Carl Lentz Wiki – Biography
Carl Lentz is an American pastor. He was the senior pastor of Hillsong Church NYC until November 4, 2020. Carl Lentz was born in Virginia Beach, Virginia. From 1998 to 2000, he attended North Carolina State University and was a walk-on basketball player on the school’s men’s basketball team. As an adult, he moved to Los Angeles to study at The King’s College and Seminary. He then went on to study at Hillsong International Leadership College of Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia. It was during his studies, at the age of 20, that he and Joel Houston, Hillsong founder Brian Houston’s son, had the idea to plant a campus of Hillsong Church in New York City. He graduated in theology in 2003, then returned to Virginia Beach, Virginia. He then became a youth pastor after being ordained.
Carl Lentz, a mega-church pastor and one-time spiritual adviser to singer Justin Bieber, was fired from Hillsong church in part due to “moral failures.”
Brian Houston, the founder of Hillsong, announced the termination in an online statement Wednesday.
“This action was not taken lightly and was done in the best interests of everyone, including Pastor Carl,” Houston wrote, thanking Lentz and his wife, Laura, for their work in the church.
“They have a heart for people and we are confident that after a time of rest and restoration, God will use Carl in another way outside of Hillsong church. In terminating his tenure, we in no way want to diminish the good work he did here,” he said.
Lentz, 41, was the lead pastor of the New York location. According to Religion News Service, he became pastor in 2010 after launching the mega-church’s first U.S. location with Houston’s son, Joel.
Carl Lentz Age
Carl Lentz is 41-years-old.
Career
In 2010, he co-founded Hillsong NYC in New York City with Joel Houston. Hillsong NYC currently has about 9,000 attendees among its 6 weekly services held at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan and the Welmont Theatre in Montclair, New Jersey. In 2017, Hillsong NYC expanded to campuses in Connecticut and Boston.
Lentz baptized Justin Bieber, was present at the baptism of Kevin Durant, and has befriended various other well-known people.
On November 4, 2020, Brian Houston, Global Senior Pastor of Hillsong announced that he fired Lentz through member wide email list. The reason for Lentz’s removal was cited as “leadership issues and breaches of trust, plus a recent revelation of moral failures.
Wife & Children
He is married his husband in 2003, and the couple has three children. According to a cached version of Lentz’s profile page, she lived in Australia for most of her life where she graduated from Hillsong College. Around this time, Lentz met her husband and the couple moved to the United States. A section of her bio reads, “She is excited to be a part of Hillsong NYC and knows God has incredible things ahead for that city and nation.” The profile goes on to say that Lentz is “passionate” about “building the local church.” The biography also says that Lentz is passionate “about delivering the gospel in a method that makes sense to a generation that is desperately seeking a cause greater than themselves.”
The Virginian-Pilot reported in 2009 that Carl and Laura Lentz moved to Hampton Roads, Virginia, in 2005, having married in 2003. In that feature, Carl Lentz said that the couple had weekly date nights telling the newspaper, “We go to the movies. We go to random parties. We went to the Wu-Tang show.” In 2015, Carl Lentz told GQ Magazine that he was living in Virginia when he was contacted by Joel Houston about starting a Hillsong location in New York City.
In the summer of 2015, Lentz was pictured shopping in Sydney, Australia, with Justin Bieber’s now-wife, Hailey Baldwin, the Daily Mail reported at the time. The Mail article read, “It seems Hailey Baldwin and Laura Lentz have become inseparable since touching down in Sydney.”
In 2017, the Associated Press reported that Justin Bieber chose to “chill privately” with the Lentz family in Montclair, New Jersey. Carl Lentz told the agency, “We pulled it off for like two days and then the word got out and it was kind of annoying, but overall it was like a pretty special time. Yeah. Uno, card games, Bible studies and just sneaking into coffee shops in Jersey, just hanging out.” In 2018, it was widely reported that Bieber had broken away from the Lentz family.
Lentz wrote in a 2019 blog that one of her favorite biblical scriptures was Philippians 4:6. The passage reads, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
Lentz wrote of her belief that Christians should complicate praying and should rely on the Bible. Lentz said, “But don’t you just love the Bible? It makes it so simple!” Lentz added, “Be thankful for His grace, thank Him for your husband, and for your kids.” Lentz also said that Christians should thank God for our world leaders, your home and the seasons.
Carl Lentz wrote in a September 2018 Instagram post that he dated his wife for two years prior to their marriage. Carl Lentz said that the couple made two “life-altering” moves during their time together, as well as “only one disagreement.” He added that Lentz “still has the same easy laugh, the same consistent faith, the effortless grace and same ability to keep moving forward, regardless of what current chapter our lives may be in.”
According to a previous Instagram post, Lentz and her husband celebrate their wedding anniversary on May 5. Carl Lentz wrote in a 2017 wedding anniversary tribute to his wife, “Nobody ‘falls out of love.’ They choose to stop loving, Nobody falls out of a marriage. They choose to stay in it.” Carl Lentz told Bleacher Report in 2017 that he was en route to an anniversary dinner with his wife when he stopped to counsel NBA star and devout Christian Jeremy Lin on his faith.
