The world megachurch Hillsong was identified for its hipster trappings, superstar congregants and wildly common worship music within the 2010s, however lately it has been extra carefully tied to a sequence of scandals, together with the firing of its charismatic superstar pastor, Carl Lentz, for “moral failures.”
A four-part documentary sequence, “The Secrets of Hillsong,” premieres on FX on Friday and delves into the turmoil. The sequence, which is predicated on a 2021 article in Vanity Fair journal, options the primary interview with Mr. Lentz since he was fired in 2020.
Here’s how the difficulty unfolded.
Why was Hillsong so common?
Brian Houston and his spouse, Bobbie, based Hillsong in Australia in 1983 and opened its first United States department in New York in 2010. The church was a member of the Australian department of the Pentecostal denomination, the Assemblies of God, earlier than it shaped its personal denomination in 2018.
Hillsong’s enlargement into the United States constructed on its huge success in presenting worship music. Its providers drew in younger folks in huge cities, the place providers have been held in live performance venues, akin to Irving Plaza and the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York. The congregants have been trendy and included celebrities akin to Justin Bieber, Kevin Durant and Vanessa Hudgens.
Mr. Lentz, the lead pastor of Hillsong’s New York department, additionally turned a star.
This hip veneer recommended that Hillsong supported a extra progressive type of Evangelicalism, however the church was criticized for its place on L.G.B.T.Q. rights. In an August 2015 weblog publish, the church’s founder, Mr. Houston, stated that homosexual folks have been welcome at Hillsong, however that it did “not affirm a gay lifestyle.”
Carl Lentz: “hypepriest”
Mr. Lentz mingled with celebrities together with Mr. Bieber, whom he baptized within the bathtub of an N.B.A. participant’s residence. In 2017, GQ journal referred to as Mr. Lentz a “hypepriest” to replicate his fashionable wardrobe, which included aviator glasses, skinny denims and designer sneakers. He spoke regularly about racial inequality and in 2016 declared his help for the Black Lives Matter motion.
It all got here to a halt when he was fired from Hillsong in November 2020. The church stated that his termination had adopted discussions about “leadership issues and breaches of trust, plus a recent revelation of moral failures.” Mr. Lentz stated on Instagram shortly afterward that he had been “unfaithful in my marriage, the most important relationship in my life.” His spouse, Laura Lentz, was additionally a Hillsong pastor.
Since then, he has stayed out of the highlight. Last week, he stated in an Instagram publish that his spouse and kids had been his “only priority” for the previous 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 stated.
What occurred after Carl Lentz left?
More turmoil. Hillsong’s founder, Mr. Houston, resigned in March 2022 after the church stated that an inner investigation had discovered that he behaved inappropriately towards two girls, breaching the church’s code of conduct.
He had already stepped away from his ministry duties in January 2022 to struggle a legal cost accusing him of concealing baby sexual abuse by his late father, Frank Houston. Brian Houston has denied the allegations. The case continues to be within the courts, The Australian Associated Press reported.
In March, Mr. Houston stated he had been charged with drunken driving within the United States in February 2022. Mr. Houston stated that on the time “it seemed like all hell had broken loose within Hillsong church.”
Mr. Houston didn’t reply to a request for remark. In a video posted on his social media accounts in November, he criticized Hillsong’s management for the way it had dealt with the allegations of misconduct made in opposition to him.
“I didn’t resign because of my mistakes,” he stated. “I resigned because of the announcements and statements that had been made.”
What is Hillsong like in the present day?
In March 2022, 9 of the 16 Hillsong church buildings within the United States lower ties with the group, abruptly shrinking the church’s American presence. Hillsong’s web site says it has seven church buildings within the United States, in addition to places in additional than two dozen different international locations.
The web site additionally says that about 150,000 folks worldwide attend its providers weekly, however that’s an estimate the church has been utilizing since earlier than the pandemic. Hillsong didn’t reply to questions on present attendance figures.
The documentary premiering on Friday consists of interviews with congregants and appears on the historical past of the church’s relationship with cash, intercourse and God.
Source: www.nytimes.com