“In one week I turn 70. It took a while, but I’m here,” the Gladiator II star said at the service before thanking his wife.
Denzel Washington is no longer just an actor and director; he can now add “minister” to his resume.
On Saturday, the Gladiator II star was baptized at the Kelly Temple Church of God in Christ located in New York City’s Harlem, per Today.
The 69-year-old received a certificate of baptism, as well as a minister’s license, meaning that he can later get ordained.
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The service was livestreamed on Facebook where the actor was heard saying, per Today, “In one week I turn 70. It took a while, but I’m here.”
“If [God] can do this for me, there’s nothing He can’t do for you. The sky literally is the limit,” he added.
Washington also thanked his wife Pauletta Washington, who got up to speak about his journey with his faith.
“Forty-six years later, here I’m still standing next to him as only God will have it,” Pauletta said. “So I’m very proud of you. You are the head of our house and you have set a great example for our children, who are now adult children who know the difference because we have shown them the difference.”
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The award winning actor opened up about his religion to Esquire last month and how he believed it isn’t something that is discussed openly through Hollywood.
“I’m unafraid. I don’t care what anyone thinks. See, talking about the fear part of it — you can’t talk like that and win Oscars. You can’t talk like that and party. You can’t say that in this town,” he wrote in an essay relayed by the magazine,” he said.
“It’s not fashionable. It’s not sexy. But that doesn’t mean people in Hollywood don’t believe. There’s no such thing called Hollywood anyway. What does that even mean? That to me means a street called Hollywood Boulevard. It’s not like we all meet somewhere and discuss what we believe.”
“So I don’t know how many other actors have faith. I didn’t do no poll. How would I find that out? I mean, there’s no Church Actor Meetings I’ve been to,” he concluded.
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