In Memoriam – Family Council

Remembering Voddie Baucham

Oct 1, 2025Charisse CampChristianity, In MemoriamChristianity

This year marks the 12th year of attending the Caring Hearts Pregnancy Resource Center fundraiser.

And while there, I was reminded of how I came to do this work.

Twelve years ago, I was working part-time as an Admissions Representative at Agape Bible College. I would often listen to sermons in the background while I worked, and one day I heard a black man speaking boldly about being pro-life and he arrested my attention. He gently shared how his mother was an unwed teenager who chose life for him in spite of the hardships she knew they would face. Then he passionately spoke about how black women have been targeted by abortionists and the resulting black genocide happening in our country. And he ended by describing the inherent value of every unborn life regardless of whether they were an unexpectant pregnancy or even the result of rape or incest. His name was Voddie Baucham and I had never heard anyone speak the way that he did and say the things that he said. I thought to myself, “I’ve got to hear him in person!” So, I Googled him and found the website of Grace Family Baptist Church in Spring, TX, where he pastored and learned from their event page that he was actually the keynote speaker for a fundraising banquet in Little Rock the next day. I went into Dean Ron Swager’s office and mentioned in passing conversation that I wanted to hear the speaker at the Caring Hearts Pregnancy banquet, but I didn’t know how to get a ticket on such short notice. By divine providence, he said that his wife, MaryAnn, had been a long time volunteer there and was a table sponsor. He made a phone call and later called me into his office to say, “Wear something nice. You’re going to the ball!”

That night, I sat with the Swagers and listened to Pastor Baucham speak about a crisis pregnancy in a way I had never heard before: He described Mary as the unwed pregnant teenager carrying Jesus Christ. As he spoke about the value and purpose of every life and the importance of every stage of life, from conception until death, I wept uncontrollably. His words were so passionate and powerful that they were like swift, well-aimed arrows hitting me in my chest. I knew the Lord wanted me to do something in the pro-life field, but I had no idea what it was. So, as I wrote what was a large check for me at the time of $50, I said to the Lord, “I don’t know what you want me to do, but I say yes to whatever it is.” That night was my first and only encounter with Voddie Baucham, but it was one that changed me forever because God used him to have an encounter with me. That night started me on a road that led to me Family Council and to the work I do today for pregnancy resource centers through ARFuture Foundation.

My story is just one of many of the lives that Dr. Voddie Baucham has changed. Dr. Baucham was a husband, father, pastor, author, professor, and church planter whose global ministry touched countless lives, but I believe the core of his faith is best shown in the family that he created over the last 36 years with his wife, Bridget, and their blended family of two biological and seven adopted children. Like myself, he and his wife decided to homeschool their family to deliberately provide a Christ-centered education that was oriented by their faith. For them, it was a form of daily discipleship, taking on the responsibility of shaping their children’s spiritual foundation and character development. He not only taught that parents, in particular fathers, should take primary responsibility for disciplining their children, but he lived it out in everyday life. This was a point brought out in his 2007 book, Family Driven Faith, where he argued for the importance of worship and participation in familial churches.

The passing of Dr. Voddie Baucham leaves a significant silence for future generations. But his legacy of faith and family will be enduring and carried on through his children, grandchildren, and those whose lives, like my own, who have been forever touched by his passion and ministry. Our prayers are with Bridget, Jasmine, Trey (Voddie III), Elijah, Asher, Judah, Micah, Safya, Amos, and Simeon.

Charisse has worked with Family Council since 2014. She helps with lobbying efforts, oversees projects and events like Pastors Day at the Capitol, and leads the ARFuture Foundation.

Photo Credit: Hope Reformed Baptist Church, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Assassination of Charlie Kirk: Guest Column

Sep 19, 2025John StonestreetCulture, In MemoriamCurrent Events

*Above: Charlie Kirk speaks in Fayetteville, Arkansas. (File Photo: 2022)*

Unsurprisingly, on September 11, 2001, I wept. I also wept, unexpectedly, on September 11, 2011. Perhaps it was delayed grief, but mostly, it was a delayed realization. Sitting that Sunday morning with my young daughters, only 6, 4, and 2 at the time, it struck me how different their world was from the one I wanted for them.

The same sense struck this week, on September 10. The assassination of Charlie Kirk seems to mark a new era, a world no one wants but may very well be here. Calling the murder a “tragedy for all of us,” U.K. comedian and commentator Konstantin Kisin wrote:

I hope I’m wrong. But tonight feels like some sort of invisible line has been crossed that we didn’t even know was there. … [T]o murder a young father simply for doing debates and mobilising young people to vote for a party that represents half of America? This is something else.

Charlie’s death is a tragedy for his wife, his children and his family. I don’t pray often. I am praying for them tonight. But I fear his murder will be a tragedy for all of us in ways we will only understand as time unfolds.

I hope I’m wrong. I fear I’m not.

Kisin is not wrong about lines being crossed, though the Christian must not fear. We must, however, squarely face the sober realities of this moment.

Kirk’s murder followed another this week, in Charlotte, of a young woman from Ukraine riding a public train. Iryna Zarutska was stabbed by a man who should have been in prison or at least institutionalized, and she was then left to die by people too engrossed in their screens to notice or too jaded to care. Together, these atrocities reveal realities about our culture and how it has shaped those within it that many will find unthinkable. But we had better think about it anyway.

Zarutska’s killer is a terrible example of the mental and social brokenness that permeates modern life. The bystanders who did not come to her defense or to her aid are, like the social media commenters and media personalities who callously commented on Kirk’s assassination, examples of the rabid and pervasive dehumanization that infects the Western world.

In a recent Breakpoint commentary, released prior to the atrocities of this week, Abdu Murray argued that this “post-truth world that elevates feelings and preferences above facts and truth has collapsed the distinction between a person’s ideas and their identity. And so, the social erasure of cancel culture has calcified into something darker.” That something darker, he argued, is “assassination culture.” He continued, “Unmoored from that objective standard for human value, we have made gods of ourselves and therefore justify eradicating any who dare to have other gods before us.”

This is precisely what Os Guinness warned of in the new film Truth Rising, that the West is squandering a unique heritage. A civilization built upon the ideal of human dignity, with a mixed and troubled history of working out that ideal, has now replaced it with something else. But racialized, sexualized, and politicized conceptions of human dignity only produce victims.

George Orwell is often credited as saying, “In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” Charlie Kirk was a committed truth teller, with a remarkable gift for exposing and answering deceit. And yet, as he did this, he treated the deceived with the dignity they had as image bearers of their Creator, recognizing that they too were victims of their own bad ideas.

There is a cost to telling the truth. Our Lord has told us to count this cost. If Kisin is indeed correct, that cost is higher than we have imagined. This is indeed a civilizational moment. It is to this moment that we have been called as His people. As His people, we know that this moment is not some fatalistic inevitability, nor does it determine or define the Story of which we are part.

In a video circulating on social media, Charlie is asked why he went on campuses to talk with and try to persuade those who disagree with him. Charlie responded, “Because when people stop talking, that’s when violence happens.” It was a prophetic moment, but Kirk also demonstrated that we need not accept that. He showed that the conversation can be had; that it must be had. He showed that the truth still wins hearts and minds, and that lies can be opposed. And that it can all be done with a big smile.

It takes courage to tell the truth and to, as Paul wrote, “regard no one from a worldly point of view.” As Murray wrote, only the “ancient biblical truth about what it means to be human can heal our contemporary malady.”

It can be healed. This is not wishful thinking. This is the hope Christ secured for us all. As the banner on the Turning Point USA website proclaims, Charlie Kirk has been “received into the merciful arms of our loving Savior, who suffered and died for Charlie.”

Remembering Charlie Kirk

Sep 11, 2025Erin HoganIn MemoriamFamily Values, Update

There are certain people whose lives leave an indelible mark on the world and when tragedy strikes, their voice is looked to for comfort and answers. Charlie Kirk was one of those voices, but on September 10, his voice was no longer there. The tragic assassination of the 31 year old conservative activist, author, speaker, husband, father, and Christian has left us shocked, grieving, and wondering what to do next amidst such evil. We cannot comprehend the heinous act and grieve for his family and Turning Point USA staff.

I first heard of Charlie Kirk and Turning Point USA many years ago as they began growing traction on the national stage alongside their online presence. Turning Point USA, the organization he helped start and lead, promotes free speech and conservative values on school campuses — including schools in Arkansas. I first met a TPUSA state director over four years ago and was very impressed by the thoroughness of his work. He went from campus to campus in Arkansas, leading and encouraging Turning Point groups, and he put great effort toward investing in young people all across the state.

In 2021, I was invited to speak at a TPUSA event at Ecclesia College in Northwest Arkansas and met dear friends that night. There again I realized how important the impact TPUSA was having on my state and the United States. I saw it as a countercultural movement that spoke truth into the next generation. That was who Charlie Kirk was. And that is why his loss hits so hard.

Another impact point for Arkansas is in 2017, our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom filed a lawsuit on behalf of a local Turning Point USA student chapter against Arkansas State University in Jonesboro after the university tried to restrict free speech on campus to sanctioned “free speech” zones. The university’s policy at the time reportedly restricted free speech to 1% of its campus.

The lawsuit prompted the Arkansas Legislature to pass Act 184 of 2019 — the FORUM Act — preventing public colleges and universities from infringing on the free speech of students and faculty on campus. Family Council was pleased to support that good law, but it might never have passed if Turning Point USA hadn’t taken a stand for free speech on campus.

The impact of Turning Point was due to its leader and the truth that he held onto. Charlie was a man of deep faith and he was outspoken about it. Not only that, he practiced his faith, leading his family by example. He led a nationwide movement that reached into the grassroots and impacted hearts and minds. We may never know the extent of his influence on this side of Heaven. But the great thing about Charlie is that he had his priorities straight. Charlie believed that God, family, and country, in that order, were of utmost importance. He fought for them, he lived for them, and in the end, he gave his life for them. We will never forget his life and the impact he made.

What are Christians to do when faced with such a tragic event, the loss of a voice like Charlie’s, and the fear to speak truth in the public square? It can be tempting to shut the door and hide away. I thank God that this movement and the church aren’t made up of people who back down when faced with evil. We face challenges head-on and continue to speak the truth into a violent and hostile world because Christ is our example and beckoning guide, and the great cloud of witnesses who have gone before are cheering us on.

Charlie Kirk’s murder is a heartbreaking tragedy. I ask all of you to join our team in praying for Charlie’s family and our nation.

Erin Hogan serves as Director of Government Relations for Family Council.