Hillsong Church Fostered “inappropriate Sexual Behavior,” According to a 2018 Internal Complaint
By Dan Adler
Since Carl Lentz was fired from Hillsong Church in November over his cheating scandal, the megachurch has faced a number of allegations about its culture. Page Six added to the growing pile on Thursday night, reporting that in 2018, a group of “high-level” volunteers sent a letter to ministry leaders claiming that there were “verified, widely circulated stories of inappropriate sexual behavior amongst staff/interns” at the church. In a statement to Vanity Fair, Hillsong acknowledged that it “received a letter with serious allegations regarding specific members of the Hillsong NYC volunteer and staff teams.” The church said that after a three-month inquiry into the claims, it learned that “some of the allegations were true.” An anonymous source told the tabloid that the group that wrote the letter included one person who was still a church volunteer at the time, while the other writers had already left the church at the time the letter was sent. The letter reportedly said that one Hillsong staffer had “multiple inappropriate sexual relationships with several female leaders and volunteers and was verbally, emotionally, and according to one woman, physically abusive in his relationships with these women.” The source told Page Six that he was asked to step down. The letter also reportedly accused another male staffer of “not respecting physical and sexual boundaries within dating relationships with female church volunteers.” According to Page Six, the letter claimed that the church fosters a “culture of silence and fear,” citing verbal abuse by pastors and staff, and has only “vague or absent sexual harassment/sexual assault” policies. The result, the writers reportedly claimed, was “a breeding ground for unchecked abuse.” The source told the tabloid the letter was sent to Lentz and six other leaders at Hillsong’s American branch. In its statement to V.F., Hillsong said it “took immediate action to address those allegations” that it found to be true. “Though some of the letter’s allegations were found to be inaccurate,” the church added, “we realized that those situations required care and concern as well.” Like the church where he’s no longer a pastor, Lentz has attracted heightened scrutiny since his ouster. Hillsong founder Brian Houston told church staffers and volunteers in a videoconference on November 19 that Lentz had “more than one affair,” and Lentz has been the subject of a number of tabloid stories and paparazzi shots around his new Manhattan Beach home. On Friday, Lee Martin, a former dog walker for the Lentz family in New York, told The Sun that in 2014 he overheard Lentz having sex with an unnamed celebrity. The tabloid said it reached out to a representative for Lentz for comment but didn’t include any response from him. When reached for comment by V.F., a representative at Sunshine Sachs, the publicity firm that Lentz recently hired following his departure from Hillsong, said the company was no longer working with him. More Great Stories From Vanity Fair — Inside the Always Online, All-Consuming World of Twin Flames Universe — Rudy Giuliani’s Daughter, Caroline, on How to Accept That Trump Lost — Carl Lentz, Ranin Karim, and Hillsong’s Unfurling Scandal — Billie Eilish Shares How She Spent the Pandemic in Latest Time Capsule — The Queen Says Goodbye to Her Beloved Dorgi, Vulcan — Barack Obama on His Book, the Election, and What Actually Makes America Great — How We Unmasked the Hollywood Con Queen Suspect — From the Archive: Her Most Loyal Subjects, a History of the Queen’s Kennels — Not a subscriber? Join Vanity Fair to receive full access to VF.com and the complete online archive now.
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