Which pastors have publicly endorsed or partnered with Turning Point USA or Action with Charlie Kirk?
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Executive summary
Multiple pastors have publicly partnered with or spoken at Turning Point USA’s faith initiatives—most prominently Rob McCoy and Lucas Miles, who helped launch TPUSA Faith with Charlie Kirk; TPUSA Faith events have also featured broad rosters of evangelical leaders including Greg Laurie, Jack Hibbs and Samuel Rodríguez [1] [2] [3]. Coverage and organization materials show TPUSA Faith explicitly recruits and equips pastors for political engagement, and TPUSA’s own prospectus budgeted millions for pastor outreach [4] [2].
1. Turning Point’s “Faith” arm and who leads it
Turning Point USA created a dedicated Faith program—branded TPUSA Faith—and named Lucas Miles as a senior director; organizational pages describe TPUSA Faith’s aim to “equip pastors and believers to stand boldly” and to reject “wokeism” and “cultural Marxism,” signaling an explicit pastor-targeting strategy rather than an incidental relationship [2] [5]. TPUSA’s investor materials also promised a multi‑million dollar program to “engage thousands of pastors nationwide,” tying institutional resources directly to pastor outreach [4].
2. Rob McCoy: a public partner and ideological mentor
Reporting and multiple biographies identify California pastor Rob McCoy as a formal partner with Charlie Kirk in launching TPUSA Faith in 2021 and as a key pastoral ally who influenced Kirk’s turn toward Christian nationalist strategies such as the Seven Mountains idea [1] [6]. Coverage portrays McCoy as a recurring public collaborator and one of the pastors most closely associated with Kirk and TPUSA Faith programming [1] [7].
3. Pastors who have spoken at TPUSA Faith events
TPUSA Faith conferences and reporting list specific pastors and ministry leaders who have spoken at or been invited to TPUSA Faith gatherings: Greg Laurie, Jack Hibbs, Rob McCoy, Samuel Rodríguez, Lucas Miles and others appear on program lists for events like the Faith Forward Pastors Summit and earlier pastor summits [3] [8]. Independent reporting on TPUSA’s pastors’ summits notes Charlie Kirk himself speaking, and describes TPUSA encouraging pastors toward political activism from the pulpit [8] [9].
4. What “partnership” has meant in practice
Sources show two practical lines of partnership: formal co‑founding or leadership roles (e.g., McCoy’s partnership with Kirk; Lucas Miles’ TPUSA Faith leadership) and event participation (speakers and attendees at pastors’ summits and Freedom Night-style events) [1] [2] [3]. Coverage by Word&Way and MinistryWatch says TPUSA urged pastors to return to direct political messaging — even calls to defy the Johnson Amendment were reported at summits — indicating the partnership extends beyond speaking engagements into political mobilization training [8] [9] [10].
5. Scale and institutional intent: money and messaging
TPUSA’s investor prospectus and organizational statements show the Faith initiative was a sizeable, explicit investment (a cited $6.4 million budget figure for pastor outreach in the prospectus) aimed at “breathe[ing] renewed civic engagement into our churches,” which aligns internal spending with the public-facing mission to politicize pastoral networks [4]. TPUSA’s public team materials describe a mission to “win America’s culture war,” making political objectives explicit to clergy partners [2].
6. Conflicting frames in the reporting
Competing frames appear across sources: TPUSA and affiliated pages depict TPUSA Faith as pastoral support and evangelistic renewal, while critical reporting frames the same activities as conversion of churches into political mobilization centers and as encouragement to endorse candidates or defy IRS rules [2] [8] [10]. The Presbyterian Outlook and Word&Way emphasize the political consequences and Christian nationalist elements of TPUSA’s pastor outreach [11] [8].
7. What available sources do not mention
Available sources do not mention a comprehensive public list of every pastor who has ever endorsed or partnered with TPUSA; reporting identifies notable figures and event lineups but not an exhaustive roster (not found in current reporting). Sources provided do not document reciprocal endorsements by every listed pastor nor specify financial arrangements between individual pastors and TPUSA beyond event hosting and speaking roles (not found in current reporting).
8. Takeaway for readers
If you’re tracking clergy influence networks, the evidence shows TPUSA deliberately built a Faith arm with paid resources and pastoral leaders (Lucas Miles, Rob McCoy) to recruit pastors into explicit civic and political engagement, and TPUSA events have featured high‑profile evangelical speakers [4] [2] [3]. Interpretations diverge: TPUSA presents pastoral activation as spiritual and civic renewal, while critics and independent reporters present it as organized political mobilization inside churches—both frames are supported in the record [2] [8] [10].