The Oscar-winning actor, 69, was baptised and received a minister’s license at the Kelly Temple Church of God in Christ in New York on Saturday in a service broadcast on Facebook.

“We celebrate the addition of Minister Denzel Washington into the clergy, having received his minister’s license in the Church of God in Christ today, in a truly uplifting moment,” Archbishop Christopher Bryant wrote on Facebook, sharing a photo of Washington’s baptism.

In remarks at the end of the ceremony, Washington remembered how his mother told him, “about the eighth or ninth time I lost an Academy Award,” that “man gives the award, God gives the reward.”

He went on to recall that a woman named Ruth Green, who was “known to have the gift of prophecy,” predicted when he was 20 that he would “travel the world and preach to millions of people.”

“Fifty years later … if (God) can do this for me, there’s nothing he can’t do for you,” he said. “The sky literally is the limit, and there’s no limit to the sky. God is good all the time.”

According to the church, pollution of water bodies in Ghana is making it difficult for the Christian fraternity to access potable water sources to embark on the spiritual exercise.

Head pastor of Deeper Life Church, Kumasi South, Pastor Yaw Osei Wusu, says urgent measures are needed to halt the menace of illegal mining.

He was speaking at the media launch of the annual national campus community congress of the church.

“The illegal mining is gravely affecting us as a church. We can’t baptise new converts now. The water sources are all now polluted,” he lamented.

Galamsey has become topical in recent months, with numerous organizations and individuals advocating for a complete ban on all sorts of mining.

The Seventh Day Adventist Church has in recent times voiced similar concerns over their ordeal in accessing water with some of them forced to establish baptisteries.

The president recently announced measures to combat illegal mining activities.

The artiste, best known for his hit song ‘Dance for Me’ in 2016, has chosen to embrace a spiritual calling and embark on a new path.

Eugy was baptized over the weekend on July 2 under the auspices of his father and uncle who happen to be pastors.

In a heartfelt statement, Eugy expressed his desire to separate himself from the distractions and temptations of the world and focus on his spiritual journey as he admits he has not lived a morally upright life.

While acknowledging the impact his music and fame had on his life, he said he feels compelled to prioritize his personal and spiritual transformation.

He wrote:

“If someone asked me at the beginning of 2023 what my year would look like I don’t think this is what I would’ve said. That’s how powerful the Lord is. When Jesus calls you there’s nothing you can do about it. You must heed and answer. I’ve always said that I know God loves me but I’ve also always tried to manoeuvre using my own might & strength and let’s be honest I wasn’t living righteously but there comes a point when you realise you must submit to the almighty father and allow his will to be done.

” I’m not perfect. Neither am I better than anyone else but by Gods grace I vow to move forward purposefully and with a clean heart. I got baptised last Sunday and I was blessed enough to have my Dad, Pastor Joe (white t-shirt) and Uncle, Pastor Joshua (Grey t-shirt) usher me into this new life. I give God all the praise. Looking forward to what the future holds.”

He shared a video of his baptism which captured the exact moment he was immersed in water.

As part of the spiritual journey, Eugy has deleted all trace of his previous lifestyle on his social media platforms.

Watch video below:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Eugy Official (@eugyofficial)

Thirty-three members of the white garment church from Alexandra went for baptism in the Jukskei River in Morningside, Johannesburg, when a flash flood occurred, resulting in the tragedy.

Eyewitnesses told the media that the congregants were standing on rocks in the river when a deluge of water poured. The church leader reportedly escaped death by a whisker when he held on to an overhanging tree branch while being swept away.

The police, fire service and specialist aquatic rescue teams, will continue searching today for three people who are still missing.

Spokesperson of the City of Johannesburg Emergency Medical Services Robert Mulaudzi told eNCA that the teams first recovered two drowned bodies on Saturday before 12 others were retrieved on Sunday from the Jukskei River, bringing the count to 14.

“Our residents, especially congregants who normally practice these kinds of rituals, will be tempted to go to these river streams. Our message for them is to exercise caution as and when they conduct these rituals,” Mulaudzi said.

Victor Ncube, a member of the Johane Masowe church, told the media that he rescued five people from the river who had been swept 100 metres downstream.

This is not the first time members of an apostolic sect have drowned during their church rituals.

In 2021, eight prophets from Vadzidzi VaJeso apostolic sect in Zimbabwe drowned while competing to retrieve a “holy stick” in Mazowe River. Ten prophets were involved in the ritual competition to select a baptist when they drowned.

One of the church leaders threw a church stick into the deep Hungumwe River and said whoever retrieved it first would qualify to baptise congregants.

Father Andres Arango, who performed thousands of baptisms, would say, “We baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” But Olmsted explained the words “We baptize” should have been “I baptize” instead.

“The issue with using ‘We’ is that it is not the community that baptizes a person, rather, it is Christ, and Him alone, who presides at all of the sacraments, and so it is Christ Jesus who baptizes,” Olmsted wrote in a message to parishioners posted last month.

The error also means that because baptism is the first of the sacraments, some people will need to repeat other sacraments, according to the diocese webpage for frequently asked questions. CNN has reached out to the diocese for comment on other sacraments.

Arango resigned as pastor of the St. Gregory Parish in Phoenix as of February 1.

“It saddens me to learn that I have performed invalid baptisms throughout my ministry as a priest by regularly using an incorrect formula. I deeply regret my error and how this has affected numerous people in your parish and elsewhere,” Arango wrote in his own message on the site.

Olmsted said the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2020 affirmed that when a baptism is conferred with the formula “We baptize …” it is invalid and people need to be baptized again.

The diocese has set up a website for anyone who believes they had an invalid baptism. The diocese said baptisms Arango conducted after June 17, 2021, are presumed valid.

According to Katie Burke, a spokesperson for the diocese, some new baptisms have already taken place.

Arango began his career in Brazil in 1995. He will continue to be a priest, and will dedicate his energy and time to help those who had invalid baptisms.

Olmsted said he did not believe Andres intended to harm any of the parishioners.

“I too am sincerely sorry that this error has resulted in disruption to the sacramental lives of a number of the faithful. This is why I pledge to take every step necessary to remedy the situation for everyone impacted,” Olmsted said.

According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, there are seven sacraments in the Catholic church: baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, reconciliation, anointing the sick, marriage and holy orders.

“Through the Sacraments, God shares his holiness with us so that we, in turn, can make the world holier,” the conference says on its website.

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The incident which claimed the life of eight people happened on Saturday at around 2 pm at the Hungumwe River which lies at the junction of Mazowe and Tsvinje rivers.

According to reports reaching iHarare,  ten prophets were involved in the ritual competition to select a baptist when they drowned.

However, only two of the ten prophets survived, states media reports.

The bodies of the deceased have since been retrieved.

Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has named the now deceased as Nickson Singano (29), Peter Marera (31), Tendai Marera (28), Alexeio Makombe (26), Tichawana Katiyo (32), Isaac Dokora (21), Lanciot Dokora(34) and Chriswell Kunyengerera.

The police warned members of the public to desist from going near water bodies.

In an almost similar development, three villagers from Mapanzure communal lands in Masvingo disappeared in July after plunging into a pool during a ritual ceremony.

The three villager were performing rituals on the banks of  Musogwezi River before they jumped into a pool along with two other villagers who were rescued after a prayer session led by Pastor Amos Chituru (49) of Manyangadze village in Mutasa.

The villagers are alleged to have been in a trance when they plunged into the pool.

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Social distancing is the new normal. We’ve seen people graduating via Zoom, couples getting married online, and even burials attended online.

But certain ceremonies such as the Catholic baptism cannot be done online and parents have shared photos of the new procedure involved in baptizing children.

A photo of a priest using a water gun has gone viral on Twitter. The photo snapped at a church shows the mother holding up her child while the priest, who was standing some feet away, used the water gun to squirt holy water on the child.

Prior to that, a couple, Mary and Kyle Nielsen, took to Twitter to share a photo of a priest using a water gun to shoot holy water on their child.

The couple had reportedly scheduled a baptism for their two-month-old son Wesley James before the outbreak of the pandemic. But seeing the surge in cases and churches being closed, the family shelved the ceremony.

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However, the family then decided to baptise the baby at home only. It was Mary Nielsen’s brother who came up with the idea of squirt gun.

“When baptism day came, we did the real thing first of course, and then afterwards we made sure to do the picture of the pastor holding a water gun and my husband just held Wesley out there and made sure we got a good photo op of that,” Mary was quoted as saying.

Twitter users were amused by the “social distancing” baptism and they made memes out of it. However, some were not impressed.

In a similar incident, a Catholic priest in the Detroit area took aim at his parishioners in a bid to maintain social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic.

Photos posted on social media by the St. Ambrose Church show Rev. Tim Pelc using a squirt gun to shoot holy water into a car window as it stopped by the steps of the church on Easter. He wore a mask, face shield and rubber gloves as further precautions against spreading the coronavirus.

Eric Ayiah (2x), Emmanuel Toku (2x) and Patmos Arhin scored to crush the hosts’ hopes of reaching the last four.

The midweek defeat follows a 5-1 humiliation to Guinea in Sunday’s tournament opener.

“It has been hard for the boys since we lost the first game to Guinea and they really wanted to correct this against Ghana but unfortunately, we lost again,” Mfoumbi said.

“Who is to be blamed? The first person to be blamed is the coach but everyone can see that we did our best. Unfortunately things did not come our way.

“We have to consider that we are only together for just two months.

“Of course, our objective was to qualify but we couldn’t achieve this but I believe there is future for these boys.”

It is the third time Gabon have failed to reach the last four of the Under-17 Afcon following disappointments in 2007 and 2013.

Despite the failed mission, the side will still play Cameroon in their last game on Saturday.

Gabon only confirmed their participation at the tournament in February when they were awarded the organizing rights after original hosts Madagascar failed to impress a Caf inspection team in January.