#Hillsong pastor sexting trial#

“At the heart of Hillsong global are super conservative white men.

But I hate to see what’s happening right now.” He says they have not spoken in the three years since Houston fired him on a Zoom call.įormer Hillsong choir director and Survivor contestant Josh Canfield was denied from his position at the church after publicly announcing his relationship to his partner. “If there is one person not qualified to talk about the state of another person in this situation, it would be Brian. In the documentary, Lentz addresses his views on Houston. Just two years after publicly denouncing Lentz, Houston would face allegations of being inappropriate with two female staffers, which ultimately led to his resignation. “I don’t think Carl really is anything like me.” “There were leadership issues that I believe included lying, included what I would call narcissistic behavior,” he said told the TODAY show. As Lentz’s cheating scandal unfolded in 2020, Houston vocally denounced him, despite the two having a seemingly close relationship for decades. Houston’s work with Lentz was intertwined with Hillsong’s success-the church started small but soon became a cultural powerhouse, thanks in part to efforts by Lentz to make the New York City branch successful.

#Hillsong pastor sexting trial#

The verdict for Houston’s trial for the alleged concealment is expected in June. Brian Houston remained the lead pastor of Hillsong until 2022, when he resigned from his position amid allegations that he concealed information related to the confirmed case of his father’s child sex abuse, rather than bringing it to the police. To date, there are 13 alleged victims and survivors of Frank Houston, according to the documentary. Since 2020, multiple scandals connected to Hillsong have surfaced, including the resignation of Hillsong’s founder and former leader Brian Houston, who was investigated for ‘inappropriate behavior’ with female staff and is awaiting trial for concealing his late-father’s history of child sex abuse.

It was more than a church-it was a conglomerate that worked with several celebrities, spawned a Grammy-winning Christian worship band, Hillsong United, and even ran a college. At its height in popularity, Hillsong became a household name with the help of figures like Lentz. The church’s rapid growth can be credited to its casual, almost secular style–pastors wear shredded jeans and leather jackets while preaching instead of more traditional wear music for the congregants resembles a Kings of Leon concert and church services are regularly held in venues like nightclubs.Īs Secrets of Hillsong reveals, the church’s modern appearance helped to obscure some darker truths. and nearly 30 other countries–launching its first U.S. A non-denominational Christian church that began in Australia in 1983, Hillsong quickly expanded to a global audience, including the U.S.