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Church with ties to Christian nationalism is hosting Elon Musk’s town hall in Harrisburg [1]

['Ivey Dejesus', 'Idejesus Pennlive.Com']

Date: 2024-10-19 01:50:16.059000+00:00

Mega MAGA donor Elon Musk will appear in a town hall event in Harrisburg on Saturday hosted by a Christian nationalist church. Musk is seen here earlier this month with Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) AP

The Elon Musk town hall scheduled for Saturday in Harrisburg is being hosted by a mega-church with ties to Christian nationalism.

Musk’s appearance, to drum up support for presidential candidate Donald Trump, is being held at the Life Center in Harrisburg, which on Friday sent out text notices to its list-serve announcing the event and providing registration information.

AmericaPAC.org, a political action group financed by Musk, states on its website that prospective participants in the town hall must be registered voters in Pennsylvania and must sign a petition supporting the First and Second Amendments.

Christian nationalists believe that the United States was founded as a Christian nation and that Christian biblical values should hold power across government, public schools and public life.

Christian nationalists also believe that only Christians who share their political and religious worldview should hold public office.

Life Center is led by its Senior Pastor Charles Stock and his wife Anne Stock, who arrived in central Pennsylvania in 1988. Their church currently lists about 60 employees and an equal number of global missionaries.

In recent years, the Stocks have hosted an array of Christian nationalist speakers and leaders many with ties to the New Apostolic Reformation movement and Christian dominionism.

Both of these movements are offshoot theological movements that have been gathering strength and transforming conservative evangelical Christianity into political movements. Their goal is to take control of governing power at all levels of politics from federal, to state down to local school boards.

While Trump is not a particularly devout Christian, the evangelical right embraced him in 2016 and have affirmed their support of the former president increasingly with the emergence of these offshoot charismatic Christian movements.

In its belief statement, Life Center affirms that the scriptures are infallible, inerrant, “and the sole and final authority for all matters of faith and conduct.”

Life Center on Wednesday hosted Randy Clark, founder and Senior Leader of Global Awakening, another charismatic Christian offshoot that aims to “awaken” the world to Christianity.

Christian Nationalism gained attention in Pennsylvania with the 2022 gubernatorial campaign of Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Franklin County, who had ties to the movement and has attended high-profile events hosted by such groups.

Mastriano is frequently seen with Abby Abildness, a so-called apostle at Life Center, who has emerged a powerbroker-of-sorts in the Christian nationalist sphere in Pennsylvania, including the Legislature.

Abildness led the opening prayer two weeks ago when Sean Feucht, a Christian nationalist worship leader and right-wing political activist, held a rally on the state Capitol steps.

Feucht has deep ties to the Life Center and continues to be a regular guest of the Stocks, in recent years giving several sermons in the Harrisburg church, the most recent one in May.

Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX, has increasingly been involved with the Trump campaign, appearing with the former president two weeks ago in Butler, site of the first attempted assassination on Trump.

Read more: On swing state tour, Republican Voters Against Trump stump in Harrisburg

Musk is offering a bonus to Pennsylvanians who sign the petition through Monday, Oct. 21 — the last day to register to vote in Pennsylvania. The offer of $100, with an additional $100 if they refer someone else is being criticized by election law experts as a violation of the law prohibiting payments for votes.

Musk, regarded as the world’s richest person, in July announced that he’s a “big believer in the principles of Christianity” and “a cultural Christian.”

Musk noted that his reasons are moral and political: He said he believes Christianity can enhance happiness and birthrates.

Since becoming owner of X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter, Musk has repeatedly used it to spread anti-immigrant, anti-semitic, racist and misogynistic ideas.

Thousands of Christians last year joined a petition denouncing Musk for his antisemitic hate speech on X, calling on corporate advertisers to take action against him.

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[1] Url: https://www.pennlive.com/news/2024/10/a-christian-nationalist-church-is-hosting-elon-musks-town-hall-in-harrisburg.html

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