(RNS) 鈥 Carl Lentz, the ousted pastor of Hillsong New York City, has landed on staff at Transformation Church, a predominantly Black, nondenominational megachurch in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that is led by pastor, author and popular YouTuber Michael Todd.
Transformation, a juggernaut in a town replete with megachurches, has confirmed that Lentz, who was fired from Hillsong in 2020 when an extramarital affair came to light, has joined its staff.
鈥淲e gladly welcome Carl Lentz to our Transformation Church staff, helping TC with strategy as we continue to move forward in our vast vision,鈥 Tammy McQuarters, the church鈥檚 executive pastor of operations, told Religion News Service in an email Monday (March 27).
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Lentz, 44, once labeled a 鈥渉ypepriest鈥 by GQ Magazine for his fashionable attire and ministry to NBA players and celebrities such as Justin Bieber, has been mostly silent since his firing, even as rumors and ongoing accusations have dogged him and his former church.
(That silence will end May 19, with the release of an FX docuseries covering the Hillsong scandals and, it was announced Tuesday, featuring the first interviews from Carl Lentz and his wife, Laura, since his firing.)
鈥淎fter 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,鈥 McQuarters said.
McQuarters said the church鈥檚 vision to 鈥渞e-present God to the lost and found for transformation in Christ鈥 includes restoration. The two go 鈥渉and-in-hand,鈥 she said, pointing to Scripture from the Book of Galatians that includes a message to 鈥渞estore one another鈥 after sin, mistakes and repentance.
鈥淲e are called to be a safe environment for people to evolve and transform,鈥 she added.
Transformation Church, founded in 1999 in the historically Black Greenwood District of Tulsa, home to the city鈥檚 1921 race massacre, now meets in the nearby suburb of Bixby, at the 4,500-seat SpiritBank Event Center, which the church owns. The arena, purchased by Transformation in 2019 for $10.5 million, was among the nearly $67 million in real estate properties the church has bought in the area in the past four years.
Todd and Transformation Church have become known in Tulsa for their community donations, including $200,000 to each of the three living survivors of the race massacre, part of a $1 million donation given by the church to commemorate the tragedy at its centennial.
Lentz, a native of North Carolina, was trained at Hillsong College in Sydney, Australia, before being sent to by the Pentecostal powerhouse to plant a Hillsong outpost in Manhattan in 2010. Dubbed Hillsong NYC, the church drew as many as 10,000 mostly young New Yorkers to its services at its height. But since Lentz鈥檚 firing in November 2020, the NYC branch and Hillsong Global have been embroiled in parallel scandals, with revelations of indiscretions with women resulting in the resignation of Hillsong鈥檚 founding pastor Brian Houston last year, as well as ongoing allegations of financial misconduct by the church.
Soon after Lentz鈥檚 ouster, Ranin Karim, a Brooklyn jewelry designer, discussed her relationship with Lentz on 鈥淕ood Morning America.鈥 A few months later, Lentz鈥檚 former nanny, Leona Kimes, came forward with allegations that Lentz had subjected her to 鈥渂ullying, abuse of power and sexual abuse,鈥 which a legal representative for Lentz denied at the time. A leaked report, commissioned by Hillsong Global to look into the leadership of Hillsong East Coast, painted a picture of a church leadership rife with abuse, sexual misconduct and secrecy.
At Transformation Church, McQuarters said they are praying for Lentz and his family to experience restoration and to, in turn, help others do the same, 鈥渂y using their triumphs and failures to create resources for the body of Christ at large.鈥
鈥淲e believe that this is part of what it looks like for the church to be the church,鈥 McQuarters said.
