ONE TREE HILL Actress’ Emotional Worship Moment Will Leave You Speechless

Published: March 19, 2025

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash

ONE TREE HILL Actress’ Emotional Worship Moment Will Leave You Speechless

By Movieguide® Contributor

Actress and cult survivor Bethany Joy Lenz recently shared a beautiful expression of her faith by signing ASL to worship music.

“When I first left the *group* I was so afraid to go into any church, paralyzed at the thought that I’d be taken advantage of again. I didn’t trust myself to discern at that time,” the ONE TREE HILL actress captioned a video of herself using ASL to the song, “All Sufficient Merit.”

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A post shared by Bethany Joy Lenz (@msbethanyjoylenz)

“I had lost so much faith in myself, in people, and in God. But I deeply missed the community environment of humbling myself before God with others who were along this journey. The only place I felt safe was a church for the deaf,” she expressed.

She had driven past the church for years before she decided to attend one Sunday.

“I was so moved by the physical expression. Maybe my theatre and dance background? Maybe that I had known a lot of sign language in my high school days when my deaf friend taught me…?” she said.

“I’m not sure, but it made me very emotional and comforted. My interactions with church have changed significantly since then, but I still feel so connected to authentic moments of worship. Lately I’ve had a longing to learn ASL again and this @bethanybarnard @shaneandshane song has been ringing in my heart for about a month now, so it felt natural to learn,” she said.

She added she didn’t know if she signed correctly but tried her best. She encouraged anyone who knows ASL to give her some pointers if she needs them.

Some of the words of the song she signed are:

All sufficient merit shining like the sun

A fortune I inherit by no work I have done

My righteousness I forfeit at my Savior’s cross

Where all sufficient merit did what I could not…

Her emotional video moved viewers.

One person commented, “Well I don’t know sign language, but that got my crying in two seconds flat. How beautiful 😭😭”

“This is beautiful! Your humility and worship-filled heart shines bright! God bless you!” another said.

Lenz is the author of Dinner for Vampires, a book about her 10-year experience within a Hollywood cult and her escape from it. Writing the book has been a healing experience for her.

“It’s been an amazing way to go back and watch a time in my life that I used to look at with so much shame, and be able to look at my young self and learn to love her,” she said.