Worthy Christian News > Christian > Pastor of Hillsong NYC has been fired for breaches of trust and moral failure

Pastor of Hillsong NYC has been fired for breaches of trust and moral failure

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) –
Christian author and Pastor, Carl Lentz, has been fired from his position as leader of Hillsong New York City Church, Fox News reports. Informing the NYC congregation in a statement Wednesday, Hillsong Senior Pastor Brian Houston said the decision to dismiss Lentz was made following “ongoing discussions in relation to leadership issues and breaches of trust, plus a recent revelation of moral failures.”

Well-known among other things for his connection to singer Justin Bieber and for his book Own the Moment, 41-year-old Lentz took to Instagram Thursday explaining: “I was unfaithful in my marriage. This failure is on me, and me alone and I take full responsibility for my actions,” Lentz said.

“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 help that I need,” Lentz continued. “I am deeply sorry for breaking the trust of many people who we have loved serving and understand this news can be very hard and confusing for people to hear and process.”

Expressing his own personal sadness about the situation, Houston said he is confident “God will use Carl in another way outside of Hillsong church” after “a time of rest and restoration.”

Houston’s statement affirmed it was not appropriate to go into details about what led to Lentz’s firing. “Our focus at this time is to honor God and pastorally care for our East Coast church community as well as the Lentz family,” the statement said.