suggesting he is defying the IRS’ rule prohibiting churches from endorsing.

12. Pastors told me they're pulling in people from other churches, as well as those who've never been to church before.

Talking to folks after they left Dream City's "Freedom Night" event, most said they weren't members, but one told me the political events were WHY she joined.

13. Note: While, again, most of the handful of people I spoke with said they weren't members, literally all of them said they had donated during the offering.

14. But the pastors I spoke with said less about some risks associated with their political pivot: namely, the possibility for their churches to be tied to extremism.

For McCoy, who has asked God to make MTG president and argued "God is a nationalist," it's already happened.

15. After McCoy's profile rose, among those attracted to his church was John Strand, an underwear model who had helped organize anti-lockdown protests.

He appeared in a Dec 2020 Godspeak panel, insisting Biden wasn't elected before a pastor called worship a "freedom rally."

16. A few weeks later, Strand was caught on tape entering the Capitol on Jan 6.

He was promptly arrested and charged, but McCoy was quick to come to their defense — in fact, McCoy recorded an interview with Strand prosecutors *used during the trial.*

https://twitter.com/ryanjreilly/status/1572645105504292864

17. Even so, McCoy stood by Strand. The pastor spoke to me the day of Strand's sentencing a week or so ago, and said he was in the courtroom to support him.

When speaking about it to his church, he called the Capitol attack a "fed-surrection."

18. Now, about those other churches TPUSA-affiliated congregations are pulling from…

That includes the Rev. Caleb Campbell's, who told me folks left during the pandemic after he paused in-person worship and started preaching about social justice. religionnews.com/2022/11/11/mee…

19. But after Campbell attended TPUSA's events/Pastor's Conference, he reimagined his ministry as the opposite of Kirk's vision — i.e., a "missionary to Christian nationalists."

He began pulling members back — including some expats who left Dream City over it's political pivot.

20. Thus, there may be a *realignment* afoot within evangelicalism, with TPUSA exemplifying only one political pivot.

And it should be noted, TPUSA churches aren’t the only ones capitalizing on politics post-COVID.

I saw a similar dynamic in Idaho. religionnews.com/2023/02/22/how…

21. Anyway, there’s a lot more going on here, and I'd encourage you to read the article — which has lots of other stuff, including some thoughts from @MatthewBoedy, etc. — here: religionnews.com/2023/06/09/wit…