COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Thousands sang, cheered and prayed as several preachers declared Donald Trump God’s preferred candidate to defeat what they called the “forces of darkness.”
Headliners denounced Democrat Kamala Harris – Trump’s campaign rival – as influenced by demons and the spirit of the evil Biblical Queen Jezebel.
Attendees stood and recited in unison a “Watchman Decree,” calling for a government that honors God and has “just” laws and “biblical” court rulings. They pledged to “take back and permanently control” leadership positions in sectors such as government, business and culture.
“We are breaking every curse against Donald Trump – we are breaking every satanic spell against his presidency,” declared the guest preacher, Hank Kunneman, at the annual Opening the Heavens conference, held in mid-September at the Mid-America Center arena in Council Bluffs. .
The conference is one of many of its kind this election year across the country, featuring exuberant worship and speeches from influential preachers. It represents a highly politicized wing of charismatic Christianity, a larger movement that emphasizes spiritual gifts such as healings, prophecy and speaking in tongues.
In a sign of the movement’s influence, Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance recently appeared at a similar conference, called the Courage Tour, in Pennsylvania.
The conference’s goals included securing votes for Trump and his allies, and mobilizing believers to pray and participate in what is being declared a literal spiritual war surrounding the election.
“Get your ass out there and vote. Make your voice heard and raise it!’ stated Kunneman, who, along with his wife Brenda, pastors the Lord of Hosts Church in nearby Omaha, Nebraska. ‘Let every devil fall. … We push back on any attempt to steal the executive office.”
The conference emerges from a movement that emphasizes authoritative guidance from leaders considered modern-day apostles and prophets. It also included Christian nationalism, a fusion of American and Christian identity.
Critics are alarmed by the movement, considering it anti-democratic and supporting a candidate with authoritarian ambitions and inflammatory rhetoric. Many of its leaders sided with Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
“The attitude in 2024 is, ‘The demons are likely to try to steal this election again, and so we need to wage spiritual war in advance to prevent that,’” says Matthew Taylor, author of the new book on the movement. , “The Violent Take It By Force: The Christian Movement Threatening Our Democracy.”
“It’s very difficult to have a pluralistic democracy,” Taylor said, with many distrusting the electoral system.
Several leaders of this movement attended rallies in Washington before and on Jan. 6, 2021, to protest Biden’s presidential victory, Taylor said.
Leaders were not among the Capitol rioters, but some issued decrees and prayers that the certification of Biden’s victory would be blocked and that Trump would return for a second term.
Such ideology “is one of the golden threads” in the social media feeds of many participants in the Jan. 6 rallies, said Taylor, a Protestant scholar at the Baltimore-based Institute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies.
Headliners at the Council Bluffs conference repeatedly spoke of the fact that we were engaged in a veritable spiritual war, merging decrees of political victory and Christian revival.
The “favor of the Lord” is upon Trump, said a pastor, Dutch Sheets. “America will be saved, and I believe this election is part of that.”
His brother and fellow pastor, Tim Sheets, said he saw a vision of a warrior angel firing an arrow that landed in front of the White House, claiming the territory for God.
“We must fight for the Lord,” he said. “The drums of spiritual war are sounding.”
Preachers have repeatedly denounced abortion — one described it as an outpouring of blood desired by demons — and the “mutilation” of children for portraying gender-affirming treatment for transgender youth.
The arena seemed a little more than half full, with thousands of attendees from multiple states. Many wore T-shirts with slogans such as “Defender of Territory” and “We the People Trust Jesus,” while some dressed in American flag fleece blankets amid the chilly air conditioning.
Participants at the Council Bluffs conference, mostly but not exclusively white, rallied behind Trump’s broader evangelical Christian support.
According to AP VoteCast, about 8 in 10 white evangelicals supported Trump in 2020. The Pew Research Center’s validated voter survey found similar levels of support in 2016.
This year, about seven in 10 white evangelical Protestants view the Republican candidate favorably, a survey by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found.
Behind that supermajority lies a diverse evangelicalism. The charismatic exuberance and focus on the supernatural contrasts in tone with the relatively subdued approach of groups like Southern Baptists, though they are allies in their political conservatism and opposition to abortion and LGBTQ+ rights.
And the charismatic movement has its own diversity. This heavily politicized branch teaches that in modern times God has restored the ancient biblical roles of apostle—an authoritative leader—and prophet, one who issues divine proclamations.
The movement is not a denomination. Churches and ministries operate largely independently, even though leaders speak at each other’s conferences, endorse each other’s books, and appear on each other’s broadcasts.
As an example of the overlap, the Opening the Heavens conference in Council Bluffs featured one segment called FlashPoint Live – a personal version of a television show that mixes charismatic Christianity and conservative politics. It’s one of several FlashPoint Live conferences this year hosted by Pastor Gene Bailey — whose recent interview with Trump highlighted the close ties between the movement and the former president.
The ReAwaken America tour, started by Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn, has similarly mixed the political with revival-style rallies and invited members of Trump’s family.
While a series of evangelicals served as Trump’s faith-based advisers during his administration, charismatic leaders were especially prominent.
The apostles-and-prophets movement overlaps with two related popular ideas: dominionism, which says Christians should be in charge of society, and the “Seven Mountains Mandate,” which specifies seven areas that Christians should lead – politics, religion, media, business, family, education and arts and entertainment.
Bailey led the recitation of the Watchman Decree in Council Bluffs, which included a pledge to “permanently control positions of influence and leadership in each of the seven mountains.”
Bailey and Kunneman declined interview requests through a media representative.
Taylor said that according to this line of charismatic theology, Spirit-filled Christians have the power not only to ask God for results, but also to bring them about.
“It’s not just saying prayers or praying,” he said. “They believe they are changing reality with these Watchman decrees.”
He added: “It looks wild when you come across it, but it is very popular and very dangerous.”
Separate from the organizers of the Council Bluffs conference, but with an overlapping cast of speakers, is the Courage Tour. It is led by Lance Wallnau, who popularized the Seven Mountain concept and was an early booster of Trump’s 2016 candidacy.
The tour took place in crucial battleground states, combining worship, prayers for miraculous healings and overt politics – including a call for Christians to become election workers or poll workers to “fight the fraud” in swing states.
Taylor said this appears to be laying the groundwork for a campaign to delegitimize the 2024 election results if Harris wins.
While movement leaders talk about spiritual warfare — that is, angel versus demon rather than man versus man — Taylor said such rhetoric can push some people to take matters into their own hands.
He said it’s no surprise that some Capitol rioters in 2021 were praying loudly and displaying Christian symbols.
“I’m really afraid that we’re going to see a lot more political violence,” he said.
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Associated Press religion reporting is supported by the AP’s partnership with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
