Justin Bieber has denied reports he is studying to be a minister, while distancing himself from megachurch Hillsong.
On 31 December, Page Six published a story that said the Holy singer was “reportedly studying to be a minister for Hillsong Church”, which recently terminated the employment of its former pastor Carl Lentz after what it said were “leadership issues and breaches of trust, plus a recent revelation of moral failures”.
According to the outlet, which cited a source who had spoken to OK! Magazine, Bieber “feels there’s a bigger calling out there for him”, with the source claiming: “He wants to be a full-fledged minister next year".
However, on Monday, Bieber addressed the rumours on his Instagram Stories, where he said he is not studying to be a minister “or anything even close to that”.
Sharing a screenshot of the Page Six article, the 26-year-old wrote: “I’m not studying to be a minister or anything even close to that. Have no desire for that, this is fake news.”
In a follow-up post, Bieber also clarified that Hillsong is “not my church,” and that he is instead a member of celebrity-endorsed megachurch Churchome.
“And btw Hillsong is not my church … for clarity I am a part of Churchome,” the singer wrote, before sharing an additional post about his beliefs.
“Church is not a place. We are the church. We don’t need a building to connect with god. God is with us wherever we are,” he wrote.
Bieber has attended Churchome since at least 2015, with Entertainment Tonight noting that one of the church’s lead pastors, Judah Smith, officiated his wedding to Hailey in 2019.
