Chris Pratt Called Out For Attending ‘Anti-LGBTQ Church’ By Ellen Page

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Ellen Page has called out Chris Pratt after it was revealed he attended a church which is ‘infamously anti-LGBTQ’.

The 39-year-old Guardians of the Galaxy star has been vocal about his faith in the past, and recently appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to promote his new film, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part.

While on the show, however, he also discussed his engagement to Katherine Schwarzenegger, his ‘spiritual side’, and his faith.

The actor attends the Zoe Church and Hillsong, a Christian ‘megachurch’ popular among A-list celebrities.

However, when The Hollywood Reporter put a tweet out about Pratt and his ‘spiritual side’, the actor Ellen Page – who recently made a documentary series called Gaycation – thought people should also be aware of the church’s apparently ‘anti LGTBQ’ stance.

She wrote:

Oh. K. Um. But his church is infamously anti lgbtq so maybe address that too?

While the church says LGBTQ people are welcome to worship at Hillsong, they cannot ‘take an active leadership role’.

In a statement made by Hillsong’s pastor, Brian Houston, back in 2015, he said:

Hillsong Church welcomes ALL people but does not affirm all lifestyles. Put clearly, we do not affirm a gay lifestyle and because of this we do not knowingly have actively gay people in positions of leadership, either paid or unpaid.

I recognise this one statement alone is upsetting to people on both sides of this discussion, which points to the complexity of the issue for churches all over the world.

He continued:

So if you are gay, are you welcome at Hillsong Church? Of course! You are welcome to attend, worship with us, and participate as a congregation member with the assurance that you are personally included and accepted within our community.

But (this is where it gets vexing), can you take an active leadership role? No.

This won’t make everyone happy and to some, this stance may even be seen as hypocritical. We are a gay welcoming church but we are not a church that affirms a gay lifestyle.

Chris did not make a comment on this while speaking about his faith on the show.

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Page’s documentary series, Gaycation, explores different LGBTQ cultures from around the world.

In it, Page and her friend Ian Daniel travel to various countries to find out about the very different experiences LGBTQ people can have in different parts of the world, both positive and negative.

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Charlie Cocksedge

Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.