Hillsong’s disgraced pastor Carl Lentz cheated on the family’s nanny

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By Tracy Wright, Fox News

May 16, 2023 | 00:30

Carl Lentz, the former Hillsong pastor known for standing in the pulpit of a mega-celebrity church, has admitted to cheating on his wife with their family nanny when he was head of the US-based ministry .

In a new FX docuseries, Lentz reveals the highs and lows that have accompanied leading a successful congregation for nearly 10 years after Hillsong Church expanded from its initial Australian roots to the United States via New York.

Lentz became an unexpected “rock star” pastor and grew Hillsong’s name on celebrity clientele alone.

Justin Bieber was once a close friend, while Selena Gomez, U2 singer Bono and Kourtney Kardashian were each spotted at a Hillsong location at some point.

Ten years into Lentz’s leadership, he shared an Instagram post in November 2020 to admit his family were leaving the church after being “unfaithful” in their marriage to wife Laura.

During the trailer for “The Secrets of Hillsong,” which drops Friday, Lentz relayed the message, “You don’t want to be in that chair. I cannot stress this enough.

Cameras zoomed in on Lentz wearing two gold chain necklaces that featured a heart-shaped pendant and another with a cross.

“I had major lies,” he said.

Representatives for Lentz did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

In his 2020 social media post, Lentz wrote that he, his wife, and three children were leaving the church after failing to “do an adequate job of protecting my own spirit, filling my own soul, and asking for help. readily available which is available. When you step out of an empty place, you make choices that have real and painful consequences.

In the trailer, Lentz’s wife Laura recalled the moment Carl revealed the truth about his extramarital affair.

“He said, ‘I’ve been unfaithful,'” she said as footage from their wedding day flashed past the screen.

The pastor was accused of having an affair with a woman named Ranin Karim.

During a videoconference with Hillsong executives before he was fired – including Brian Houston who quit in 2022 amid allegations of ‘inappropriate behavior’ towards two women – Lentz was also reportedly asked about a relationship with their nanny family, Leona Kimes.

“He hadn’t told me that part yet,” Laura said in a docuseries preview via People magazine. “I had these little feelings sometimes. And then one evening, I found them in a compromising position. I was angry and definitely freaked out.

Laura recalled that they “never spoke again” about the situation, but Lentz was fired a month later. In July 2021, Kimes alleged sexual and emotional abuse by the pastor, though she did not name him.

According to People, Lentz said in the upcoming episode that he “thought about leaving the planet” amid the famed church scandal and fallout.

It also revealed allegations of childhood sexual abuse by a family friend.

Carl addressed the allegations in the docuseries: “I am responsible for allowing an inappropriate relationship to develop in my home with someone who worked for us,” Lentz said, before adding “any notion of abuse is categorically false”.

He noted, “There were mutual adult decisions made by two people who lied extensively, primarily to my wife. It’s a problem because I was a boss, this person was an employee. I am responsible for this power dynamic, its management and the wisdom that goes with it, and I have failed miserably.

Nearly two years after posting about the infidelity, Lentz has broken his silence on social media and shared that his family is “at peace and by the grace of God we are together.”

He recently wrote that his entire focus for the past three years has been “fighting for my wife and children. To do this, sobriety and healing had to go hand in hand with these goals.

The former pastor noted that there was “a long way to go, with a lot of work, a lot of honesty and a lot of prayer”, but Carl and Laura celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary. He also added that he was no longer in the ministry but had since found a relationship with Jesus that he could not have “from the pulpit”.