The former leader of Hillsong New York, Carl Lentz, has found new employment with Transformation Church, a nondenominational megachurch in the US state of Oklahoma.
It’s understood this is Lentz’s first job as a church staff member since he was made redundant from Hillsong in 2020 for having an extramarital affair.
As confirmed to Religious News Service by email, Lentz has joined the church’s staff to help with “strategy” as they continue to pursue their “vast vision”
Led by Pastor Michael Todd, Transformation Church has made headlines for donating significant sums of money to their community, including a $200,000 (£161,000) donation to each of the three living survivors of the Tulsa race massacre, a two-day-long atrocity that saw white people attacking black neighborhoods in 1921.
Tammy McQuarters, Transformation Church’s executive operations pastor, told Religion News Service: “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.”
She continued: “We pray that Carl, Laura, and their family experience not only their own restoration, but help others experience restoration by using their triumphs and failures to create resources for the body of Christ at large. We believe that this is part of what it looks like for the church to be the church.”
Following two years of silence since his sacking, Lentz took to social media last September to share he had restored his marriage.
He said: “It’s been a challenging road but we are alive, we are at peace and thanks to the grace of God we are TOGETHER. Not sure what the future holds for us, but we do know that we face it as a family and for that I am so thankful. My deepest thanks to our friends and family that have shown us such unconditional love and grace when we have desperately needed it. Forever grateful.. we are hopeful about what is ahead!”
It’s understood a new TV docu-series due to be published in May about the myriad of scandals that have faced Hillsong over the last years will include Lentz’s first interview since 2020.
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