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Hailey Bieber says she wouldn’t be with pop star husband Justin Bieber if they weren’t both devout Christians.
“They ask me all the time, ‘What would you say is the biggest thing in your relationship? You guys are really happy.
“And I’m like, ‘It’s our faith.’ It's what we believe in. If we didn’t have that, we wouldn't even be together,” the 24-year-old model said on a webisode of A Conversation With.
The couple who met in 2009 famously remained celibate during their relationship until they married in 2018.
Both come from religious households. Hailey’s father, actor Stephen Baldwin, once battled drugs and became a born-again Christian following the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001.
Justin meanwhile was raised by his evangelical Christian mom, Pattie Mallette. He lost connection with his faith as his fame took over at one point and started dabbling in drugs and bad behaviour, but he eventually found his way back.
In 2014 he was baptised by “rock star” pastor Carl Lentz of the evangelical mega church Hillsong. The two men formed a close bond but after Lentz was fired when it emerged he’d cheated on his wife, the Biebers left and moved to Churchome.
The Seattle-based ministry is founded by Judah Smith (42) and is part of a new wave of evangelical congregations attracting the young and hip set.
On their website, the church describes itself as being “a church that functions like a home, that looks like a home and that loves like a home”.
“We are a small church with a lot of people,” the site says. “The point is not about having a big church. The point is building a community of big-hearted people willing to love and help anybody.”
On Wednesday, the Sorry hitmaker reached out to his 464 million followers on Instagram to say that “God loves you unconditionally”.
“Just wanted to remind you that you are a miracle! There may be circumstances in your life that [you] wish were different but God is with you and he WILL PULL YOU THROUGH,” he wrote.
“God knows what you are going through and he is devastated at every little thing that causes you pain. Let go of trying to do it all on your own and trust that the one who designed you loves you unconditionally.”
Sources: dailymail.co.uk, vox.com, hitc.com
