The global megachurch Hillsong was known for its hipster trappings, celebrity congregants and wildly popular worship
music in the 2010s, but in recent years it has been more closely tied to a series of scandals, including the firing of its charismatic celebrity pastor, Carl Lentz, for “moral failures.” A four-part documentary series, “The Secrets of Hillsong,” premieres on FX on Friday and delves into the turmoil. The series, which is based on a 2021 article in Vanity Fair magazine, features the first interview with Mr. Lentz since he was fired in 2020. Here’s how the trouble unfolded. Brian Houston and his wife, Bobbie, founded Hillsong in Australia in 1983 and opened its first
United States branch in
New York in 2010. The church was a member of the
Australian branch of the Pentecostal denomination, the Assemblies of God, before it formed its own denomination . Hillsong’s expansion into the United States built on . Its services , where services were held in concert venues, such as Irving Plaza and the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York. The congregants were fashionable and included celebrities such as
Justin Bieber, Kevin Durant and . Mr. Lentz, the lead pastor of Hillsong’s New York branch, . This hip veneer suggested that Hillsong supported a more progressive form of Evangelicalism, but the church was criticized for its position on L.G.B.T.Q. rights. In , the church’s founder, Mr. Houston, said that gay people were welcome at Hillsong, but that it did “not affirm a gay lifestyle.” Mr. Lentz mingled with celebrities including Mr. Bieber, whom he of an N.B.A. player’s home. In 2017, GQ magazine called Mr. Lentz a “ ” to reflect his trendy wardrobe, which included aviator glasses, skinny jeans and . He spoke frequently about racial inequality declared his support for the Black Lives Matter movement. It all came to a halt when he was fired from Hillsong . The church said that his termination had followed discussions about “leadership issues and breaches of trust, plus a recent revelation of moral failures.” Mr. Lentz said on
Instagram shortly afterward that he had been “unfaithful in my marriage, the most important relationship in my life.” His wife, Laura Lentz, was also a Hillsong pastor. Since then, he has stayed out of the spotlight. Last week, he said that his wife and children had been his “only priority” for the past three years. “Part of the healing from that heartache led us to the decision to be a part of a documentary that we do not control, that we don’t have any say in and that we haven’t even seen yet,” he said. at Transformation Church in Tulsa, Okla. More turmoil. Hillsong’s founder, Mr. Houston, after the church said that an internal investigation had found that he behaved inappropriately toward two
Women, breaching the church’s code of conduct. He had already stepped away from his ministry duties in January 2022 to accusing him of concealing child
Sexual Abuse by his late father, Frank Houston. Brian Houston has denied the allegations. The case is still in the courts, . , Mr. Houston said he had been charged with drunken driving in the United States in February 2022. Mr. Houston said that at the time “it seemed like all hell had broken loose within Hillsong church.” Mr. Houston did not respond to a request for comment. , he criticized Hillsong’s leadership for how it had handled the allegations of misconduct made against him. “I didn’t resign because of my mistakes,” he said. “I resigned because of the announcements and statements that had been made.” , nine of the 16 Hillsong churches in the United States cut ties with the organization, abruptly shrinking the church’s
American presence. says it has seven churches in the United States, as well as locations in more than two dozen other countries. The also says that about 150,000 people worldwide attend its services weekly, but that is an estimate the church has been using since before the pandemic. Hillsong did not respond to questions about current attendance figures. The documentary premiering on Friday includes interviews with congregants and looks at the history of the church’s relationship with money, sex and God.