The media spotlight continues to shine on the downfall and dysfunctions of Hillsong Church. In the new FX docuseries “The Secrets of Hillsong,” disgraced former Hillsong East Coast Pastor Carl Lentz and his wife open up about their marital woes. Lentz also points to widespread cultural problems at the scandal-plagued megachurch, based in Australia.
The four-episode original series, which begins airing May 19, is based on the 2021 Vanity Fair exposé of Lentz’s firing for “moral failures.” Scout Productions’ David Collins, who produced “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” is the executive producer. He’s also a former Hillsong Los Angeles member who left the church after a Sunday school teacher criticized him for being homosexual.
Carl Lentz: ‘I Failed Absolutely Miserably’
It took months of convincing for the Lentzes to go on camera, Collins and his team told the Los Angeles Times. In the trailer, Carl Lentz admits to “some major lies,” and Laura Lentz recalls when her husband told her he’d been unfaithful.
According to People magazine, the second episode of “The Secrets of Hillsong” zeroes in on the infidelity. Laura Lentz describes learning (via Zoom call with Hillsong founder Brian Houston) that Carl was sexually involved with the family’s nanny, Leona Kimes. “He hadn’t told me this part yet,” says Laura Lentz, adding that she had suspicions.
“Then one night I found them in a compromising position,” Laura Lentz continues. “I ran into the room, and I shoved Carl and hit him, and then I jumped on top of [Kimes], and I punched her.” Laura Lentz admits she “definitely freaked out” due to anger and that the situation “got really messy.” (Kimes was a church member as well as co-pastor, with husband Josh, of Hillsong Boston.) “I was pretty much gaslit by both of them for quite a while,” Laura says of her husband and nanny.
Kimes, the nanny, has alleged that Carl Lentz abused her. In the docuseries, the former pastor adamantly denies that. “Any notion of abuse is categorically false,” says Lentz, though he does accept blame for “allowing an inappropriate relationship to develop in my house with someone that worked for us.” He describes the affair as a “mutual adult decision made by two people who lied profusely, mainly to my wife.” Lentz was at fault due to the “power dynamic,” he says, “and I failed absolutely miserably.”
Carl Lentz: Hillsong Culture Chose ‘Narrative Over Truth’
In other revelations from “The Secrets of Hillsong,” Lentz, 44, tells of being sexually abused as a child and says he misused ADHD prescriptions, including while he was at the helm of Hillsong New York City. He describes contemplating suicide at one point (he “thought about vacating the planet”) and says therapy was helpful.
