Key points:
- The violent deaths of Charlie Kirk, Alex Pretti and Renee Good are igniting passionate responses from different perspectives among United Methodists.
- Pastors at United Methodist churches say they have to tread carefully to avoid alienating people in their congregations.
- The Rev. Daniel Hawkins of Martin United Methodist Church in Bedford, Texas, says his congregation is “comfortable with the idea of being unified without being uniform.”
When conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot to death Sept. 10 in Utah, the Rev. Lisa Kruse-Safford had four days to decide what to say about it in church the following Sunday.
Photo courtesy of First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake, Ill.
“I didn’t preach about it,” said Kruse-Safford, pastor of First United Methodist Church in Crystal Lake, Illinois. “I did mention it. I did say, ‘These horrible events of this week, where someone was killed.’”
After church, one congregant asked if she thought Kirk was a martyr for the faith.
“I said, ‘I don’t think I could go there. I think this was more politically motivated. … I don’t think that he was killed because he was a believer of Jesus Christ. That’s what a martyr is.’”
Someone else sent Kruse-Safford an email: “How come you’re not saying more about the attack on Christianity and Charlie Kirk?”
She replied: “I understand that a lot of people do appreciate Charlie Kirk, and there are a lot of people who don’t, and both are people of faith and both people are sitting in our pews.
“So, I’m not going to get in a situation where people cannot respond and be in dialogue,” she said. “These kinds of things have to happen around conversation, not from a bully pulpit.”
So goes the life of a church leader in 2026. The United States is sharply divided on politics and morality, and many don’t even want to consider a different viewpoint.
Signs of Life: a new podcast from UM News
On Jan. 7 in Minneapolis, 37-year-old mother of three Renee Good was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. Video of the event was interpreted differently, with the Trump administration insisting it was self-defense on the part of the ICE officer, Jonathan Ross. City officials disputed this claim and condemned the ICE agent’s actions.
A little over two weeks later, on Jan. 24, two federal immigration agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse, while observing immigration enforcement in Minneapolis. Conflicting accounts of the incident ensued.
Photo courtesy of Aldersgate United Methodist Church.
The Rev. Mitch Reece, senior pastor of Aldersgate United Methodist Church, in Wichita, Kansas, said he wrestles with what he and church members should do in the wake of such violence and political division.
Contacting members of Congress to advocate for policy is one option, he said.
“We’re trying to help with practical steps rather than just firing up on Facebook about things in ways that aren’t always helpful,” he said. “We should try to think about how would Jesus have us be responding to this. … What does that look like to try to live faithfully into that?
“I don’t have it figured out yet.”
Pastors have their own beliefs and convictions to consider, as well. It can be a tightrope walk, Reece said.
“We’re just trying to be as anti-drama as possible,” he said.
“I can get all riled up about it, but is that really going to move the dial forward? … If you’re just trying to get your point to the people that are going to agree with you, you can do that pretty easily, but you can alienate a lot of people. … So how do I back that up in a way that allows us to speak to both sides, that can allow them to hear it, hopefully, if the Spirit is speaking into their heart?”
If a church member wants his personal opinion, Reece says he’s happy to have a one-on-one discussion.
But one must tread lightly.
“My job is to be the pastor of all people in this church,” he said. “When I put myself out in a certain camp, then all of a sudden it makes me not their pastor anymore.
“But I will tell you, everybody is welcome in this church and everybody’s loved. We’re going to treat each other that way.”
About a third of the congregation at Martin United Methodist Church in Bedford, Texas, is Tongan, said the Rev. Daniel Hawkins, lead pastor. They lean toward traditional theology and politics, he said.
“So for 15 years, Martin has worked the muscle of being in community with folks who express their faith differently,” Hawkins said. “So we have been comfortable with the idea of being unified without being uniform.”
Photo courtesy of Martin United Methodist Church.
About 30% of Martin’s congregation participated in a book study the summer of 2024, Hawkins said. The book was “I Think You’re Wrong (But I’m Listening): A Guide to Grace-Filled Political Conversations.”
“I think we’ve got a heart for ‘How do we navigate this well?’” Hawkins said. “Some of the specific issues, like immigration, impact directly members of our community. … When the topic of the day gets personal and real and you’re walking alongside someone who’s navigating that, it shifts.”
Hawkins calls Martin a “purple church,” a blend of red (those who lean toward Republican politics) and blue (those who lean Democratic).
“It’s the same basic idea (as big-tent church),” he said. “We have conservatives (and liberals), and they’re both serving Jesus alongside each other with a commitment to the human in front of them more than their political point of view.”
One way Kruse-Safford tries to lead is by example. In the aftermath of controversy over the role of LGBTQ people in The United Methodist Church, she enjoys karaoke night at a local gay bar.
“Wednesday nights I go with my boyfriend, and we sing karaoke at a gay-owned bar in town,” she said. “That’s one of my ways of supporting the community.”
The people there know she’s a pastor, and that might soften anti-religious views some LGBTQ people may harbor.
Keeping the dialogue going between people who disagree is more important than winning any political argument, she said.
“That’s the way I am,” Kruse-Safford said. “I’d rather be in relationship and conversation with people, even people I disagree with.”
Patterson is a reporter for UM News. Contact him at (615) 742-5470 or [email protected]. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free UM News Digest.
