Anna’s father told Steinfort he has no doubt Hillsong wanted to silence his daughter. “Hillsong church would certainly rather not have this go public,” he said. It took the pastor intervening on his daughter’s behalf for Hillsong to hand the matter over to the police. Pastor Crenshaw alleged that even then, Hillsong didn’t fully cooperate with the police’s investigation, saying the 38-year-old church just wanted the issue to disappear.
Related article: Carl Lentz, Pastor of Hillsong East Coast, Fired for ‘Moral Failure’
After their investigation, police charged Mays with indecent assault. He pleaded guilty to avoid facing a courtroom.
Instead of firing Mays, Hillsong gave him a better job as creative director and head of sync at Hillsong Music. Hillsong released a statement regarding Mays’ second chance, saying although he pleaded guilty there were “other people who did not fully corroborate [Anna’s] version of the events.”
Hillsong didn’t say Mays wasn’t guilty, but did say: “One of the cornerstones of our biblical beliefs as Christians is forgiveness and redemption. It is important Jason is allowed this as well.”
“We’ve created a celebrity culture in the church. Pastors have become rock stars. Pastors oftentimes live in these big churches, Live better than most of the people in their congregation. and you create that culture inside of a church that ultimately results in that pastor and those leaders becoming less and less accountable as they become more and more insulated, and that creates problems.” – Boz Tchividjian
Pastor Crenshaw blasted Hillsong’s actions, saying it sends a message to the families of Hillsong college students of, “You can send your students to our college, but don’t count on us to take care of them. And I think that’s a horrendous message…Jason Mays is part of an elite culture where it’s ‘rules for thee, but not for me.’ ”
