Chris Pratt Clarifies His Relationship With Controversial Church
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The drama around Chris Pratt's religious affiliations began, the actor explains, at the 2018 MTV Movie & TV awards. While accepting the Generation Award, Pratt used his speech to deliver “Chris Pratt’s 9 Rules.” Some rules were inane, like “don’t be a turd.” And then, Pratt came to Rule #6: “God is real. God loves you. God wants the best for you. Believe that. I do.”
The rule was immediately followed by a pee-then-poop instructional for how to properly doo at a party without smelling up the bathroom. But Rule #6 would be the lasting soundbite from the speech. With it, came the public perception of Chris Pratt as a Man of Faith—which led to rumors that Pratt's chosen house of worship was the controversial Hillsong Church.
In the July/August issue of Men's Health, Pratt clarifies where he stands on religion and his connection to Hillsong.
“Maybe it was hubris,” he says, looking back on that Generation Award speech. “For me to stand up on the stage and say the things that I said, I’m not sure I touched anybody.”
Pratt says he understands why some people were put off by his go-to-Jesus message. “I didn’t know that I would kind of become the face of religion when really I’m not a religious person,” he says.
Religion, he says, has been “oppressive as fuck.”
“I think there’s a distinction between being religious—adhering to the customs created by man, oftentimes appropriating the awe reserved for who I believe is a very real God—and using it to control people, to take money from people, to abuse children, to steal land, to justify hatred," he says. "Whatever it is. The evil that’s in the heart of every single man has glommed on to the back of religion and come along for the ride.”
After a 2019 appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, during which Pratt discussed his faith, actor Elliot Page called out Hillsong Church, the church Pratt was reportedly attending at the time. The church had been criticized after two church executives made homophobic comments in 2015, saying that homosexuality is a sin.
At the time, Pratt issued a statement that, while it never denied his Hillsong affiliation, clarified his position. “It has recently been suggested that I belong to a church which ‘hates a certain group of people’ and is ‘infamously anti-LGBTQ.’ Nothing could be further from the truth. I go to a church that opens their doors to absolutely everyone.”
Speaking to Men’s Health, however, Pratt made a much stronger claim about his church affiliation.
“I never went to Hillsong,” he says. “I’ve never actually been to Hillsong. I don’t know anyone from that church.”
Pratt says he attends Zoe Church, but not exclusively. (Zoe isn’t free from controversy either. The church was founded by Chad Veach, who participated in a short film that equated “same-sex attraction” with “sexual brokenness.”)
He says he didn’t make these clarifications at the time, because he didn’t feel like it was his place. “I’m gonna, like, throw a church under the bus? If it’s like the Westboro Baptist Church, that’s different.”
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