Hillsong, australska “megacrkva” koja je popularnost stekla redefinicijom moderne kršćanske glazbe, otpustila je pastora koji je predvodio njezin ogranak u New Yorku.

Carl Lentz bio je jedan od predvodnika Hillsong East Coast te je postao poznat u medijima zbog dobrih odnosa s brojnim zvijezdama, uključujući i Justina Biebera kojeg je krstio.

Vijest o ostavci objavljena je u priopćenju koje potpisuje voditelj i osnivač Hillsonga Brian Houston. U tekstu priopćenja stoji kako odluka “nije donesena lako te da je učinjena u najboljem interesu svih, uključujući pastora Carla”.

“Ovu mjeru poduzeli smo nakon dugih razgovora o problemima u vodstvu i kršenju povjerenja, uz nedavna otkrića o padovima na moralnom polju.”

Premda predstavnici megacrkve nisu istaknuli o čemu se radi, sam Carl Lentz obratio se svojim pratiteljima na Instragramu, istaknuvši kako je počinio bračnu nevjeru.

“Laura i ja i naša nevjerojatna djeca dali smo sve što smo imali kako bi služili i gradili ovu crkvu no tijekom godina nisam učinio dovoljno kako bih zaštitio svoj duh, ponovno napunio svoju dušu i potražio pomoć koja mi je bila dostupna”, napisao je u postu, dodavši: “Kada vodite, a prazni ste, donosite odluke koje imaju stvarne i bolne posljedice.”

Pogledajte ovu objavu na Instagramu.

Our time at HillsongNYC has come to an end. This is a hard ending to what has been the most amazing, impacting and special chapter of our lives. Leading this church has been an honor in every sense of the word and it is impossible to articulate how much we have loved and will always love the amazing people in this church. When you accept the calling of being a pastor, you must live in such a way that it honors the mandate. That it honors the church, and that it honors God. When that does not happen, a change needs to be made and has been made in this case to ensure that standard is upheld. Laura and I and our amazing children have given all that we have to serve and build this church and over the years I did not do an adequate job of protecting my own spirit, refilling my own soul and reaching out for the readily available help that is available. When you lead out of an empty place, you make choices that have real and painful consequences. I was unfaithful in my marriage, the most important relationship in my life and held accountable for that. This failure is on me, and me alone and I take full responsibility for my actions. I now begin a journey of rebuilding trust with my wife, Laura and my children and taking real time to work on and heal my own life and seek out the help that I need. I am deeply sorry for breaking the trust of many people who we have loved serving and understand that this news can be very hard and confusing for people to hear and process. I would have liked to say this with my voice, to you, in person because you are owed that. But that opportunity I will not have. So to those people, I pray you can forgive me and that over time I can live a life where trust is earned again. To our pastors Brian and Bobbie, thank you for allowing us to lead, allowing us to thrive and giving us room to have a voice that you have never stifled or tried to silence. Thank you for your grace and kindness especially in this season, as you have done so much to protect and love us through this. We, the Lentz family, don’t know what this next chapter will look like, but we will walk into it together very hopeful and grateful for the grace of God..

Objavu dijeli Carl Lentz (@carllentz)

“Bio sam nevjeran u vlastitom braku, najvažnijoj vezi mog života te sam odgovarao za to. Ovaj pad je na meni i isključivo na meni te preuzimam punu odgovornost za svoja djela. Sada započinjem put ponovne izgradnje povjerenja s mojom suprugom Laurom i mojoj djecom te uzimam potrebno vrijeme kako bi zaliječio svoj život i potražio potrebnu pomoć.”

Carl Lentz ispričao se i sljedbenicima čije je povjerenje iznevjerio, dodavši kako razumije da ova vijest može biti zbunjujuća i teška mnogima.

Iz Hillsonga su pak poručili kako su zahvalni Carlu i Lauri na “vjernom služenju i žrtvi” koje su pokazali od osnivanja newyorškog ogranka Hillsonga te što su pomogli velikom broju ljudi da uz pomoć Krista promijene svoj život.

“Bog će iskoristi Carla na drugi način izvan Hillsonga. Prekidanjem njegove službe ni na koji način ne želimo umanjiti sve dobro što je ovdje učinio.”