Pastor Doug Wilson leads vigil for slain conservative leader Charlie Kirk in Moscow, Idaho

News Story by Tracy Simmons | FāVS News

MOSCOW, Idaho — Nearly 1,000 people packed into Christ Church’s new sanctuary Thursday evening for a vigil following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed while speaking at Utah Valley University the previous day.

The service, led by Pastor Doug Wilson, was originally scheduled as a lecture titled “Can a nation be moral?” at the University of Idaho, but after the shooting pivoted to a psalm sing and moved to the church’s recently completed 700-seat building on Dominion Avenue. Even with the larger venue, crowds – including dozens of children – overflowed into the foyer and stood along the sanctuary walls.

Wilson, who had dinner with Kirk in April, described him as “a good man, full of life, full of questions, full of zeal” who “fought with the weapons that free and open societies approve of.”

In a blog post published Thursday, Wilson issued what he called “a lament for Charlie Kirk,” praising the activist as a patriot.

Wilson wrote that Kirk “deeply angered those who hate the very idea of free and open societies.”

Wilson used the post to call for what he described as political accountability, writing that “everyone on the left needs to answer for this politically” because the shooting represented a “political murder.”

He also urged prayers for Kirk’s wife and two young children.

The evening’s service centered on the congregation’s distinctive tradition of psalm singing, which gained national attention during COVID-19 protests. In 2020, the church organized “flash psalm sing” events in Moscow City Hall’s parking lot to protest the city’s mask mandate, with hundreds gathering to sing traditional psalms while deliberately not wearing masks.

Three church members were arrested and five cited during those protests, but charges were later dismissed after a judge ruled they should never have been arrested in the first place.

During Thursday’s service Wilson emphasized that the Psalms provide the language believers need in times of crisis. 

“The Psalms give you a vocabulary for grief. The Psalms give you a vocabulary for anger,” he said. “The thing that will give shape to your attitudes and emotions will be the Psalms. The Book of Psalms is given to us to shape us and form us.”

Thursday’s service featured several traditional Psalms, including Psalm 2, which speaks of nations raging against God’s anointed; Psalm 6, a prayer for mercy in distress; Psalm 20, asking for God’s protection in times of trouble and Psalm 124, praising God as Israel’s helper against enemies.

Several church pastors offered prayers during the service, including calls for justice for Kirk’s killer and broader revival of Christian values.

Wilson delivered a 12-minute message, notably restrained compared to his usual fiery rhetoric. 

“We cannot condemn bitterness out there in the world if we are nurturing any form of it in our own lives, in our own marriages, in our own families,” Wilson said. “These horrible things that happen out there in the world should make you want to go hug your kids.”

Wilson then turned to his central theme of “Christ or chaos,” calling it more than just a tagline.

“There are only two roads. There’s the way of life and it’s the way of death.”

He warned against what he described as the progressive left’s effort to build “an assassination culture.”

“They’re trying to make assassination cool. They’re trying to make it defensible,” he said.

The vigil concluded with congregational singing as church leaders emphasized their commitment to continuing Kirk’s work of defending conservative Christian values on college campuses nationwide, despite what they characterized as an increasingly hostile political environment.

Corinne Reagan, church pianist, said the service was thoughtful and that the Psalms provide a meaningful way to respond to tragedy. She described the evening as “a classical, peaceful protest.”

Pastor Joe Rigney, who offered one of the evening’s prayers, emphasized the church’s resolve in the face of opposition and drew parallels to early Christian persecution.

“As we grieve the loss of Charlie Kirk that you would raise up as you did after Stephen, an army of men who would proclaim with boldness,” he prayed, referencing the first Christian martyr. “We see in him the same spirit that was in Stephen, when wicked men were unable to withstand his wisdom and His Spirit, they slandered him, and in their rage, they put him to death.”

Rigney continued, “We pray, Lord that you would strengthen us by your grace to have the courage to face the days ahead. We pray that you would look upon the threats and the dangers that surround us, and that you would empower us to speak your word with boldness.”