Black Church Leaders Split Over Reactions to Charlie Kirk’s Death

The death of conservative podcaster Charlie Kirk has exposed sharp political and theological rifts, including within Black churches, as clergy debate how faith should respond to a figure celebrated by the right and criticized by others for incendiary rhetoric.

Several pastors condemned efforts by conservative politicians to cast Kirk as a champion of Christian values while, they argue, overlooking his history of remarks targeting Black people, immigrants, women, Muslims, and LGBTQ+ communities.

“How you die does not redeem how you lived,” said the Rev. Howard-John Wesley of Alexandria, Va., in a sermon that went viral after being posted on social media.

Those tensions were on display at a stadium memorial in Arizona attended by tens of thousands, including President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and other prominent conservatives.

The Rev. Joel Bowman of Louisville, Ky., told NBC News the event felt “part memorial service” and “part political rally,” calling it emblematic of the merging of Christian symbolism with right-wing politics that has marked recent years.

From the stage, Vance hailed Kirk as “an American hero” and “a martyr for Christianity,” while Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) compared him to John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. The comparisons drew swift rebuke.

The Rev. Jamal Bryant, pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church near Atlanta, blasted the linkage to King in a sermon posted to Instagram. “How dare you compare him to Martin Luther King,” Bryant said, adding that while he rejects violence and believes Kirk should not have been killed, “after that, they got nothin’ else in common.”

Some Black clergy offered a different view. Bishop Patrick L. Wooden Sr. of Raleigh, N.C., praised Kirk’s advocacy of conservative Christian values and urged congregants to extend grace to his family. “The Bible says we don’t render evil for evil,” Wooden said, echoing Kirk’s opposition to diversity, equity and inclusion programs and to LGBTQ+ rights.

The divergent responses underscore an ongoing struggle within Black church communities over how to engage a polarized political culture—and whether mercy in death can or should soften judgment of a public life steeped in controversy.