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Why though?
By Olivia Jakiel — Written on Nov 05, 2020
Raise your hand if you didn’t have “famous pastor gets kicked to the curb by his own church” on your 2020 bingo card.
In a very 2020 string of events, pastor Carl Lentz was fired from Hillsong Church amid “ongoing discussions in relation to leadership issues and breaches of trust.”
And while that official statement came from another pastor at Hillsong, Brian Houston, not much more was said about Lentz’s abrupt firing.
However, thanks to internet sleuths on Reddit, a few theories about why Carl Lentz was fired from Hillsong have emerged.
Why was Carl Lentz fired from Hillsong Church?
Read on to find out what people are saying about Lentz’s firing.
Hillsong Church made an official announcement about Lentz’s firing.
“Today Hillsong Church East Coast advised our congregation that we have terminated the employment of Pastor Carl Lentz,” the statement read.
“This action was not taken lightly and was done in the best interests of everyone, including Pastor Carl.”
While the statement doesn’t go into specifics, it did say, “This action has been taken following ongoing discussions in relation to leadership issues and breaches of trust, plus a recent revelation of moral failures.”
One Reddit user claimed Carl Lentz was fired because of an issue stemming from 2017.
A Reddit user claims that a woman on Twitter, who has since made her profile private, said that something “went down” in 2017:
“Sounds like there's two different things that happened.
Someone who went to Hillsong is alluding to something going down in 2017 that got their entire connect group disbanded. This same person says the situation was not related to his BLM support or sexual abuse, but that the entire group was mistreated and silenced by church leaders for something bad that they knew had happened.
I think most likely this thing that happened in 2017 that church leaders, including Carl, handled poorly + maybe a recent revelation that he had an affair + his progressive views. Could be a straw that broke the camel's back moment.”
Was Carl Lentz involved in a sex scandal?
That’s usually everyone’s go-to suspicion when a prominent member of any organization is fired without going into detail.
“A lot of people are saying sex scandal which I definitely believe, but I can’t help but wonder if Carl was too progressive for them,” one Reddit user wrote.
Rumors that Carl Lentz was too progressive for Hillsong are also running rampant on both Twitter and Reddit.
“See, that’s kinda what I wonder,” another user commented.
“Hillsong has this shiny progressive exterior but inside they’ve still got absolutely regressive conservative beliefs. It seems to me like we are in this moment where churches are hunkering down and pushing even further to the right,” they added.
“He got a lot of flack for supporting BLM and speaking out against racism. Too progressive. Maybe they were tired of it,” another Reddit user said.
Twitter users also speculated that Lentz was fired because of his outward support of the Black Lives Matter movement and the LGBTQ+ community.
“Seeing Carl Lentz is fired... the only pastor in their network to support BLM and be politically critical of institutions that don’t benefit the poor and oppressed. Normally I’d be all for mega church pastors being knocked down but this one sucks,” one Twitter user wrote.
Another said, “Streets are saying carl lentz got fired from hillsong for his speeches in support of blm and lgbtq+ community?”
Back in June of 2020, Lentz received some backlash from his followers after he posted a picture of Breonna Taylor on his Instagram, telling his followers to call and demand justice for her and
Unfortunately, many of his followers didn’t appreciate the post, with comments like, “Not you too” and, “Carl, why are you doing this?”
Did Carl Lentz have an affair?
Carl Lentz has been married to his wife, Laura Lentz, for 17 years; however, some social media users are claiming Lentz had an affair, and that’s why he was abruptly let go from Hillsong.
“Apparently it’s bc of a breach of trust which means he either stole from the church or had an affair with someone in the church,” one Twitter user alleged.
A Reddit user simply said, “Someone cheated,” to which another replied, “But why fire someone just for cheating? It must happen a lot. If you make amends, it seems possible to just move on.”
Carl Lentz has yet to comment on the matter.
As of this writing, Carl Lentz hasn’t publicly addressed his recent firing from the church.
His celeb BFF, Justin Bieber, also hasn’t said anything about his friend’s news. The pair were seen together a few weeks ago in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Whatever the reason of Lentz’s firing is, we’re sure more information will come to light as time goes on.
Olivia Jakiel is an editor and writer who covers celebrity and entertainment news. Follow her on Instagram and keep up with her zingers on Twitter.