The pastor parents of pop singer Katy Perry have asked Christians to pray for their daughter and expressed hope that one day, she will return to her childhood faith.
During a recent sermon delivered at the Church of Grace in Yorba Linda, California, Keith and Mary Hudson, Perry's preacher parents, asked congregants to refrain from judging the "Roar" singer.
"I want you to pray for my daughter," Keith said, according to Radar Online. "Don't judge her, pray for her."
The couple also said they are proud of Perry for singing her latest hit, "Rise", at the Olympics this year. Included in the song are the lines, "I won't just survive/Oh, you will see me thrive/Can't write my story/I'm beyond the archetype."
In the past, Perry's parents have revealed they don't agree with all of their daughter's decisions or some of her more promiscuous songs, such as "I Kissed a Girl." However, they have supported her by attending award shows with the singer.
"Where do you think Jesus would go?" Keith asked the audience. "A lot of them in the industry have walked with the Lord or grew up in church," he reportedly told those listening at the church. "If you are a parent who agrees with everything your son or daughter does, stand up, we'll shoot you, get rid of you now because you been walking in a lie."
Perry, who was a Christian singer before she emerged as one of today's leading pop stars, grew up attending religious camps for church and listening gospel music only. Her parents discouraged her from listening to secular music and was forbidden to become engaged with worldly things.
However, when Perry did not find success as a Christian artist, she branched out to secular music and was signed on to Capitol Music Group.
"I released a gospel record when I was 15 because I grew up in a household where all I ever did was listen to gospel music," she explained to Australian TV presenter Ruby Rose. "I swear I wanted to be like the Amy Grant of music but it didn't work out, and so I sold my soul to the devil.
The popstar's rejection of her faith became evident in her overtly Satanic performance of "Dark Horse" at the 2014 Grammys, which prompted Christian singer Natalie Grant to leave the awards ceremony early.
"I don't believe in a heaven or a hell or an old man sitting on a throne," said Perry in an issue of Marie Claire. "I believe in a higher power bigger than me because that keeps me accountable."
Perry's parents have previously expressed sorrow over their daughter's decision to abandon her faith and promote a worldview that goes against Biblical instruction.
"They ask how can I preach if I produce a girl who sang about kissing another girl? I was at a concert of Katy's where there were 20,000. I'm watching this generation and they were going at it. It almost looked like church. I stood there and wept and kept on weeping and weeping," Hudson said in a 2014 sermon. They're loving and worshipping the wrong thing."
"Satan's assault on our youth is relentless, and they can't fight against it alone," Mary Hudson, Perry's mother, wrote in Charisma magazine. "Parents have to walk in their God-given authority-children can't be left to raise themselves."
