Skip to main content
CHEATIN’ PRIEST

Ex-Hillsong Pastor Carl Lentz Says He Was Fired for Cheating on His Wife

Carl Lentz wrote, “When you accept the calling of being a pastor, you must live in such a way that it honors the mandate.”

GettyImages-605421496_n1iskf

Charley Gallay/Getty

By Blake Montgomery

A former pastor at the popular Hillsong megachurch said Thursday he was fired for cheating on his wife. Carl Lentz is a co-founder of Hillsong’s New York branch and a one-time close confidant of Justin Bieber, among other celebrities. Church founder Brian Houston had said in an earlier email only that Lentz was let go over “moral failures” and “breaches of trust.” Lentz went further in an apology to his 681,000 followers via Instagram, sharing a photo of himself, his wife, and their three children, and writing: “When you accept the calling of being a pastor, you must live in such a way that it honors the mandate... I was unfaithful in my marriage, the most important relationship in my life and held accountable for that. This failure is on me.”

View this post on Instagram

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. 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. 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..

A post shared by Carl Lentz (@carllentz) on

Read it at Instagram

TRENDING NOW