Draft:Judah Smith

• Comment: You cannot include content like "Smith's preaching generally emphasizes divine grace, forgiveness and acceptance." in Wikipedia's voice. Theroadislong (talk) 10:44, 10 August 2026 (UTC)

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Judah Smith (born c. 1978) is an American evangelical pastor and author. He is the lead communicator and a member of the leadership team of Churchome, a nondenominational Christian church formerly known as The City Church, which he leads with his wife, Chelsea Smith.

Smith is the author of several books about Christianity, including Jesus Is: Find a New Way to Be Human, which appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list in 2013. He has received wider public attention through his pastoral relationship with singer Justin Bieber, as well as appearances on recordings by Bieber and Lana Del Rey.

Early life and family

Smith was born in Portland, Oregon, to pastors Wendell and Gini Smith. He grew up in a family with several generations of Christian ministers. During the 1980s, his family traveled as part of an itinerant ministry, and Smith began appearing at ministry events as a child.

The family moved to the Seattle area when Smith was 13. Wendell and Gini Smith founded The City Church in 1992, initially with a congregation of 21 people. By the time of Wendell Smith's death in 2010, the church had approximately 6,000 weekly attendees across six Seattle-area campuses.

Smith married Chelsea Smith in 1999.

Ministry

The City Church and Churchome

Judah and Chelsea Smith led The City Church's youth ministry for approximately ten years before being appointed co-lead pastors in 2009. Wendell Smith, who had been diagnosed with cancer in 2004, died on December 19, 2010, at the age of 60.

In 2014, Smith began holding Bible-study meetings in private homes in the Hollywood Hills. Attendance grew, and the meetings subsequently moved to rented venues in the Los Angeles area. In 2017, the church began holding services at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills and changed its name from The City Church to Churchome. Chelsea Smith said the new name reflected the congregation's expansion beyond a single city.

Churchome introduced a mobile application in November 2018. The application offered streamed sermons, prayer requests, community discussion and donation functions. The church further emphasized digital services during the COVID-19 pandemic. A 2026 profile in New York reported that Churchome said its weekly reach had more than quadrupled by the end of 2020.

In October 2022, the Smiths moved from the titles of lead pastors to positions on Churchome's leadership team. Churchome identifies Judah Smith as its lead communicator and Chelsea Smith as its lead theologian.

Relationship with Justin Bieber

Smith's relationship with Justin Bieber began through Bieber's mother, Pattie Mallette. Mallette heard Smith preach at a Christian conference in Toronto in 1999 and later invited Judah and Chelsea Smith to attend one of Bieber's concerts in Washington in 2010.

Bieber has said that Smith remained in his life during his adolescence and later helped him understand his Christian faith. Bieber told GQ that Smith had placed their personal relationship ahead of seeking anything from him and that he was drawn to the stability of the Smith family.

Smith officiated Bieber's 2019 wedding to Hailey Baldwin. He also appeared on Bieber's 2021 Christian-themed EP Freedom, including on the tracks "Where You Go I Follow" and "Where Do I Fit In". Smith and Churchome staff member Wes Halliburton are credited as co-writers of "Story of God", the spoken-word closing track of Bieber's 2025 album Swag II.

In 2023, Lana Del Rey included "Judah Smith Interlude", a recording of part of one of Smith's sermons, on her album Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd.

Writing

Smith's book Jesus Is: Find a New Way to Be Human was published by Thomas Nelson in 2013. Publishers Weekly reported that it entered The New York Times Best Seller list two weeks after publication.

He followed it with Life Is: God's Illogical Love Will Change Your Existence in 2015 and How's Your Soul?: Why Everything That Matters Starts with the Inside You in 2016.

In 2025, Smith and psychologist Les Parrott published Bad Thoughts: A Preacher and a Shrink's Guide to Reclaiming Your Mind and Soul.

Theology and public positions

Smith's preaching generally emphasizes divine grace, forgiveness and acceptance. A 2026 New York profile described his theology as placing less emphasis on moral performance and more on salvation through grace.

A 2005 Seattle Post-Intelligencer profile, quoted by Marie Claire in 2019, reported that Smith opposed abortion and described homosexuality as sinful. When asked about the earlier comments in 2019, Smith said that he had grown significantly during the intervening years and would not agree with the approach he had taken as a younger pastor.

During the same interview, Judah and Chelsea Smith said Churchome welcomed people regardless of their beliefs or backgrounds. When asked whether Churchome would permit an openly gay person to serve as a pastor, they spoke generally about welcoming and loving all people but did not give a direct answer.

Employee tithing lawsuit

In March 2023, Churchome employee Rachel Kellogg filed a proposed class action lawsuit in King County Superior Court against Churchome, Judah and Chelsea Smith, and chief executive David Kroll. The complaint alleged that Churchome required employees to contribute ten percent of their gross wages to the church and that Kellogg had been disciplined after she stopped making the contributions because of financial difficulties.

According to the complaint, Smith told employees during a 2020 staff meeting that people had previously been dismissed for failing to tithe. Kellogg alleged that she later received a written reprimand after her supervisors determined that she had stopped donating. The suit argued that the practice breached Washington's wage rebate and consumer protection statutes.

In a statement, a lawyer for the church said tithing had long been included in its employee handbook and statement of faith, that the church did not deduct tithes from paychecks, and that the First Amendment protected a religious organization's right to employ people who followed its teachings.

Personal life

Smith and his wife, Chelsea, have three children.

Selected bibliography

• Jesus Is: Find a New Way to Be Human (Thomas Nelson, 2013)
• Jesus Is: Discovering Who He Is Changes Who You Are, student edition (Thomas Nelson, 2014)
• Life Is: God's Illogical Love Will Change Your Existence (Thomas Nelson, 2015)
• How's Your Soul?: Why Everything That Matters Starts with the Inside You (Thomas Nelson, 2016)
• Bad Thoughts: A Preacher and a Shrink's Guide to Reclaiming Your Mind and Soul (with Les Parrott, Zondervan, 2025)

External links

• Churchome leadership page

Category:Living people Category:1970s births Category:21st-century American clergy Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers Category:American Christian writers Category:American evangelicals Category:American male non-fiction writers Category:People from Portland, Oregon