Which megachurch pastors have publicly endorsed Turning Point USA or its leaders?
Executive summary
Reporting in 2023–2025 shows Turning Point USA and its TPUSA Faith arm holding pastors’ summits that featured and were hosted by prominent megachurch leaders, and a number of megachurch pastors have appeared with or supported TPUSA events — including Jentezen Franklin, Rob McCoy, Sam Masteller and pastors tied to Dream City and Calvary Chapel networks — though available sources do not present a single, definitive list of all “endorsements” [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. Big-tent events, big-name pulpits: TPUSA’s strategy to ally with megachurches
Turning Point USA has actively built a “TPUSA Faith” program that runs pastors’ summits and public events aimed at uniting conservative pastors; TPUSA’s own promotion of Pastors Summits and Faith programming lists hundreds of pastors attending and names high-profile speakers including Rob McCoy and Charlie Kirk [1] [5]. TPUSA frames the effort as equipping pastors “to stand boldly for biblical truth” and to “reject wokeism,” signaling a deliberate outreach to megachurch leadership [6] [5].
2. Pastors who have hosted or shared stages with TPUSA
Reporting and TPUSA materials show specific megachurch pastors have hosted or facilitated TPUSA events. Free Chapel in Gainesville, Georgia — pastored by Jentezen Franklin — hosted a TPUSA Faith Pastors Summit, with on-site coverage noting Franklin’s long-standing political profile [2] [7]. TPUSA’s event recaps list Rob McCoy among featured speakers at Pastors Summit gatherings [1]. TPUSA-associated event reporting also documents Dream City (a Phoenix-area megachurch) leaders co-organizing “Freedom Night in America” with Turning Point, showing organizational-level cooperation with large congregations [3].
3. Pastors using TPUSA events to mobilize politically
Several pastors tied to larger churches have used TPUSA events as venues for explicit political mobilization. Reporting on TPUSA Faith gatherings recounts pastors urging support for specific school-board candidates on stage and advising churches to engage politically — practices TPUSA endorses as part of its Faith programming [3] [8]. Local Maine reporting also links pastors such as Alan Imes of New Beginnings and Travis Carey of Calvary Chapel Greater Portland to GOP-aligned organizing and TPUSA-style faith chapters, indicating overlap between conservative megachurch pastors and TPUSA outreach at the state level [4].
4. Distinguishing “hosting/appearing” from “publicly endorsing”
Available sources document hosting, speaking and organizational partnership, but they do not always use the language “public endorsement” for every pastor involved; TPUSA’s own recaps and independent reporting list speakers and host churches without formal endorsement statements in every case [1] [3]. Where outlets note a pastor’s political alignment — e.g., Jentezen Franklin described as a “longtime Trump ally” — that shows ideological affinity but not necessarily a signed endorsement of TPUSA or its leaders beyond participation [2] [7].
5. TPUSA’s internal framing and recruiting tactics
TPUSA Faith materials promote a church-facing agenda to “unite the American Church” against what it calls “wokeism” and “cultural Marxism,” and to train pastors to “play offense” in culture wars; that programmatic framing clarifies why the organization courts megachurch leaders who can deliver large audiences [6] [5]. TPUSA’s recaps cite over 1,100 pastors at a Pastors Summit in Nashville, illustrating the scale of reach when megachurch pastors participate [1].
6. Areas where sources are silent or ambiguous
Sources provided do not offer a comprehensive, authoritative roll-call of every megachurch pastor who has “publicly endorsed” Turning Point USA or its leaders; instead they show event participation, hosting, and cooperative programming involving named pastors [1] [2] [3]. The sources do not include signed endorsement statements from every mentioned pastor nor a definitive list of megachurches that have formally endorsed TPUSA’s leadership (not found in current reporting).
7. Competing viewpoints and potential agendas
TPUSA and its Faith arm present participation as pastoral equipping and evangelistic clarity [6] [5]. Independent coverage frames the same gatherings as political mobilization and cultural warfare; Word&Way emphasizes Christian nationalism connections and partisan urgency among participating pastors [2] [7]. Readers should note TPUSA’s organizational interest in recruiting churches into its culture-war agenda and media outlets’ differing priorities in highlighting political implications [6] [2].
8. Bottom line for readers seeking specifics
If you need a verified list of megachurch pastors who have explicitly and publicly endorsed Turning Point USA or its leaders, available reporting documents specific participations (Jentezen Franklin hosting, Rob McCoy speaking, Dream City and other pastors sharing stages) but does not compile or quote formal endorsement statements for every megachurch pastor — further reporting or direct statements from individual pastors or TPUSA would be required to produce a definitive endorsement list [1] [2] [3] [4].