Justin Bieber denies he is studying to become a minister while distancing himself from Hillsong Church

‘I’m not studying to be a minister or anything even close to that,’ singer says

Justin Bieber denies he is studying to become a minister (Getty Images)

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.

Justin Bieber denies he is studying to become a minister  (Instagram)

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.