Since the assassination of political activist Charlie Kirk on 10 September, people in the United States and further afield are heading back to church in what has been termed “the Charlie Kirk effect.”
In the days immediately following his death, social media was swarming with videos of people sharing the impact that Kirk’s assassination was prompting in their lives; for many, that meant returning to church or attending a service for the first time.
“Jesus” was even trending on Google, with most searches originating in Utah, where Kirk was killed.
Since September, there has also been significant debate among Christians over the nature of Kirk’s death, with some publicly venerating the political commentator as a martyr and others rejecting that label.
Christian author and speaker Jackie Hill Perry came under fire for her comments on Kirk’s death, saying: “It’s not that I don’t appreciate his stances on abortion, on sexuality, on marriage. But it’s also, I hear other things alongside that that don’t give ‘martyr.’”
“We know that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church,” pastor Sean Feucht said in a video posted on social media. “The devil is not gonna win. The forces want us to be silent; they want us to shut up … We need to be more bold.”
Christian singer-songwriter Forrest Frank said that he lost 30,000 followers on social media after posting a video about Charlie Kirk in which he named Jesus as Lord. “Good. I don’t want you to follow me,” Frank said. “I don’t want you to track my music, I don’t want you to come to my shows, I don’t want you to do any of that if you don’t get this one thing and that is follow Jesus Christ… I don’t know if you can feel it too, there’s a heaviness. Something’s shifted and I don’t care. I don’t care anymore. I just want you to know that Jesus Christ is here. He loves you.”
In California, 20-year-old Bryce Bohorquez filmed a video, which has had more than three million views, showing the overflowing car park of the church he attends - Oceans Church. “Charlie Kirk, look what you did," Bohorquez said in the video. "No parking. Everyone wants to come now. Amen.”
Christian author and Director of Speak Life, Glen Scrivener, also posted a video discussing the "Kirk to church" trend. While Scrivener argued that Kirk’s death isn’t necessarily the right reason for people to go to church, he said: “I think it’s a very understandable reason and I think God will and is using it." Describing the response to Kirk’s assassination as an “awakening in the aftermath,” Scrivener said Christians should meet people where they are and bring them to a better reason for going to church. “People will come to church not for the reason of worshipping Jesus Christ and that’s okay cause that’s everybody,” he said. “But church still is about worshipping Jesus Christ. And what those Charlie Kirk fans need, even if they don’t realise it, is to hear His name rather than Charlie’s and I’m sure Charlie Kirk would agree with that.”
Read evangelical responses to the assassination of Charlie Kirk currently on the en website:
Should UK Christians go to Franklin Graham’s rallies?
Charles Colson was a senior member of President Nixon’s White House Staff who was sentenced to prison for his role …