Justin Bieber's Pastor on How the Famous Deal With Faith
Justin Bieber, Kevin Durant, and Kyrie Irving all turn to Hillsong’s Carl Lentz for spiritual guidance. The pastor, who has more than 500,000 followers across all of his social media accounts, joined Cheddar to discuss his new book “Own The Moment," attracting millennials to the faith, and his star-studded church.
“Celebrities are really not that much different than the regular among us,” the pastor said Monday.
Hillsong’s churchgoers are not what you might think of as typical Sunday parishioners -- Lentz caters to hip and fashion-forward millennials. The service itself is more like a party than a sermon: lines outside are more reminiscent of what you’d see during a new product release at Supreme or the Apple Store. And all four of the Sunday services usually pack their portion of the 12,000-square-foot space in New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom. There are lights everywhere and the music is booming.
But how is Hillsong’s fandom possible during a time that millennials are, overall, less faith-oriented?
Pew Research has reported that, compared with their elders, young people are much less likely to affiliate with any religious tradition or to identify themselves as part of a Christian denomination. Fully one in four adults under the age of 30 describe themselves as “atheist,” “agnostic,” or “nothing in particular.” Pew says Americans aged 18 to 29 are considerably less religious than older Americans.
Lentz says that millennials who gravitate towards him are seeking relatability in a world that’s becoming more and more cynical. He says that he wrote his book to give clarity to those who don’t know whether they should believe in God.
“People want genuine, authentic people,” he said, calling surveys like Pew’s “weird.” “I’ve never been interviewed by one,” he points out.
Hillsong is a Pentecostal “megachurch” affiliated with the Australian Christian Churches group. There are almost 1,100 institutions within the organization and more than 250,000 members.
Lentz, who’s the lead pastor at the NYC location, credits the city with drawing in celebrities to his church.
“If I was in Montana, we would have cattle ranchers in our church,” he said. “We live right here in the
Mecca of the entertainment industry.”
Lentz says that the concept of faith to those like Bieber and Durant is no different than it is for the average American.
David Bowie's entire catalog of songs has officially been sold to Warner Music Group by his estate for an estimated $250 million. This means the group now has the full rights to almost all of David Bowie's recordings. But Bowie, just the latest music mega deal. Just last month, Bruce Springsteen sold his entire catalog to Sony Music Entertainment at what in fact maybe be the biggest transaction ever for a single artist's body of work. In addition, John Legend also cashed in by selling rights to his songs from 2004 to early last year. Culture Correspondent at NPR, Anastasia Tsioulcas, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Season 6 "Bachelorette" Ali Manno joined Cheddar's Baker Machado to discuss "The Bachelor" franchise, promoting children’s creativity, and motherhood. Manno also touched on her partnership with the cereal brand Pebbles to use their imagination by getting them to submit artwork, which then ended up on display across the country. "What I love about this so much is it not only encourages kids to be creative but it shows when you are creative and you use your imagination, you could be in a mural in a major city," she said.
On this episode of Cheddar Reveals Richenda Sandlin-Tymitz, Marketing & Content Manager at Alaska Tour & Travel, breaks down when and how to plan your best trip to Alaska; Kristen Miller, Acting Executive Director, Alaska Wilderness League, discusses the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the oil drilling that threatens it; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'The Magic of the Wild.'
Richenda Sandlin-Tymitz, Marketing & Content Manager at Alaska Tour & Travel, joins Cheddar Reveals to break down when and how to plan your best trip to Alaska.
Kristen Miller, acting executive director, Alaska Wilderness League, discusses the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the oil drilling that threatens it.
Ellen Fitzsimmons-Craft, assistant professor of psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine, joins Cheddar News to discuss how chatbots can help prevent eating disorders and the research that uncovered these findings.
