When I walked into State Farm Stadium on Sunday, I was immediately taken back to the Protestant and evangelical churches I attended as a kid.
The Glendale stadium hosted a memorial service for conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated during a speaking engagement at Utah Valley University earlier this month.
More than 60,000 people attended the memorial inside the stadium, with thousands of others watching remotely from an arena next door.
I entered the venue shortly after the gates had closed and was immediately hit with a loud blast of Christian rock music performed live on a stage at the opposite end of the stadium.
As I descended the stairs to reach the floor where media and VIPs were finding their seats, I could see many of those 60,000 singing along, raising hands in the air and praying.
It was, as Vice President JD Vance and other speakers put it, “a revival.”
For those not fluent in the evangelical tradition, the repeated invocation of the term revival could refer to different waves of spiritual renewal and enthusiasm in the Christian church that have occurred throughout the course of U.S. history.
Vance was joined by President Donald Trump and top Cabinet members at the memorial, showing how closely tied the Trump administration was with Kirk and Turning Point USA, the group he founded.
Kirk’s memorial is perhaps the most prominent public display in recent years of the sway the modern Christian church, and especially evangelicalism, has on conservative politics.
The melding between the church and the Republican Party is hardly new, with the religious right first flexing its muscles to exert more influence over the party as far back as 1979. Recent developments — such as the overturning of Roe v. Wade — show how that influence has translated into policy.
But, as New York Times reporter Elizabeth Dias wrote, “I have never experienced something like this where the highest level of government and evangelical worship are woven as one and the same — at such a grand scale.”
Vance, who is Catholic, seemed to confirm that observation, telling the crowd, “I have talked more about Jesus Christ the past two weeks than I have my entire time in public office.”
If the memorial is any indication, Americans may hear a lot more of that messaging moving forward as the Republican Party and evangelicals continue to coalesce, further blurring the line between where the government ends and religion begins.
All that shows that the Christian Nationalist movement that counted Kirk among its supporters — which rejects the traditional view that church and state should remain separate and argues that the U.S. was, and should continue to be, a Christian nation — is now firmly entrenched in mainstream Republican politics.
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The memorial event honoring conservative activist Charlie Kirk was held at State Farm Stadium on Sept. 21, 2025. See KJZZ's coverage from Glendale. -
The Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority owns the stadium in Glendale. An authority spokesperson says event contracts, done by a separate stadium manager, are confidential. -
Charlie Kirk was like many Arizonans, an out-of-state transplant who made his home in the Valley. Here, he expanded a grassroots organization into a nationwide behemoth. -
Former state lawmaker Paul Boyer penned an op-ed for The Arizona Republic calling Charlie Kirk “the best of us” despite the fact that Boyer was at odds with Kirk’s organization, Turning Point USA. -
Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk will be memorialized this weekend at State Farm Stadium in Arizona. For some context on Kirk’s legacy, The Show recently spoke with someone who knew Kirk personally. -
Turning Point USA, the organization Charlie Kirk founded to mobilize young, Christian conservatives, has seen a massive surge in interest and support since the activist's assassination last week.
