Denzel Washington Taught ‘Faith’ to This Retired Pastor

As President Trump calls for a return to “faith, family, and freedom,” one Hollywood icon quietly embodies that same message — not from a podium, but from the pulpit of his own life.

Denzel Washington, now 70, may be one of the most decorated actors in American history. Two Oscars. Three Golden Globes. Dozens of iconic roles. Yet what matters most to him isn’t fame or fortune — it’s faith.

And that conviction recently inspired one retired Episcopal pastor to go even deeper in his own walk with God.

“Hey, why don’t we start with a prayer?”

Those weren’t the words of a preacher. They came straight from Denzel Washington.

The line stopped Rev. Dr. Russell Levenson Jr. in his tracks. “That one simple invitation changed everything about our conversation,” Levenson told Fox News Digital, promoting his new book Witness to Belief: Conversations on Faith and Meaning (Church Publishing, October 2025).

The retired Texas clergyman, who served more than three decades in ministry, said Denzel’s humility and boldness about his faith “cut through the Hollywood noise.”

“Here’s this man who’s seen the top of the mountain — fame, wealth, success — and yet he says, ‘Let’s begin with God,’” Levenson said. “That’s America’s message right there.”

Denzel’s story of faith began long before red carpets or standing ovations.

At 20, while sweeping hair in his mother’s beauty parlor, an elderly customer named Ruth Green scribbled a message on a piece of paper. “Boy, you are going to travel the world and preach to millions of people.”

Denzel laughed it off. “I thought she was crazy,” he said. But his mother, Lennis, corrected Green’s spelling of the word “prophecy” — and added one word of her own: Reverend.

Half a century later, that prophecy still guides him.

“The Lord has given me the opportunity to reach a lot of ears,” Denzel told Levenson. “Now I understand what that woman meant.”

If modern America runs on “more” — more money, more likes, more fame — Washington is moving the other direction.

“The older I get, the simpler life gets,” he said. “I don’t want to make more money. Don’t care about winning Oscars. Don’t need more things. I want God to be in charge of everything.”

Those words hit the pastor hard. “We live in a divided, chaotic world,” Levenson reflected. “People are chasing everything but God — and Denzel just said what most of us need to hear.”

Singer Amy Grant, another voice featured in the book, echoed that message: “More success isn’t the answer to deeper meaning. It’s just another dopamine hit — and it fades.”

Washington’s daily life mirrors his message. He reads his Bible. He prays. He attends church not for publicity but for peace.

“It’s not what you know,” he said, “it’s Who you know.”

Those who know him personally say he takes that seriously. Gary Sinise, one of several prominent figures also interviewed for Levenson’s book, said Denzel “has that rare thing in Hollywood — conviction.”

Even at his baptism earlier this year, Denzel turned the spotlight toward faith. “God has done a lot for me,” he said, “but He’ll do a lot for anyone who trusts in Him.”

Asked how he wants to be remembered, Washington paused. Then, quietly: “A man of God.”

He explained, “That development doesn’t come from fame or wealth. It comes from a personal conversation with God.”

That humility struck Levenson most. “After all the sermons I’ve preached, Denzel reminded me why I was called in the first place,” he said. “To know God — not to impress the world.”

As America faces rising division, Washington’s message lands differently in 2025. With President Trump restoring Christian themes to public life — from prayer breakfasts to faith-based school initiatives — even Hollywood can’t entirely ignore the nation’s spiritual hunger.

“People are looking for meaning again,” Levenson said. “They’re tired of chaos, tired of cancel culture. Denzel offers something real.”

The book’s lineup reads like a cross-section of American conviction — Dr. Jane Goodall, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, Gary Sinise, Amy Grant, Admiral William McRaven, and former Secretary of State James A. Baker III — but it’s Washington’s faith that lingers longest.

As the pastor wrote in his closing chapter, “By the end of these conversations, you’ll agree with Denzel: I don’t want more. I want God.”

In a culture obsessed with what’s trending, the message feels radical — and refreshingly American.