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Denzel Washington was baptized over the weekend at a church in New York City, also receiving a minister’s license.
The Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington took a major step on his journey of faith over the weekend. Last Saturday (Dec. 21), Washington was baptized at the Kelly Temple Church of God in Christ which is located in Harlem, New York. The ceremony was livestreamed through the Facebook account of the First Jurisdiction Church of God In Christ Eastern New York, which showed the moments when Washington was baptized. They also showed the actor receiving a license to minister, allowing him to become ordained in the future. He can officiate weddings and other minor religious services. “In one week, I turn 70,” he said while addressing those gathered in the congregation. “It took a while, but I’m here.”
The Gladiator II star went on to share a story from when he was 20 years old about meeting a woman named Ruth Green at his mother’s beauty parlor who told him about the faith journey he was destined for. “She said, ‘Boy, you are going to travel the world and preach to millions of people,’” he remembered. “She wouldn’t even spell the word prophecy. My mother wrote the word prophecy…50 years later, look at God. If He can do this for me, there’s nothing He can’t do for you. The sky literally is the limit and there’s no limit to the sky.”
Washington would express his thanks for his “loving, faithful wife” Pauletta Washington, who was in the audience. “To God be the glory. Hallelujah!” he added to the crowd’s delight. “Anything I can do, I will do for this church, the Almighty. I just want to be in that number when the saints go marching in.”
The 69-year-old actor has been more outspoken about his faith recently, discussing it at length in an expansive essay for Esquire, which was published last month. “You can’t talk like that and win Oscars. You can’t talk like that and party,” he said about discussing his faith with others in the industry. “You can’t say that in this town … It’s not talked about in this town. It’s not talked about … It’s not fashionable. It’s not sexy. But that doesn’t mean people in Hollywood don’t believe.”
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A church in Atlanta found itself the center of discussion online after videos from a New Year’s Eve service went viral. The dReam Center Church of Atlanta held service this past Sunday (December 31) and a moment showing attendees rocking out to “Swag Surfin’” has sparked an interesting debate.
As seen on local outlet 11 Alive, footage of the Sunday service from The dReam Center Church of Atlanta went wide and showed Pastor William Murphy leading his flock to dance to the song “Walk It Out” by Unk before opening the stage to play “Swag Surfin’” from Fast Life Yungstaz.
Pastor Murphy used the songs, most especially “Walk It Out,” to illustrate how he wants the flock to move into the new year, and this would seem to be a familiar bent for the churchgoers at dReam Center Church
From what we learned, dReam Center Church is known for its high-energy sermons and services, not unlike many churches nationwide that minister to a younger demographic. However, there are some of the faith who feel that the use of secular music in church is a clashing of worlds while others welcome the shift as a breath of fresh air.
On X, formerly Twitter, the debate seems split down the middle with some appreciating the moment and others blasting it. We’ve got those reactions listed below.
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Photo: @travismalloy/TikTok
Following the release of Sabrina Carpenter’s blood-filled “Feather” music video on Halloween, a Catholic priest who allowed a scene from the clip to be filmed inside a Brooklyn church has been relieved of his administrative duties, according to the New York Times.
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In the video, the 24-year-old pop star facilitates the death of a series of obnoxious men, who relentlessly hit on her throughout the video. The cat-callers meet their karma by getting run over by a truck; fighting each other to death; and getting choked by the tie in an elevator shaft. At the end of the clip, Carpenter dances around a church at the men’s funerals, wearing a short black tulle dress and veil and posing with religious items at the alter, including a coffin that reads “RIP B—-.”
That last scene was filmed at Our Lady of Mount Carmel-Annunciation Parish in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Following the music video’s release, Bishop Robert J. Brennan told the Catholic News Agency he is “appalled at what was filmed at Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Brooklyn,” noting that “The parish did not follow diocesan policy regarding the filming on Church property, which includes a review of the scenes and script.”
The pastor, Msgr. Jamie J. Gigantiello, was subsequently relieved of his administrative duties overseeing the church, per New York Times. In an apology posted to the church’s Facebook page, Gigantiello revealed that he approved the filming in September after not finding anything negative about Carpenter online in an “effort to further strengthen the bonds between the young creative artists who make up a large part of this community.” He also told NYT that he was presented the video shoot idea as a funeral scene, but the result in the music video was “not what was initially presented to me.”
Billboard has reached out to Carpenter’s team for comment.
“Feather” is the latest song off Carpenter’s July 2022 album Emails I Can’t Send to get the music video treatment, following “Nonsense,” “Because I Liked a Boy,” “Fast Times” and “Skinny Dipping.” Upon its release, the album debuted at No. 23 on the Billboard 200, marking the rising pop star’s highest peak on the chart to date.
Watch the music video below.
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