Andrew Wommack is finding it’s harder to “take over” a Colorado city than he originally believed, following the failure of his recent efforts to recall members of the Woodland Park City Council.
The health-and-wealth preacher, who teaches that believers should have dominion over all areas of society, announced his plans to take over the city in 2021, saying his ministry had enough employees and his unaccredited Charis Bible College had enough students that they could exert their will over the mountain city of 8,000 residents.
There were initial successes. His chosen candidates captured majorities on both the City Council and the local school board through surprise and secrecy (due to Wommack’s unpopularity, most candidates don’t reveal their connections to him).
Andrew Wommack
But citizens have learned to fight back, electing a City Council with no Wommack-endorsed candidates that has sought to rein in unaccountable school district leaders.
In March, the council voted to end a local sales tax that provided $3 million for the school district after Wommack-approved school officials made a series of decisions the council said showed bad faith and violated intergovernmental agreements. Mayor Kellie Case said the school district’s actions left council members feeling “betrayed” and “used.”
Wommack immediately launched a recall effort, but this time community members spoke out and warned their neighbors not to support the effort. As a result, too few signatures were gathered and the recall effort died. (One council member did resign.)
Rodney Saunders, a retired Methodist minister who has lived in the city 13 years, regularly speaks out against “Andrew woe-is-me Wommack” and his parasitic “Charisites” in editorials and letters to the editor in the Pikes Peak Courier. He sees the failure of the recall effort as a hopeful sign that locals are finally wising up to and pushing back against Wommack’s tactics.
“The people of Woodland Park are finally realizing that when the head honcho said he had enough people to take over the town, he meant it,” Saunders said. “They are to the point where they don’t want that to happen, and they made sure it didn’t happen this time by not signing those petitions.”
The address he provided was for his new palatial, $2 million, 5,400-square-foot home.
The Wommack-endorsed school board made a series of decisions that have rocked the community, led to staff turnover rates of 36% and 39% in recent years, and led more than 100 students to transfer out of the 2,000-student district.
Wommack signed one of the City Council recall petitions himself, but in doing so he inadvertently revealed a well-kept secret. The address he provided was for his new palatial, $2 million, 5,400-square-foot home — not the $600,000 home he had long lived in and which his ministry held up as a symbol of his humble lifestyle.
Wommack, who was mentored by wealthy televangelist Kenneth Copeland, does not reveal his salary. Through the mid-1990s, his ministry had income of less than $2 million a year, but after he went on TV, income soared to $68 million by 2019. That was the last year the ministry released any financial information. Annual revenue is said to exceed $100 million now.
Setbacks in Woodland Park have not dimmed the ambitions of Wommack’s political nonprofit, the Truth and Liberty Commission, which Focus on the Family helped him launch. TLC is promoting candidates — including one running to be Colorado’s governor and another seeking a seat on the local county commission — but neither has disclosed his links to Wommack.
The County Commission candidate is retired Marine master sergeant Aaron Helstrom. The governor candidate is state Sen. Mark Baisley, who teaches courses in Charis’ Practical Government School. Practical Government students take these classes:
- Christian Heritage of American Government
- Introduction to Advocacy
- Seven Mountains of Influence (Wommack’s term for Christian dominionism)
- The Miracle of America
- The Role of the Church and Pastors in Government
- Understanding the Threat (“the agenda and infiltration of radical Islamic Jihad in American government and society”)
- Possess the Land: “In this course you will come to understand the relationship between the children of Israel possessing the Promised Land, and believers possessing the ‘Land of Promises.’” Also covered: “How do we drive out the enemy who comes to steal, kill and destroy?”
“There has been a demonic power that has been operating in America that has been gaining ground, and we’ve seen something broken since Jan. 20.”
TLC will host its annual conference, “His Truth Is Marching On!” Sept. 11-13. It will feature Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, U.S. Rep Jeff Crank of Colorado, and Ken Witt, who was superintendent of the Woodland Park schools before he resigned in April. Tickets are free, and TLC typically streams portions of the event.
Wommack claims President Donald Trump has helped speed up the Third Great Awakening, which Wommack said began in 2021.
“There was a demonic spirit that was intimidating preachers,” Wommack told the audience during a recent FlashPoint Live event featuring pro-Trump “prophets” that was held at Charis. “When Trump was elected — I don’t know if other people felt this — but I, there was a change in the atmosphere. … There has been a demonic power that has been operating in America that has been gaining ground, and we’ve seen something broken since Jan. 20.”
TLC is a reliable source of pro-MAGA talking points. The nonprofit’s podcast devoted a recent episode to praising Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which was described as part of God’s “covenant with America.” The show did mention the bill’s cuts to Medicaid and other social safety net programs.
And a TLC article praised Elon Musk’s work at the Department of Government Efficiency, claiming DOGE was “Restoring Godly Stewardship in Government.”
“These principles are not just good policy; they are biblical! The government is supposed to serve its people, not pick their pockets to enrich itself. By eliminating waste, fraud and abuse, DOGE aligns with God’s principles of stewardship and righteousness — values that should be at the foundation of any nation that honors him,” the article said.
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Residents of Colorado town will highlight Christian nationalism after Wommack’s takeover
‘Prophets’ promote political ‘Third Great Awakening’ to save America