Dolly Parton Once Explained Why She Never Goes to Church
Dolly Parton grew up in a religious family and frequently comments on the importance of God in her life. Despite this, the Queen of Country says that she hardly ever goes to church. She explained her connection to religion now and how she practices spirituality.
Dolly Parton’s family was very religious
Parton grew up in a Pentecostal household. Her grandfather, Reverend Jake Owens, ensured that the family grew up around religion. Hymns and gospel music also helped shape Parton’s understanding of music. She eventually began writing and performing music in church.
“We grew up in the church and my grandpa was a Pentecostal preacher,” Parton told the Christian Post. “So healing and praying and being anointed and all that stuff, that was nothing new to us, ’cause we survived because of our faith in God to get us through and all that.”
She added that when she was a child, a woman told her she was “anointed.”
“When that old lady told me that I was anointed, I didn’t know what that was,” she said. “I was just thinking it was like, olive oil.”
Later, once her mother explained what the word meant, Parton said the moment helped drive her life’s purpose.
“That triggered a faith in me because I believe that I was supposed to do something good,” she explained. “After she told me that, I thought, ‘Well then this is my responsibility. I’m going to do something good.’”
The country star said she’s more spiritual than religious
Despite growing up in the church, Parton says that she doesn’t currently attend services.
“I never go to church,” she told Interview Magazine. “I believe faith is in the heart. I’m not a religious person, but I’m very spiritual.”
In a separate conversation with Interview Magazine, she explained that she reached a point in her life where she had to define her own faith.
“I just thought, ‘I can’t deal with this s—. There cannot be a God that is that mean and cruel, and if there is then I’m too afraid to deal with Him anyway,’” she explained. So I had to decide who I was, and what God meant to me.”
Dolly Parton said she talks to God every day
Parton explained that she practices her spirituality every day. Her busy schedule and endless energy mean that she typically wakes up around three in the morning. She uses the pre-dawn hours to talk to God.
“I pray [at night],” she told Today. “And that’s the first thing I do when I get up, I just thank the Lord for another day.”
She expanded on this routine.
“Every single day, before I do anything, I wake up and I thank God for the night and ask him to bless the day and to bring all the right things…all the wrong people out of my life, and bring all the right stuff in,” she told RuPaul for Marie Claire. “And just to guide me, lead me. And I always pray that he’ll let me uplift mankind and glorify Him.”
