Are the KarJenners Trying to Start the New Hillsong?
We have a lot of questions.
If you’ve been keeping up with the Kardashians—namely, Kim Kardashian West—you know that the reality star has been attending weekly “Sunday Services” led by none other than her husband, Kanye West. The seemingly non-denominational religious gatherings reportedly take place at a different location each week (past services spaces include West’s home studio in Calabasas, Adidas headquarters in Portland, Oregon and somewhere among the surrounding hills and forests of Los Angeles) and consist of Kanye leading a colour-coordinated, Yeezy outfit-wearing choir as they sing gospel versions of his songs, including “Power,” “Lift Yourself” and “Father Stretch My Hands Part 1,” while the Wests’ eldest daughter, North, dances along with her friends.
Sunday Service 🌙 ⭐️ 🚀 pic.twitter.com/b6wFWjALHC
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) March 10, 2019
Her favorite part of the week is dancing during Sunday Service pic.twitter.com/yhiDhBqBY5
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) March 17, 2019
Variety describes it as “the most prestigious, highly-coveted invitation among the greater music community in Los Angeles—an event that only the select and handpicked worshipers get to experience,” and famous faces such as Kid Cudi, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, Busy Phillips, Courtney Love, Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom and DMX have all been spotted at the weekly gathering, with the latter leading morning prayer during one service (seriously, we can’t make this stuff up). And of course, the rest of the Kardashian Jenner clan is also there to show their support, according to TMZ—with the notable exception of Kylie Jenner, which… *shrug emoji.*
Morning prayer by DMX #SundayService pic.twitter.com/AGpMgUyF9U
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) March 17, 2019
The seeds for the service seem to have been planted at beginning of the year, when Kanye proclaimed he was a Christian and a tax payer who would change the world with God on his side during a New Year’s Day tweetstorm. Five days later, Kim took to Twitter to announce she and Kanye would be starting a new, Sunday-specific thing.
And so it was written, and the Church of Kanye West Sunday Service was born.
We will change the world. God is on my side. I am a Christian. I am a tax payer. I am myself. God is with us.
— ye (@kanyewest) January 1, 2019
Our new Sunday Service is starting. Check out the rehearsals on my Instagram stories ✨
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) January 6, 2019
But there seems to be confusion as to the actual purpose and motive of the Wests’ Sunday Service. Is this just a weekly gathering for famous people to worship and hang out together? Is it a lead-up/promo to Kanye’s supposed upcoming gospel album? Or are the Kardashian Wests actually starting a church à la Hillsong, the famous “hip” Christian church whose celeb worshippers include Justin and Hailey Bieber, Selena Gomez, Nick Jonas and—hi, this is important—Kardashian Jenner clan members Kourtney Kardashian, Kylie Jenner and Kendall Jenner?
The idea isn’t actually that far-fetched. The KarJenner fam already has some experience in starting churches. Matriarch Kris Jenner co-founded California Community Church (CCC) in 2008 and brought on Rev. Brad Johnson (the man who performed Khloé Kardashian and Lamar Odom’s televised marriage ceremony in 2009) to lead the congregation after he, according to Slate, “resigned in disgrace” from a larger church nearby. Despite a few tax scandals, the $1,000-a-month church is still up and running, though the KarJenners are noticeably absent from the congregation, despite their ties to CCC.
So perhaps it’s time for a new, bigger and better church with some Yeezy branding to create hype, KUWTK storylines and of course, make bank? It’s a theory that’s been floating around on some gossip sites, and tbh, it wouldn’t be surprising if it were true. After all, despite his erratic ways and controversies, West still has major influence in the world of celebrity, as does Kim, and judging by the celebrities they’ve already brought in, their reach could eclipse Hillsong’s. And considering religious themes are already plentiful in Kanye’s music, it’s easy to rework his hits into actual gospel music. After all, that’s what they’re currently doing at Sunday Service. Should Kanye decide to release an album, the church itself would certainly create more hype, and, of course, a Kardashian-West-Jenner church would be a great way to keep the family consistently in the news.
Either way, it’ll be interesting to see how this all plays out. Our only question is, will it be called The Church of Yeezus?
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