The Sunday Interview: The Rise of the Hype Priest: Judah Smith, Celebrity Faith, and Modern Evangelicalism
About this episode
The episode features a discussion on celebrity pastor culture and the rise of the 'hype priest' with journalist Sam Kestenbaum.
In this episode of the Straight White American Jesus Sunday Interview, host Leah Payne speaks with journalist Sam Kestenbaum about his reporting on celebrity pastor culture and the rise of the “hype priest.” The conversation centers on Kestenbaum’s widely discussed profile of Judah Smith, a “pastor-to-the-stars” connected to figures like Justin Bieber, and expands into a broader analysis of how millennial pastors have fused evangelical preaching with aesthetics, branding, and media performance. Sam Kestenbaum is a journalist who covers religion in America, known for his deeply reported and stylistically distinctive profiles of contemporary spiritual figures. Based in Los Angeles, his work has appeared in The New York Times, Harper’s Magazine, Rolling Stone, and beyond, where he examines the intersections of faith, politics, and culture. Together, Payne and Kestenbaum explore the Churchome experience in Los Angeles, pop-up worship in rented theaters, a creative-class audience, and a ministry shaped as much by production value and performance as by theology. They discuss how presentation - from clothing to sermon delivery - functions as a form of religious communication, as well as…
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