11/19/2023 0 Comments Pastor carl lentz and familyFor years, Hillsong experienced rapid growth as it offered itself as a house of worship and community for its young followers seeking what they needed-be that healing, fellowship, or grace. The effects of the split between the church’s founder and his most famous acolyte went far beyond the two men’s relationship. In casting Lentz out, Houston exiled not only the leading avatar of the culture he built, but something of a son as well. Since his days as a student at Hillsong College in the mid-2000s, Lentz had established himself as a golden child of the church with access to Houston’s tight inner circle. (Lentz declined to comment for this story.) The Lentzes and Sunshine Sachs parted ways. 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. 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. They changed their cell phone numbers, updating only a select few friends, according to one. News of the relocation shocked Hillsong NYC congregants, who felt the Lentzes had just picked up and left. Entertainment mogul Tyler Perry reportedly paid their $16,000 monthly rent. Having recently sold their home in Montclair, New Jersey, the Lentz family moved to a grand Spanish-style home with a terra-cotta roof and ocean views in Manhattan Beach, California. advisers believed his return began with three months out of public view, followed by a news cycle dominating mea maxima culpa-perhaps, as suggested for a time, in this magazine. With the tabloids feasting on his humiliation, Lentz’s new P.R. 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. We, the Lentz family, don’t know what this next chapter will look like, but we will walk into it together very hopeful and grateful for the grace of God.On November 9, Ranin Karim, a 34-year-old jewelry designer and actor with a septum piercing and her own sleeves of tattoos, described a monthslong tequila-drenched love affair with Lentz in interviews with The Sun, the New York Post, and others. Thank you for your grace and kindness especially in this season, as you have done so much to protect and love us through this. To our pastors Brian and Bobbie, thank you for allowing us to lead, allowing us to thrive and giving us room to have a voice that you have never stifled or tried to silence. So to those people, I pray you can forgive me and that over time I can live a life where trust is earned again. I would have liked to say this with my voice, to you, in person because you are owed that. I am deeply sorry for breaking the trust of many people who we have loved serving and understand that this news can be very hard and confusing for people to hear and process. I now begin a journey of rebuilding trust with my wife, Laura and my children and taking real time to work on and heal my own life and seek out the help that I need. This failure is on me, and me alone and I take full responsibility for my actions. I was unfaithful in my marriage, the most important relationship in my life and held accountable for that. When you lead out of an empty place, you make choices that have real and painful consequences. Laura and I and our amazing children have given all that we have to serve and build this church and over the years I did not do an adequate job of protecting my own spirit, refilling my own soul and reaching out for the readily available help that is available. When that does not happen, a change needs to be made and has been made in this case to ensure that standard is upheld. That it honors the church, and that it honors God. When you accept the calling of being a pastor, you must live in such a way that it honors the mandate. Leading this church has been an honor in every sense of the word and it is impossible to articulate how much we have loved and will always love the amazing people in this church. This is a hard ending to what has been the most amazing, impacting and special chapter of our lives. Our time at HillsongNYC has come to an end.
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