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Denzel Washington Gets Baptized & Receives His Minister’s License
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ctor Denzel Washington took a major step in his walk with the Lord over the weekend, becoming baptized and receiving his minister’s license.Ā The Oscar-winning actor was baptized on Saturday shortly before his seventieth birthday at the Kelly Temple Church of God in Christ in Harlem, New York City, which is affiliated with the Pentecostal Church of God in Christ denomination.
The baptismal serviceĀ livestreamed on Facebook, showed Washington wearing a white robe being immersed in the churchās ritual pool. Afterwards, he was presented with a certificate of baptism.
Mentioning he was about to turn 70 on 28 December, Washington told the congregation: āIt took a while, but Iām here.ā He also spoke about an incident when he was 20 in which he encountered a woman called Ruth Green in his motherās beauty parlour, who told him: āBoy, you are going to travel the world and preach to millions of people.ā
In an interview with Esquire Magazine in November, Washington recalled and described his moment of religious awakening in the early 1980s in a church in Los Angeles. āIt felt like I was getting lifted up. It felt like my back was arched, and I had my eyes closed. Not that I was going up in the air, but ā I canāt exactly describe it. And I was blabbering, and kept blabbering, because I was filled with the Holy Spirit.ā
In the same interview Washington also alluded to the difficulties he faced being open about his faith while working in the film industry. āYou canāt talk like that and win Oscars. You canāt talk like that and party. You canāt say that in this town ā¦ Itās not talked about in this town. Itās not talked about ā¦ Itās not fashionable. Itās not sexy. But that doesnāt mean people in Hollywood donāt believe.ā
The Equalizer series star’s water baptism ceremony was officiated by Archbishop Christopher Bryant.
Bryant shared that Washington attended the church as a young child and was “filled with the Holy Spirit after visiting another church with actor Robert Townsend in the 80’s.”
Washington also thanked his “loving, faithful wife” of 41 years, Pauletta Washington, who was present in the congregation to support him.
“To God be the glory. Hallelujah!” he told the congregation. “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.”
As reported, Washington has become more outspoken about his Christian faith over the last several years.Ā He previously shared how he gave his life to God several times early in life. He even had a supernatural encounter with the Holy Spirit, but it took a while before he understood the weight of his decision.
“Three times…I think we all go through that,” he said. “I was filled with the Holy Ghost and it scared me. I didn’t want to go this deep…I wanted to party. It was a supernatural, once-in-a-lifetime experience that I couldn’t completely understand at the time.”
He recalled his divine encounter he had one day during his devotional time: “I was sitting on a yacht listening to a song called ‘The Face of God.’ And nobody was up. I was in my prayer and meditation, reading my Bible. And I’m like ‘Lord, everybody can see Your face, I wanna see it…’ And while I said it, when I said, ‘I wanna see your face,’ I heard, ‘Look to your left.'”
“So I look to my left, and I look and I picked up my phone and I went {makes clicking sound}. And this is what I saw,” he said while handing his phone to the interviewer.
The photo on the phone showed a face in the sky. The shape of a mouth, a nose, and eyes are visible among the clouds.
Washington reiterated to the interviewer his purpose in life has little to do with making movies, but rather “to be an example, of the power, and wisdom, and grace, and mercy of God in my life.”Ā āŖ
