Memorial service in Indio honors Charlie Kirk
Shay Lawson
INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – Destiny Church hosted a memorial service Tuesday evening in honor of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated in September.
Pastor Nate Conant from Destiny Church in Indio said the event was held on what would have been Kirk’s 32nd birthday.
“It’s just to commemorate his life and allow some people to come together and celebrate who he was,” Conant said.
The service was originally planned to be held outdoors at The River in Rancho Mirage; however, Conant said that due to weather concerns, organizers decided to move the memorial indoors.
Organizers invited the public to attend and asked guests to wear red. The evening featured worship, video tributes, and messages from several pastors.
“It’ll probably be about an hour and a half,” Conant said. “It’s very healthy to have the community come together to either grieve or celebrate the life of Charlie Kirk here locally in the Coachella Valley.”
Conant described the service as a Christian gathering rather than a political one.
“It’s not so much a political event as much as it is a Christian gathering,” he said. “We view Charlie Kirk as what we would call an evangelist — somebody who takes the message of the gospel to unreached people.”
Conant said Kirk’s message resonated deeply with local young people.
“I have a 23-year-old son, and a lot of young people were mentored by him in their youth,” he said. “My son had his voice continually in his life to sort of frame his worldview in terms of his Christian view.”
Conant said he attended Kirk’s memorial service in Arizona.
“One thing that was very interesting about Charlie Kirk’s memorial there was that the name of Jesus was said more than the name of Charlie Kirk,” Conant said. “In doing this, we honor his memory — and like all of us who follow Christ, it is our hope that the name of Jesus grows greater and our names grow even smaller.”
Hundreds of community members attended.
“We want to celebrate Charlie Kirk,” Conant said. “And more than that, we want to worship Jesus together. We just hope that this event will be a blessing to the community.”