Where evil tried to win: How a Utah revival turned atrocity into interfaith miracle

Intense feuds over theological differences between traditional Christians (Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox) and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints date back to 1830, immediately after Latter-day Saints founder Joseph Smith launched his church.

After nearly 200 years of strife, that fierce debate transformed into an unprecedented, inspiring moment of interfaith healing on Sunday night at Utah Valley University — a predominantly Latter-day Saints campus and the largest university in the state — where prominent evangelical Protestant Pastor Greg Laurie hosted a revival event called “Hope for America.”

'We’re going to go to that place of darkness, and we’re going to turn on the radiant light of Jesus Christ and proclaim the gospel that Charlie believed.'

Organizers created the event to rebuild spirits at the site of Charlie Kirk’s assassination in September. Students and faculty felt distraught after the trauma of Kirk’s murder, which happened in broad daylight, shortly after students returned to campus from summer break.

Kirk — a prominent conservative activist, confidant of President Trump, and founder of Turning Point USA — was brutally gunned down, allegedly by a deranged gunman from southern Utah, while Kirk spoke outdoors near the UVU student services building.

For many Americans, the first time they had heard of UVU was for this infamous, gut-wrenching reason.

"We’re going to go to that place of darkness, and we’re going to turn on the radiant light of Jesus Christ and proclaim the gospel that Charlie believed," Laurie said in a press statement announcing the exciting gathering, organized with just six weeks' prep time for an event that typically takes six months.

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Laurie, 72, is the founder of Harvest churches in California and Hawaii and of Harvest Crusades. A prolific evangelist who fills up stadiums around the world in massive Billy Graham-style revival events, Laurie is a best-selling author and movie producer. His 2023 film "Jesus Revolution" tells the story of his conversion away from the drug-infused culture of 1970s California.

Laurie planned to come to Utah in 2027, but Kirk’s assassination sped up the timeline to offer a timely balm to the community. He was also co-hosted by pastors from more than 100 local Protestant churches who helped promote the gathering. Tickets were free, all quickly snapped up by attendees for the 8,500-seat UCCU Center, the basketball arena on campus. Laurie said there were an additional 67 overflow sites in the area to watch. The revival featured music from renowned Protestant Christian artists Chris Thomlin and Phil Wickham.

UVU president Astrid Tuminez said 70% of UVU's students identify as Latter-day Saints, according to Courtney Tanner at the Salt Lake Tribune. Utah Valley has the highest concentration of practicing Latter-day Saints in the world.

I grew up in the Latter-day Saints tradition, and my ancestors worked with Smith and other early pioneer leaders like Brigham Young. As a child, I attended an elementary school down the road from UVU. Back then, it was the much smaller Utah Valley Community College.

As I share in my memoir, "Motorhome Prophecies," released last year, at that school we had only one non-LDS student in my class (a Catholic). I felt suspicious of her and afraid to attend her birthday slumber party.

But such is the suspicion of many who grow up in the majority of any dominant culture against the minority.

I stopped practicing the Latter-day Saints faith after my Brigham Young University graduation in 2005 at age 22. I later formally resigned from the Latter-day Saints organization in 2010 and got baptized as a Protestant, eight years ago this Dec. 3.

'You meant it for evil; God meant it for good.'

So I am thrilled to see these bridges being built in real time. This type of unity ripened years prior under the leadership of the late Latter-day Saints leader Russell Nelson, who passed away in late September.

Laurie asked me to help him workshop his remarks prior to delivery. I was honored to provide whatever insight I could in hopes of serving Laurie’s profound desire to share the message of Christ’s redemption for all mankind.

“Why did Charlie Kirk die in such a tragic way, only a short distance from where we are right now?” Laurie wrote in his remarks. "I do not know the answer to that question, but I know Charlie is in heaven. But this event tonight would not be happening if not for that horrific event.”

Indeed, life’s most wrenching crucibles can propel us to our greatest moments of growth and freedom. In his remarks, Laurie also quoted from the book of Genesis: “But Joseph said to them, ' ... you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.'"

“This your moment. Don’t wait for a tragedy. Don’t scroll past this one more time. Come to the Father, tonight!” Laurie said.

It’s miraculous to see how evangelicals and Latter-day Saints — groups with such a long history of heated disagreements — came together to unite in service of healing in God’s name.

My prayer is that Hope for America is just the first in a long series of interfaith reconciliation gatherings among Latter-day Saints, Protestants, and Catholics that will cultivate shared bonds among people of faith — all children of our heavenly Father.