Hillsong NYC Senior Pastor Carl Lentz Reveals Why He was Fired

Hillsong's founder and global pastor, Pastor Brian Houston, first made the announcement about Carl Lentz's termination in an email to church staff and members of Hillsong East Coast on Wednesday afternoon. Lentz has confirmed the news over social media.

"Our time at HillsongNYC has come to an end. This is a hard ending to what has been the most amazing, impacting and special chapter of our lives. 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. When you accept the calling of being a pastor, you must live in such a way that it honors the mandate. That it honors the church, and that it honors God. When that does not happen, a change needs to be made and has been made in this case to ensure that standard is upheld.

Lentz admits that the reason behind his job termination was his unfaithfulness in his own marriage. "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 you lead out of an empty place, you make choices that have real and painful consequences. I was unfaithful in my marriage, the most important relationship in my life and held accountable for that."

Lentz himself takes the responsibilty for the failure. "This failure is on me, and me alone and I take full responsibility for my actions. 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. 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 would have liked to say this with my voice, to you, in person because you are owed that. But that opportunity I will not have. So to those people, I pray you can forgive me and that over time I can live a life where trust is earned again. 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. Thank you for your grace and kindness especially in this season, as you have done so much to protect and love us through this. 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."

In 2010, Lentz co-founded Hillsong NYC in New York City with Joel Houston. Hillsong NYC currently has about 9,000 attendees among its 6 weekly services held at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan and the Welmont Theatre in Montclair, New Jersey. In 2017, Hillsong NYC expanded to campuses in Connecticut and Boston.

Lentz baptized Justin Bieber, was present at the baptism of Kevin Durant, and has befriended various other well-known people

 

 

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