God And The Stars: Is The Hollywood Religious Renaissance Real? - Brief Article

Ebony, July, 2001 by Joy Bennett Kinnon, Aldore Collier

THE City of Angels may be named for heavenly ideals, but some critics have charged that the film capital is, among other things, "the devil's playground."

But within recent months the celebrated and not so celebrated have lifted the religious life of the city to a new level. Among the manifestations of this experience is the explosive growth in church memberships and the creation of megachurches with memberships of 7,000, 10,000 and even 20,000. Another manifestation is the increase in the number of stars seen carrying their own well-thumbed Bibles into church services, and publicly professing their faith by singing, shouting, and crying.

"There has always existed a deep-rooted spirituality in the African-American culture," says the Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith, founder and minister of Culver City's 7,000-member Agape International Center of Truth. He doesn't believe the spirituality he is witnessing is a new "movement" among African-American entertainers. "In fact, it is precisely the spirituality inherent in our culture that provided the faith and strength to survive the atrocities of slavery's holocaust," he adds. Beckwith has officiated a number of celebrity weddings, including those of Laila Ali, Quincy Jones III, Jasmine Guy and Terrence Duckette, and will soon perform the wedding of Keenan Ivory Wayans and Daphne Polk.

A number of prominent African-American entertainers call Agape their church home, Beckwith says, adding, "The Agape community honors the privacy and anonymity of its celebrity congregants." Some who attend services there on a regular basis include Vanessa Williams, Carl Anderson, Ben Vereen, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Lorraine Toussaint, Diane Houston, Jasmine Guy, Ernie Banks, Laila Ali, Michael Colyar, Freda Payne and Macy Gray.

However, come Sunday, it's not just "showtime" for the region's stars. The Rev. Dr. Kenneth Ulmer, pastor of the Faithful Central Bible Church of Inglewood, says that although his 10,000-member congregation does include a number of "high-profile" entertainers, they don't come to be spotlighted, but to become "a part of the fabric of the church."

Blair Underwood, Shanice, Sinbad, Nia Long, Kenny Latimore, Yolanda King and L.L. Cool J have attended his services, he says. "The more you come, the less of a celebrity you become," he adds. He says his church gets a lot of "bell-curve" celebrities, meaning many aspiring celebrities and "a lot who are more seasoned."

Ulmer views the religious renaissance as universal and not just peculiar to Los Angeles. "I think this is the season, and it is a global revival and reaching out to God," he adds. Sometimes the congregation has to be educated when there are a large number of celebrities at service, he says. He says celebrities who attend his services are seeking a "spiritual balance. They are regular people and they come for the Word. When they are in town, they are in church. We make it very clear--no autographs!"

On Easter the congregation moved into its new home, the Great Western Forum, L.A. Arena Co., the former home of the NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers, making it one of the largest houses of worship in the country.

Another well-known spiritual center for West Coast stars is the West Angeles Church of God in Christ, where Denzel Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Angela Bassett and Courtney Vance are regulars.

Some stars have carried their faith to a new level by preaching and by opening their own churches. Actress Della Reese, star of the hit TV series Touched by an Angel, preaches to a standing-room-only crowd every Sunday at the Understanding Principles for Better Living Church. Reese became an ordained minister in 1983. Singers Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. have their own Los Angeles ministry, Soldiers for the Second Coming. The pair, who have been saved, they say, for more than 20 years, meets with the ministry in the McCarty Memorial Christian Church in Los Angeles and has seen their congregation more than triple in size in the last three years. "I think that the Lord is changing a lot of people's hearts," says Davis. The entertainment couple, married for more than 30 years, say they are most impressed by a young minister named Mason (Mase) Betha, the former rapper: "He was so powerful--almost like a prophet," says McCoo. "He takes no prisoners," says Davis. Betha headlined a recent Christian Entertainers Fellowship luncheon in Los Angeles, sponsored by former Motown producer Frank Wilson and directed by another Motown alumnus Ollie Brown.

In Los Angeles and other cities, the renaissance is spreading. Mase, who so impressed the Davises, left "the glamorous life" and started an Atlanta-based ministry, Saving A Nation Endangered (S.A.N.E.). Former award-winning singer Pebbles is now known as Sister Perri, and she has founded a deliverance ministry for women in Atlanta, Women of God Changing Lives Through Christ. Popular gospel singer Donnie McClurkin has announced plans to leave Detroit this summer to pastor his own church in New York. And top singer Dave Hollister ("the Ghetto Preacher") is openly talking about cutting back on performing secular music and opening his own church.