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Which megachurch pastors have spoken at Turning Point USA events?
Executive summary
Turning Point USA’s faith arm, TPUSA Faith, has hosted multiple “Pastors Summit” and Faith Forward events that list speakers including Charlie Kirk, Rob McCoy, Jentezen Franklin, Greg Laurie, Lucas Miles, Samuel Rodriguez and others; TPUSA’s own recap names Rob McCoy and Charlie Kirk among summit speakers [1]. Independent reporting and watchdog writing add that megachurch pastors such as Rob McCoy and Jentezen Franklin have been visibly connected to TPUSA events and that TPUSA Faith aims to recruit pastors into political activism [2] [3] [4].
1. What the organization itself lists: TPUSA’s speaker roll call
TPUSA’s own materials and event recaps show they invite a mix of conservative public figures and pastoral leaders to their pastor-focused events; TPUSA’s 2023 recap specifically lists Pastor Rob McCoy and Charlie Kirk among speakers, and TPUSA Faith program pages list multiple panels and speakers across summits [1] [5]. TPUSA frames these gatherings as pastor training to “stand boldly for righteousness” and to mobilize faith leaders into cultural and civic engagement [1] [5].
2. Megachurch pastors named in coverage of TPUSA events
Reporting and event coverage mention at least two megachurch pastors in close association with TPUSA events: Rob McCoy (a California megachurch pastor whom reporting describes as a mentor in “Christian Nationalism”) and Jentezen Franklin, whose Free Chapel hosted a TPUSA Faith Pastors Summit in Gainesville, Georgia, according to Word&Way [2] [3]. Word&Way’s account highlights Franklin as the pastor of the hosting megachurch and names McCoy delivering blunt political-religious messaging to the gathering [2] [3].
3. Additional named or implied faith leaders who have appeared
TPUSA’s own summit recaps and affiliated pages list a broader roster of speakers who include figures sometimes identified as pastors or faith leaders alongside political commentators and public personalities — for example, Eric Metaxas, Samuel Rodriguez, and others have been listed in related materials and later-event promotions [1] [6]. The TPUSA Faith summit program archives also show panels featuring named religious educators and pastors such as Micah Beckwith, Dr. Joseph Bondarenko and others in earlier summit lineups [7].
4. Watchdog and investigative context: TPUSA Faith’s recruitment strategy
The Southern Poverty Law Center’s case study documents TPUSA Faith as an intentional push—launched in 2021—to organize pastors and churches to advance TPUSA’s political aims, offering sermon templates and training that guide clergy toward political activism; that report explicitly links TPUSA’s outreach to pastors like Rob McCoy influencing the organization’s turn toward religious activism [4]. This frames the speaker appearances not only as platitudes but as part of a wider strategy to network and mobilize clergy.
5. Disagreements and limits in the record
Sources agree TPUSA hosts pastor-focused summits and has invited or featured named pastors, but available sources do not provide a definitive, comprehensive list of every “megachurch pastor” who has ever spoken at every TPUSA event. TPUSA’s own recaps list many speakers (including non-clergy public figures) but do not, in the provided excerpts, enumerate every megachurch pastor by ministry size or affiliation [1] [5]. Independent coverage highlights some high-profile pastoral names (Rob McCoy, Jentezen Franklin) but does not claim to be exhaustive [2] [3].
6. Why the distinction between “pastor” and “megachurch pastor” matters
News accounts and watchdog reports emphasize that TPUSA Faith intentionally targets pastors to shift churches toward political engagement; naming megachurch pastors like Rob McCoy and Jentezen Franklin matters because their platforms and church sizes can amplify TPUSA’s message to broader congregations [4] [2]. However, the sources provided do not, in these excerpts, quantify church sizes for all named speakers or confirm their “megachurch” status for every individual listed [1] [7].
7. What reporters and researchers should check next
To compile a definitive list, researchers should cross-reference TPUSA/TPUSA Faith event programs and video archives with independent news coverage and denominational records to verify each speaker’s pastoral role and church size; available sources here give clear leads (Rob McCoy, Jentezen Franklin, Charlie Kirk as host/speaker, and others such as Greg Laurie or Samuel Rodriguez noted in later promotions) but do not substitute for a full, sourced roster [1] [6] [2] [3] [4].
Summary takeaway: TPUSA Faith has publicly hosted and promoted events that include megachurch-affiliated speakers such as Rob McCoy and Jentezen Franklin, and TPUSA documents list numerous faith leaders at its pastor summits; watchdog reporting frames these appearances as part of an organized effort to politicize clergy, but the provided materials do not produce a complete, authoritative list of every megachurch pastor who has ever spoken at TPUSA events [1] [2] [4].