Pop star Justin Bieber has denied reports that he is training to be a pastor and has distanced himself from the popular Pentecostal movement, Hillsong.
Reports had emerged in recent days that Bieber was thinking of a move into full-time ministry, which he categorically denied on his Instagram stories yesterday. "I'm not studying to be a minister or anything even close to that," he wrote. "This is fake news."
The 26-year-old megastar added that he was not a part of Hillsong Church after reports continued to link him with disgraced NYC pastor, Carl Lentz, who crashed out of ministry in November after admitting to having an affair.
"BTW Hillsong is not my church," Bieber clarified, before confirming that he was a part of "Churchome" - an online faith community led by Seattle megachurch pastor, Judah Smith.
Speaking into the nature of his remote faith community, Bieber added that "church is not a place".
"We are the church," he wrote. "We don't need a building to connect with God. God is with us wherever we are."