Disgraced Former Hillsong Pastor Carl Lentz Assumes Role At Tulsa Megachurch

Carl Lentz, a former Hillsong minister, has secured a position at Transformation Church, an extensive nondenominational congregation located in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Lentz was released from Hillsong, an international charismatic megachurch based in Australia, three years ago due to “leadership issues and breaches of trust” and “revelation of moral failures.” The founder of Hillsong, Brian Houston, resigned last year due to inappropriate interactions with two women. In leaked audio, Houston stated that Lentz was involved in “more than one” extramarital affair, and these interactions were “significant.”

According to Tammy McQuarters, the “executive pastor of operations” at Transformation Church, Lentz will begin as a strategist following years of self-reflection. “We gladly welcome Carl Lentz to our Transformation Church staff,” said McQuarters. “After two years of Carl being in his own discovery and healing process, he has shown readiness to use his God-given gifts towards the local church again. We believe in Carl, his marriage, his skill set, and his restoration.”

Lentz, who previously was in charge of the Hillsong branch congregation in New York City, had gained international acclaim as a spiritual adviser to celebrities including Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, and Kendall Jenner.

Ministers have expressed their concern over Lentz’s return to ministry, stating that his restoration as a Christian and husband does not qualify him for vocational ministry. Brandon Scalf, a pastor and church planter at Heritage Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, remarked in an interview with The Daily Wire that church leaders are held to a high standard of moral excellence, particularly in light of the apostle Paul’s writings to Timothy and Titus in the New Testament.

Scalf highlights that evangelical churches often face the danger of disregarding the requirements listed in the Bible for elders and deacons by augmenting different roles to church leadership such as coordinators and directors. He continued,“God has very serious warnings in his word for those who decide to do church on their own terms… I would still say he’s disqualified from public ministry no matter how one chooses to define his role.”

Lentz’s transition occurred soon after Mike Todd, the lead pastor of Transformation Church and a regular presence on social media, drew criticism for stating that Christians are permitted to have an urge to cheat on their spouses. “It’s okay to feel it. Nobody has ever gotten in trouble for feeling it,” Todd stated. “I can feel it, I can’t act on it.”

Scalf argued that the Bible’s plot focuses on humans falling into sin and unhappiness after following their wicked desires. He explained how Jesus stated that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” and “everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”