Donnie Wahlberg and his wife, Jenny McCarthy, were baptized after publicly sharing in recent months how surrendering their lives to Jesus Christ has transformed their faith and priorities.
The 57-year-old New Kids on the Block singer revealed footage of the couple’s baptisms Monday in a birthday video featuring highlights from the past year set to music by Elevation Worship. In the accompanying caption, Wahlberg shared how God had transformed his life.
“Looking back over the past year of my life, the Lord has been renewing my mind, rebuilding my spirit, rearranging my priorities, recentering my focus, recharging my energy, reshaping my heart, refining my faith, restoring my joy and redeeming my life!” he wrote. “I don’t know where I would be without Jesus, but I know where I will be with Him! All the glory is His!”
The couple, who also shared photos attending a CeCe Winans concert, were baptized by Dudley Rutherford, lead pastor of Shepherd Church, a nondenominational congregation in Porter Ranch, California, that draws thousands of worshipers each week.
Wahlberg, who rose to fame as a founding member of New Kids on the Block, portrayed Detective Danny Reagan for 14 seasons on the CBS police drama “Blue Bloods” and now stars in its spinoff, “Boston Blue.” In recent months, he’s regularly used his social media accounts to share prayers and words of gratitude to God.
“Happy Sunday! Heavenly Father, thank you for your love, your grace, your faithfulness and your goodness!” he captioned a July 19 post. “Thank you for every person who sees (or hears) this. Whomever they are, whatever they are going through or struggling with, may they know that they are not alone. In Jesus name, Amen!”
During an April appearance on “The George Janko Show,” Wahlberg discussed how he had spent much of his life relying on his own strength before reaching a point where he felt compelled to surrender control. Months later, when asked about the greatest accomplishment of his career, the Boston, Massachusetts, native pointed to giving his life to Christ.
“It’s been so difficult in the last year to realize I don’t … I don’t have them all. I can try and I know God’s doing all the work, but I finally got to a point where I was like, I can’t do it anymore without Him. I’m missing something in my life.”
“And I have a wonderful wife, wonderful kids. I have everything. So, as I am testifying right now, I don’t have a story of having everything and losing it. I don’t have a story of being a drug addict and recovery. God bless all those people who find their way,” Wahlberg told Janko. “Everything to the outside, to everyone, looks perfect and I was empty. I was empty without Him.”
McCarthy, a former co-host of “The View,” who rose to stardom after being a Playboy Playmate of the Year and co-hosting MTV’s hit ’90s dating game show “Singled,” later became a public advocate warning parents about the potential link between the MMR vaccine and autism.
Like her husband, she has similarly spoken publicly in recent months about a renewed commitment to Christianity. In a December interview, she shared how she “completely surrendered” to Jesus following the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
“Some people have to work really hard to hear him,” McCarthy, who was raised Catholic, said. “I’ve got a direct line. I mean, Jesus is my homie.”
After Kirk’s murder, she said, “I was so broken. I prayed and prayed and prayed, and then I was calling like every doctor I possibly could, saying, ‘Tell me that this wound is something that could be healed.’”
“With every horrible thing, if you find the good, it can help you move forward,” McCarthy said. “Look at the mass awakening. Look at how many people came closer to God, even including myself.”
One of nine children, Wahlberg and his siblings were raised in a working-class family in Boston. Though raised Catholic, several of the Wahlberg children have opened up about drifting away from faith during a troubled adolescence before returning to Christ as adults.
Wahlberg’s younger brother, actor Mark Wahlberg, has long been outspoken about his Catholic faith, frequently discussing the role prayer and religion play in his life.
“Everything derives from my prayer life and my pursuit of my faith and a relationship with God, of course, trying to live a purpose-filled life,” he told CP last year.
“All the real-life things that I have been through, I want to share, and I want to let people know that, you know what, it’s OK,” he told The Christian Post in 2022. “Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future. So we’re trying to encourage people and let them know that we’re not giving up on them. Nobody’s beyond redemption.”
Donnie and Mark’s brother, Jim Wahlberg, shared with CP in 2020 how faith also helped him turn his life around after a troubled upbringing, including struggles with drugs and alcohol and time in juvenile detention.
“I finally understood that there was a loving God, not just a God that was out to get me and punish me,” he said. “Once I understood the beauty of faith and the fact that Jesus gave it all up specifically for me, my life changed. I think if I’d understood that earlier, I would have been spared a lot of pain and suffering.”
“My experiences give me more ammunition to reach people that have been through similar circumstances; it gives my message a little more depth and weight than someone that learned answers and solutions from a book,” he said. “The goal of sharing my story is to let others know that nothing is too big for God. He took the mess of my life, all of my shortcomings and ugliness, and turned it into an asset to glorify Him.”
Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: [email protected]
