Williamsport, Pa. — This evening, a local nondenominational church hosted a vigil for Charlie Kirk, a conservative Christian political commentator who was shot and killed last week at Utah Valley University (UVU).
A few hours before the Williamsport vigil, UVU hosted their own event in honor of Kirk, titled "Vigil for Unity."
Vigil attendees as a recording of the Star Spangled Banner played.
Lon Williams, Liberty Church's founder and co-pastor alongside his wife, Dawn, led the event on the corner of Mulberry and East Third Street where their Williamsport church is located. Around 250 were in attendance.
The Sunday after Kirk was murdered, Williams delivered a sermon on the Turning Point USA founder's death, incorporating a quote from early Christian author Tertullian, "The blood of the martyrs is the seed (of the church.)" Williams opened the sermon by describing other recent tragedies, such as a transgender woman opening fire at a Minneapolis catholic school and killing two praying children, and the North Carolina subway stabbing, as "demonic."
'He lit a fire for Jesus'
Several local Republican leaders attended and spoke at the Liberty Church vigil. Jeff Stroehmann, a former supervisor for Woodward Township, co-hosted the event with the church.
A flyer Williams distributed digitally.
In an email to NorthcentralPa before the vigil, Stroehmann said, "Where Charlie Kirk is concerned, I think, after the shock and grief passes, we will all begin to understand what an impact Charlie had on the big picture, the really big picture. Locally, we all will play a part in honoring the life of this very special person who it seams (sic) was only on loan to us. Rest in peace Christian soldier, you wore your armor well!"
“What I remember most about Charlie is his courage,” Stroehmann said. “He wanted to be remembered by his faith above everything else. Each of us has a role to play in carrying forward his legacy.”
State Rep. Joe Hamm (R-84) told the crowd he had thought of Kirk that very morning, when his daily Bible app displayed Matthew 28:19 — the Great Commission.
Rep. Hamm speaks about his faith and remembering Kirk.
“When I think of Charlie Kirk, I think of a man who was heeding those words,” Hamm said. “He had ignited a fire in tens of thousands — he lit a fire for Jesus.”
Hamm recalled friends warning Kirk about threats to his life. “They told him, maybe you should hang it up, maybe you should do it indoors. And Charlie said, ‘I’ll never quit. I’ll never stop. Everyone needs to know about Jesus.’”
Dawn Williams described Kirk as “a godly man, devoted husband, proud father and courageous patriot.”
“The most important thing is to tell people about Jesus,” Mrs. Williams said. “And the second most important thing is the freedom of speech so that we can do the most important thing.”
Lycoming County Commissioner Scott Metzger closed his remarks with prayer: “We are thankful for the life of Charlie Kirk — he was an ambassador of his faith.”
A spiritual war
Williams, the church’s pastor, concluded the vigil by framing Kirk’s death in stark spiritual terms.
“Charlie was assassinated for his words, for his beliefs, for his message — not his actions,” he said.
He urged mourners not to see Kirk’s death in partisan terms but as part of a larger battle: “There is a war going on… it is a spiritual war. It is about Jesus and truth.”
Williams told the crowd that Kirk’s legacy would endure through the young people he inspired: “When you speak the truth in love, you make hell tremble and you make heaven celebrate.”
The crowd bowed their heads in prayer as Williams led.
The Williams family and Kirk
A screenshot of a post from Lon Williams' Instagram page the day that Kirk was killed.
The Williams family had the privilege of meeting and speaking with Kirk in 2022.
Mrs. Williams told Kirk her family started listening to him in the summer of 2020, and asked him to give young people like her sons advice about dating and marriage.
Kirk responded by warning young men of the dangers of pornography and low testosterone rates, and encouraged them to marry young.
Stroehmann's outspoken history
Stroehmann is no stranger to publicly advocating for conservative values and figureheads.
Jeff Stroehmann waves a white Donald Trump flag in front of City Hall in Downtown Williamsport on Sept. 27, 2020.
The second time Trump ran for president, Stroehmann organized numerous rallies and events before — and after — his choice candidate lost.
On Jan. 6, 2021, Stroehmann attended the rallies that escalated into Trump supporters storming the Capitol in Washington, D.C.
"There I was, going to a different level of protest. And I don't feel that I did anything wrong. I just feel that I was vocalizing more, and a lot of people were. You know, people's pent-up frustrations were starting to pour out," Stroehmann told NPR in the wake of the riots.
That day, an Air Force veteran was shot and killed as she tried to climb through a window of the Capitol building. Five more deaths were attributed to the riots in their aftermath, including a Bloomsburg man who suffered a medical episode in the midst of the chaos.
Ever-suspicious of the election's results, Stroehmann filed a lawsuit against the Lycoming County Voter Services after the office denied his Right-to-Know request for ballot records from the 2020 election. Courts ultimately ruled in July 2024 that while mail-in ballot images must be made public, in-person ballot images and cast vote records are exempt as the protected “contents of ballot boxes and voting machines.”
Representative Hamm joined Stroehmann in one of the filings. Lycoming County Republican Committee Chairman Donald Peters also added his name to the lawsuit.
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