Denzel Washington has become a minister after being baptised shortly before his 70th birthday, in a ceremony at a church in New York.

The Oscar-winning actor, now appearing in Gladiator II, was baptised on Saturday at the Kelly Temple Church of God in Christ in Harlem, New York City, affiliated to the Pentecostal Church of God in Christ denomination. The service was livestreamed on Facebook, showing Washington, wearing a white robe, being immersed in the church’s ritual pool and being presented with a certificate of baptism.

Mentioning he was about to turn 70 on 28 December, Washington told the congregation: “It took a while, but I’m here.” He also spoke about an incident when he was 20 in which he encountered a woman called Ruth Green in his mother’s beauty parlour, who told him: “Boy, you are going to travel the world and preach to millions of people.”

Later in the ceremony, Washington was given a minister’s licence by the church, which would enable Washington to officiate at minor religious services, such as weddings, and allow him to be ordained in the future.

In an interview with Esquire in November, Washington described his moment of religious awakening in the early 1980s in a church in Los Angeles. “It felt like I was getting lifted up. It felt like my back was arched, and I had my eyes closed. Not that I was going up in the air, but – I can’t exactly describe it. And I was blabbering, and kept blabbering, because I was filled with the Holy Spirit.”

In the same interview Washington also alluded to the difficulties he faced being open about his faith in the film industry. “You can’t talk like that and win Oscars. You can’t talk like that and party. You can’t say that in this town … It’s not talked about in this town. It’s not talked about … It’s not fashionable. It’s not sexy. But that doesn’t mean people in Hollywood don’t believe.”