Overview

• Christianity Today reports many Black clergy denounce the killing but say they cannot celebrate Kirk’s legacy, citing past comments such as “prowling Blacks go around for fun to go target white people” and claims that certain Black women “do not have the brain processing power” to be taken seriously.
• Supporters at a memorial service this week portrayed Kirk as a martyr for Christian values, and a Breitbart column cast him as a leader of a broader revival among young conservatives.
• The Southern Baptist Convention issued a statement lamenting the assassination and praising Kirk’s public witness to Christ and pro-life causes, a stance critics like Pastor Dwight McKissic said ignored serious areas of disagreement.
• The Church of God in Christ emphasized compassion and reconciliation in an official message, while Bishop Patrick L. Wooden Sr. urged people to assess Kirk’s record firsthand, noting his supportive foreword for a Black author.
• Justin Giboney said churches should have prioritized moral clarity about the assassination before reframing the conversation around Kirk’s rhetoric, describing the broader reaction as tribal.