Denzel Washington was raised by a Pentecostal minister father and has spent over three decades as a member of West Angeles Church of God in Christ in Los Angeles, once donating a reported $2.5 million toward the church's rebuilding project. In December 2024, he was baptized at Kelly Temple, Church of God in Christ, in New York, and received a minister's license during the same service. He has often spoken about the moment his faith became personal rather than inherited: "The biggest moment of my life was when I was filled with the Holy Spirit. It happened in the West Angeles Church of God in Christ, Crenshaw Boulevard, Los Angeles." Speaking to graduates, he has urged people to put God first in everything they do, adding that without a spiritual anchor, you'll be easily blown by the wind and led to depression.