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A month after co-founder Charlie Kirk‘s assassination in Utah, the faith arm of Turning Point USA (TPUSA) has doubled its church network, while drawing in hundreds of thousands of new followers nationwide.
TPUSA spokesman Andrew Kolvet confirmed to Fox News on Tuesday that its church network has reached 8,000 in one of the largest growth spikes in the organization’s history.
Kolvet added that more than 200,000 new Christians have become involved with TPUSA Faith nationwide, and the organization’s social media accounts have seen over 1,000% growth across followers, views and streams in the past month.
Appearing on “The Story,” Kolvet told host Trace Gallagher, “TPUSA Faith, which Charlie launched during COVID, has — so just to put it in perspective, we had about 4,000 churches in the network before 9/10. We have added over 4,000 more churches.
“So, now we’ve doubled. We have 8,000 churches in our network at TPUSA Faith. We’ve seen almost 1,000% growth across all social media platforms. And get this. We’ve had over 200,000 people sign up to become a part of TPUSA Faith.
Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk addresses a full house at a TPUSA Faith event in Phoenix Oct. 5, 2022. (Joshua Lott/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“So, what we’re doing in the faith space has more than doubled, and it’s, again, what a testament to the legacy that Charlie Kirk has left. There’s just so much more good than there is bad, and it’s important for us to remind everybody about that,” Kolvet added.
Kolvet said the growth reflects a revival-like response among church communities nationwide.
“It’s really encouraging for me just to see the pure raw numbers of that because you can feel it. There’s so many anecdotes and so many people that have come to us, sent us emails,” he said. “You see it in the social media comments saying, ‘Charlie re-inspired my faith. I’m going back to church. I’m praying for my husband. Our marriage has been saved because of the legacy that … and just the way Charlie lived his life.”
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A supporter holds a “Remembering Charlie” poster at a memorial following the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. (Eric Thayer/Getty Images)
TPUSA Faith offers resources such as prayer groups, faith courses and a monthly devotional.
According to its mission statement, “TPUSA Faith is dedicated to empowering Christians to put their faith into action. We engage, equip, and empower millions of grateful Americans who are prepared to defend our God-given rights, by giving them the tools to expose lies and articulate the connection between Faith and Freedom.”
Kolvet said he credits the growth to “the way Charlie would integrate the message of faith into everything that he did.”
Charlie Kirk speaks during the Turning Point USA Young Women’s Leadership Summit June 14 in Grapevine, Texas. (Sam Hodde for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“[Charlie would] get a question about, regardless of the topic, he would get a question, and he would find a way to integrate his faith just seamlessly into that,” Kolvet said. “And after, you know, Charlie was assassinated, people started seeing these clips, and they would realize just what he was doing with all of those interactions that he had one by one over the years and how so much wisdom was packed into these social media videos that now people are rediscovering.
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“And then they hear about the way he lived his life or loved Erica, his wife, or his kids, and they realized that there is true wisdom here and a future and a purpose for them. So, it’s wonderful to see.”