Hillsong congregants and insiders expressed skepticism about its integrity. “Kane came out and he looked me right in the eye. When reached for comment, the woman responded that she had “stated/agreed that I wouldn’t speak about my time there.”, In February 2018 a group of volunteers sent a letter with a list of concerns to church leadership, including the Lentzes and Joel Houston. He also met Laura, a native Australian whose parents are longtime friends of the Houstons. Crenshaw’s father, a pastor in Pennsylvania, intervened and then the police became involved. Hillsong College serves as a farm system for the church’s global network of pastors, who become centers of gravity wherever they land. While there, Keatinge told the student that he had seen her Instagram photos from William’s prayer meeting. Lentz & his family hosted cookouts and joined a pool club, enlisting Hillsong Church … “I felt his arms and hands wrapped around my legs making contact with my inner thigh, butt and crotch.” She tried to make her way to the door, but Mays wouldn’t let go. Vanity Fair reports that a flood of accusations have come in portraying Hillson as a sheer factory of sexual exploitation under Carl Lentz’s unconventional leadership. When reached for comment, Keatinge referred V.F. Per Vanity Fair, this is how former pastor Carl Lentz replied: “Most of the things you have said here, I know absolutely nothing about. Since Carl Lentz was fired … And apparently, it's not just the megachurch that's distancing itself from Lentz—it's also his former A-list celebrity parishioners. She’d get angry when Brian Houston would praise Mays on the stage. “We just really feel that it’s time to transition off of our staff and take some time to remain healthy, get healthy, and to really see what the next season holds for us,” Reed said. Vanity Fair - Six months after Carl Lentz was fired from Hillsong Church and the East Coast locations he presided over were investigated, his wife, Laura Lentz, is breaking her social media silence. After she had been attending Hillsong for some time, Mary Jones says she shared an idea with Keatinge. Lentz moved his family to the Williamsburg waterfront. In February, the day after Vanity Fair published a report on Lentz and Houston’s relationship and the church’s record of abuse, Houston announced that the investigation was complete … Missing the community Hillsong provided, William organized his own prayer meeting. Crenshaw felt frozen out of the service role she’d held for three years. Nobody from the gathering acknowledged the assault afterward. “What’s happening with the payment I was promised?” Brett Sengstock, who was allegedly abused between ages 7 and 12, asked the younger Houston. Houston describes Hillsong as one house with many rooms; each is imprinted in his image in some way. Carl Lentz moved out of his suburban home in Montclair, New Jersey, which Vanity Fair described as a hub for the Hillsong Church community. “I wouldn’t be able to function at work without it.”, When asked why he didn’t just find another church, Vivar recalled a sermon Lentz had once given that stuck with him. The incident joined a growing list of things that upset Jones about the church: cliques, favoritism, a general lack of diversity. The Lentzes loved Virginia Beach—Carl’s parents lived there; they had a house and friends. When he couldn’t convince Jones to stay, Lentz wept. ), Aspiring pastors, typically dressed in some permutation of the Lentz uniform, served as members of the “drive team.” Nominally, they ferried pastors to and from services on busy Sundays, but they were on call 24/7 for Lentz, former volunteers said. Karim told Vanity Fair that Lentz initially told her he "managed celebrities" for his job and when he suggested they meet again, he recommended she not Google him. “People are not looking for stale religion,” Houston wrote in his 2015 book, Live Love Lead. Producers and studio execs wouldn’t take his calls. She tracked down a pastor. Brian Houston has denied he said the abuse had been Sengstock’s fault. Ranin Karim, a 34-year-old jewelry designer, told Vanity Fair in an interview posted on Tuesday, Nov. 17 that she met Lentz in May and after seeing his statement confessing to being … COVID slowed its expansion efforts, but it has laid plans for a church in Atlanta and another in South Africa. … During a visit home before his sophomore year, his parents brought him to a service at the newly established Wave Church. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. When a cheating scandal blew up the pastor’s life, some Hillsong congregants were left to question their relationship with a church that cultivated its own kind of fame—and the double standards that often came with it. Houston contacted his New York pastor right away. The email summed up what he had heard over weeks and months. But the wounds from Sydney remained. In 1999 Frank Houston, who died in 2004, confessed that he committed child sex abuse. That’s essentially a pyramid scheme.” Although, she adds, “with pyramid schemes at least you get employment out of it.” More recently, Houston has rejected the prosperity-gospel label. ), Still, many Hillsong faithful remain. Carl Lentz achieved fame as the New York pastor of celebrity-favorite global megachurch Hillsong. The tech team sets up the sound and projector. Carl Lentz appears during an interview on Oct. 23, 2017, in New York. In 2017, a New York connect group leader caught word of some troubling claims. Sometimes, exhausted from her weekend volunteer work, Austen had to move her day off at her paying job. He never actually interacts with the people he ministers to.”, “Although we have had very strong leadership in other countries, it is important to note that this tremendous growth has contributed to a lack of supporting infrastructure and oversight in the United States,” Brian Houston said in a statement. Hillsong is an Australia-based megachurch that averages more than 150,000 weekly congregants at satellites in 30 countries. He was ultimately accused of abusing nine young boys at his ministries. Rumors of Lentz sleeping around were nothing new, but William says he didn’t think they could be true. ), “One of the most delicate conversations I had with a former volunteer deals with Pastor Carl,” William wrote in the complaint, the existence of which The New York Times first reported in December. (Hillsong teachings reserve sex strictly for marriage.) © 2021 Condé Nast. “The only people who need to know are me and your psychiatrist.” (A spokesperson said the church was unaware of the incident.) Get the latest chatter, from Kensington Palace and beyond, straight to your inbox. One Sunday, Lentz informed the congregation of the new course. Keatinge, she said, called her “unfit for leadership.” (Keatinge told the paper he did not recall saying this.) Though a volunteer, William ran a connect group populated by members who were fiercely devoted to him. The Lentzes’ home in the tony suburb became a hub of social activity. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. “I’ve heard so much about you.” A few weeks later, Jones told Lentz she arrived at the venue 90 minutes before Sunday services to ensure she got a seat. “That felt like a nonanswer.” (A church spokesperson said, “We are unaware of this situation occurring.”). She kept quiet for two and a half years. There are others that seem to be a mix of opinion and judgment that is premature and one-sided and that too is understandable. John Termini, Lentz’s successor at Hillsong NYC, told William that he needed to defend the church the way that Termini would defend his wife. (Lentz declined to comment for this story.). There are others that seem to be a mix of opinion and … “We are now aware of the scope of changes that need to be made and are addressing those immediately.”, In 2011, with his New York flock outgrowing smaller venues, Lentz began holding services at 1,200-seat Irving Plaza. (A church spokesperson said it was unaware if this occurred. (A church spokesperson said its global leadership was previously unaware of this incident but learned that “Amazing Grace” may have been a special request of Lentz for a sermon unrelated to Black History Month.). She said Lentz introduced himself as a sports agent in Williamsburg’s Domino Park and called her his “Middle Eastern unicorn woman.” Laura Lentz discovered the affair after a Hillsong staffer saw Lentz’s messages on his office computer. Laura … “For some people it’s about ego and wanting to be a star,” Jones says. Lentz recognized right away that the offer made little sense for him and his family. “There’s no problem. “He was always living the pop star life, popping bottles on private planes. Exiting Irving Plaza following one Sunday service, Lentz and Mary struck up a conversation. Abreu crowdfunded a trip to Sydney to start at Hillsong College in 2015 around the time of Josh Canfield’s Survivor appearance. Lentz became head pastor of Hillsong’s New York outlet in 2010 and quickly grew its base of young urban professional Christians, working with his wife, Laura Lentz. Before Termini became Lentz’s … “This church will fail you,” he remembers the pastor promising. ... told Vanity Fair that she and Lentz … Will be used in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Kane Keatinge responded to William’s report promptly, setting up a meeting. Carl Lentz Is "Embarrassed and Unreachable," His Friends Claim The disgraced Hillsong Church pastor was let go two weeks ago due to infidelity, prompting an investigation of the NYC … One Hillsong NYC congregant, Ashley Jones (right), stuck with the church for years despite misgivings. They hung out at neighborhood bars, getting drunk and once starting a fight. When Lentz returned Stateside in 2005, he brought his wife with him. They are from the Bronx, identify as queer and nonbinary, and in New York evangelical circles had grown to expect homophobia but thought of Hillsong’s policy as akin to don’t ask, don’t tell. The letter’s authors accused a former Hillsong intern under Keatinge of “multiple inappropriate sexual relationships with several female leaders and volunteers in church” and said he was “verbally, emotionally, and according to one woman, physically abusive in his relationships with these women.” (A Hillsong spokesperson said the former intern was asked to leave the church after leadership found out about his behavior. The Daily Mail reported that the Lentzes were in intense couples therapy. After firing Lentz, Brian Houston announced an independent investigation into the inner workings of Hillsong East Coast. A 2009 Virginian-Pilot report noted that the service, Soul Central, kicked off at 8 p.m., just as happy hours wound down. Aghajanian asked Crenshaw to repeat her statement twice more. That would explain why both the pop star and his wife, Hailey Bieber, unfollowed Lentz on Instagram last week. Crenshaw felt she couldn’t take her complaint to human resources. Then Lentz’s former dog walker went public about a 2014 incident in which he stumbled in on Lentz making sex noises with a younger star. When she reported that a volunteer in the vocal group sent her a sexually threatening text message late one night, the man was simply moved to a different volunteer team. As the New York head of celebrity-favorite megachurch Hillsong, Lentz achieved his own kind of stardom. Early on, Hillsong derived its largely working-class and left-wing ethos from the Assemblies of God Pentecostal tradition Frank Houston had worked in, Bullock told The Sydney Morning Herald. Early life and education. A Lentz family insider provided People.com with updates: family nights on the beach and Thanksgiving plans. It is also a multimedia conglomerate that produces documentaries, books, and chart-topping musical acts. Volunteers with jobs farthest from the backstage areas occupy the lowest rungs of the Hillsong hierarchy, which, leaders often remind, is scalable. — The Apolitical Celebrity, an Obituary — How Meghan Markle Wound Up With Princess Diana’s Favorite Watch— Jennifer Farber, Fotis Dulos, and the True Scope of a Suburban Tragedy— What Does Justice Look Like in the NXIVM Saga?— Madonna, Claudia Schiffer, and More, as Only Helmut Newton Could Capture Them— Ghislaine Maxwell’s Unsealed Epstein Deposition Sheds Light on Her Mystery— Nine Power Looks Inspired by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez— From the Archive: Trail of Guilt— Not a subscriber? As Ashley and Mary Jones graduated to become volunteer leaders, they were given their own “connect group.” At large churches like Hillsong, smaller groups such as these often serve as the elemental links in the greater social chain. Shoebridge recalled on the Parliament floor what Brian Houston had once told an alleged victim, who had agreed to a $10,000 payment not to speak out. Brian Houston was not informed of these claims prior to the events of late 2020.”). “If so,” the spokesperson said, “it was unacceptable and not an accurate reflection of our desired global culture.”). Karim, in an Nov. 18 interview with Vanity Fair, meanwhile, called Hillsong “a joke,” and “a money machine,” saying, “I think he is a victim of his own church.” However much Karim is ready to take his side, her search for closure is likely to deprive Lentz … The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. “We value each member of our team, especially volunteers.”. As they were leaving, the man who tried to intervene asked her not to tell anyone what had happened. Entering Montclair’s Wellmont Theater for Sunday service, Lentz’s three young children were gawked at like they were, one observer said, “Jesus come down from heaven.” Grown men and women aborted selfie attempts with the Lentz kids when security was called. From Spot/Vasquez-Max Lopes/Maciel/Backgrid. The volunteer said that leadership already knew about Lentz’s actions from previous reports but failed to act. Lentz, an alumnus of Houston car wash duties, extended the tradition by elevating preferred members of his drive team to leadership roles. I was unfaithful in my marriage, the most important relationship in my life and held accountable for that…. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. Hillsong permitted Canfield, who declined an interview request for this story, to remain a coach but banned him from singing. Then, on December 3, audio surfaced of Houston explaining Lentz’s firing in an internal meeting: “These issues were more than one affair, they were significant. A church spokesperson said Mays served a 12-month ban from any ministry, was reinstated in his administration role, and occasionally volunteers as a singer. Then a cheating scandal blew up his life—and left his congregants questioning everything. In the church’s early days, Brian Houston worked with the musician Geoff Bullock to develop the Hillsong sound. He phrased it carefully. The disgraced Hillsong Church pastor was let go two weeks ago due to infidelity, prompting an investigation of the NYC branch he oversaw. If you don’t complain, you can climb the ladder.” —former Hillsong staffer, One year Jones’s superiors excluded her, the only Black woman leader on the worship team, from planning meetings for a Black History Month–themed tribute. But Lentz found the allure of having his own branch of Hillsong to run irresistible. (A Hillsong spokesperson said Crenshaw’s complaint led to an internal investigation which “did take some time to complete as there were multiple parties present at the time of the alleged behavior.” Mays was “stood down” from his positions during the investigation.). Carl Lentz was born in Virginia Beach, Virginia. “His name is bigger than ever and he knows that,” the friend said. The church’s doors were still open to him, Keatinge wrote, if he were to contact Hillsong on his own. corroborate her account. You tempted my father.”. Carl Lentz and the Trouble at Hillsong. Austen texted, searching for answers, but received little response. Days later, a Lentz insider told The Sun that Carl wants to use all the attention he’s received to boost his post-scandal career, maybe land a faith-based Netflix reality series. later obtained it. If a hole opened up on the stage, he would have jumped through it.” Jones received a volunteer role with the new group but says the leaders gave her nothing to do. And at least some bad moral behavior had gone back historically.”, That afternoon, Lentz’s publicists said he enrolled in a 28-day outpatient program for “pastoral burnout.” A few weeks later, The New York Times reported that Hillsong NYC volunteers had complained to church officials about rumors of Lentz acting inappropriately with women in 2017. Through tears, she challenged William’s account. After being fired from Hillsong Church over his marital infidelity, Carl Lentz is reportedly laying very low. ), Keatinge, they wrote, was bullying and yelling at “a wide breadth of volunteers and leaders.” Team operations manager Mike Fabian, the letter said, regularly accused team leaders of being “nonsubmissive.” The letter said that one church leader and Keatinge friend had engaged in bullying behavior, and that in at least two instances this leader didn’t respect “physical and sexual boundaries within dating relationships with female church volunteers, including having sex with a 19-20 year old female team leader.” (A Hillsong spokesperson said the leader no longer worked for the church. The woman confided that after the experience—which she said included the threat of a lawsuit—she quit her volunteer role and hadn’t come back to church, ignoring emails from Lentz and Keatinge asking her to return. ... Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate … According to a 2011 interview with Lentz in The Christian Post, as early 20-something students, Lentz and the younger Houston fantasized about someday teaming up to establish a Hillsong church in New York. “Take the volunteers away from Hillsong and the services absolutely will not run,” says the longtime worshipper. As college students, Crenshaw and her friend couldn’t drink alcohol, but some of the men could. Carl ‘Hipster too cool for school’ is a total used car salesman type of guy." On Sundays Lentz sometimes delivered six sermons a day, ducking out between services to minister to the homeless. And then he leaves. Friends remember Lentz being in and out, returning late from the city or leaving just as the party got under way to play basketball with Drake. In 2019 it opened new outposts in Indonesia, Brussels, Edinburgh, Milan, Dallas, Kansas City, and Monterrey, Mexico, as well as a college campus in Phoenix. Before they left Hillsong for good, Abreu decided to work one last conference at Barclays Center to confirm something they’d been curious about. He’s worked with the youth ministry for years, driving all over the state to pick kids up to bring them to meetings. Keatinge eventually emailed William, who had at one point sought legal advice, to inform him that no one had confirmed his letter’s claims. In the second week of January, paparazzi spotted Carl and Laura, linked at the arm in the Redondo Beach Target parking lot. “ ‘It’s all about God, it’s not about who’s up here,’ ” she recalls him saying. “When God blesses a business person it’s for God’s own purposes.” (A Hillsong spokesperson said financial integrity is a value of the church, that it regularly audits its financial records and expenses, and that “no staff member has unrestricted access to church funds.”). Sunday call time for volunteers is 5 a.m. He frequently responded to her social media posts and invited her to staff meetings and special events. In September 2016, Jones emailed Lentz asking that Hillsong address some of the things that bothered her about the church: its racial disparity, cliques, cronyism, overworked volunteers. Entertainment mogul Tyler Perry reportedly paid their $16,000 monthly rent. Then Lentz told the assembly, This idea came to us from our one and only Kane Keatinge. “What do you do when you discover the shepherds are part of the problem and even the problem itself?”. According to a very long Vanity Fair investigation into the megachurch, Lentz’s affair is just the tip of the iceberg. As Lentz’s celebrity and the church’s profile grew, his congregants developed a tortured relationship with fame. After the blowup over the attempted White House invitation brought Morrison’s ties with Houston into the spotlight, the Australian member of Parliament David Shoebridge argued that Houston failed his father’s victims and pointed to “a strong basis” for prosecution.
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