Wife of Hillsong pastor Carl Lentz: Sexual misconduct left me with depression, panic attacks, PTSD

Laura Lentz, the wife of disgraced ex-Hillsong Church pastor Carl Lentz, has spoken out about the ‘doozy’ of a year her family has had, admitting she has experienced anxiety, depression, and PTSD from the ‘trauma’ of her husband’s transgressions.

Last year, Lentz, 42, was ousted from his position as at the megachurch, where he counseled the likes of Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez, because of reported ‘breaches of trust, plus a recent revelation of moral failures.’

He soon confessed to being unfaithful to Laura, the mother of his three children, and was later accused of sexual assault.

Laura — who was also fired from her position at the church — has now spoken candidly about how difficult it has been, saying she ‘wouldn’t wish my journey on my worst enemy’ but she is choosing to view the emotional scars she’s acquired as ‘beautiful.’

However, she also wrote that she is working to ‘focus on my family and grow in my marriage,’ confirming reports that she has no plan to divorce Lentz, with whom she has reportedly been seeking ‘intense’ therapy.

Laura opened up about the experience after purchasing a piece of art titled ‘Beautiful Scars,’ the name of which made her cry. 

‘It may not mean much to you but this past year was a doozy for our family,’ she said. ‘I have dealt with so much personally, I have never experienced anxiety or PTSD until this year! 

‘I have struggled with a mild depression for many years, but this year it got to be so bad that there were days i didn’t want to get out of bed… although I wouldn’t wish my journey on my worst enemy (I apparently have a few), I would not change my story!!’

She went on to confirm that she and her husband are sticking together and working on their relationship.

‘I know as I continue on my journey of healing, learning to put myself first, focus on my family and grow in my marriage, I can use my story so far to help someone else! 

‘Don’t get me wrong, it’s not easy, everyday I feel the trauma, the thoughts and memories. And geez am I grateful for my therapists!

‘We all have scars from many of life’s experiences, and I  am choosing to see mine as “BEAUTIFUL”… this artwork is my reminder — the bumps, rips and rough parts! 

Laura’s post has received support from friends, including actress Claire Holt and singer Israel Houghton.

Her words about gratitude for her therapists appear to confirm a report from Page Six last November, in which a friend said they were seeking couple’s counseling. 

‘Carl’s taking time to work on his marriage, go through intense counseling with his wife, and spend time with his kids,’ the friend said. ‘He is committed to rebuilding trust and fixing his marriage.’ 

The friend added that Lentz ‘never had any plans to leave his marriage.

Laura had previously taken to Instagram to speak about the ordeal — yet not to condemn her husband, but rather people who had made cruel comments to her.

‘I have taken time away from social media because it was not good for my soul,’ she wrote in May. ‘I have blocked & deleted more people & comments than I can count. 

‘Trolls are cowards, SOME “Christians” are anything but kind, gracious, or loving…but that won’t stop me from growing upwards & getting stronger.

‘I have learnt a lot about myself over the past few months. Now more than ever I know the kindness of God, His grace, forgiveness & strength. I have found true friendships — the ones who have been with me on the mountaintops are the same ones who are with me during my darkest valley!!

‘I will not forget who abandoned us, but I choose to keep my heart free of bitterness & remain thankful for those that have stayed & loved us,’ she said.

Though Laura didn’t name names, the accusations may have included Justin Bieber and his wife Hailey Bieber, who both unfollowed the pastor and his wife on Instagram when the scandal broke.

While the Biebers were their most famous friends, Lentz and Laura have mingled with countless celebrities over the years after being introduced to them through the church. He’s been seen with the Kardashians, Drake, Vanessa Hudgens, and various NBA stars. 

The Lentzs’ ‘doozy’ of a year began when Lentz, who co-founded the New York City branch of the Australian church back in 2010, was fired by the organization’s leader Brian Houston, who accused the pastor of ‘moral failures’ and ‘breaches of trust’ in a statement issued.

‘This action has been taken following ongoing discussions in relation to leadership issues and breaches of trust, plus a recent revelation of moral failures,’ Houston revealed.

Lentz, who rose to notoriety after baptizing his close friend Justin Bieber in 2014, later admitted that he had cheated on Laura.

‘I was unfaithful in my marriage, the most important relationship in my life and held accountable for that,’ he wrote in a lengthy Instagram post, alongside a picture of him posing with his wife and their three children — daughters Ava, 17, and Charlie, 15, and a son, Roman. 

‘This failure is on me, and me alone and I take full responsibility for my actions.’

Lentz hinted that he and wife Laura, whom he married in 2003 after meeting her while studying at the Hillsong International Leadership College in Sydney, Australia, were working through his infidelity, writing that he is focusing on ‘rebuilding trust’ with her and their three kids.  

‘[I am] taking real time to work on and heal my own life and seek out the help that I need,’ he continued.

‘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.’ 

‘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,’ he wrote. ‘When that does not happen, a change needs to be made and has been made in this case to ensure that standard is upheld.’   

Following Lentz’s dismissal, the church said that Laura had also left her role, and sources have told The Sun that she was cast out because of her husband’s infidelity — despite having known the church founders her entire life. 

‘That was their reasoning for having to also get rid of Laura for Carl’s mistakes,’ the source said, adding that Laura was ‘devastated’ by the news which was ‘just the cherry on top of this whole ordeal for her.’   

Church leaders reportedly dismissed Laura immediately on learning about Lentz’s affair because ‘if a married couple both work at the church and one of them is terminated, they both will be fired immediately,’ a source said. 

Laura has since begun taking interior design courses and teased a new business in October.

Among those to come forward to see they’d had affairs with Lentz was New York City jewelry designer Ranin Karim, 35, who told Vanity Fair that she had been involved in a relationship with the married pastor for five months in 2020.

She told the publication, ‘I know what I got myself into, but at the same time I wanted to do the right thing and walk, walk away. I am not a monster.’  

She also told The Sun that he didn’t wear a ring and didn’t tell her he was married, and they had ‘a deep, special connection.’ 

Meanwhile, a witness who saw Lentz at Jennifer Lopez’s post-Super Bowl party said he was flirting with several women, some of whom were then seen sitting on his lap, on a yacht in Miami during a post-Super Bowl party hosted by the singer. The source described him as a ‘womanizing whore.’  

Amidst these stories, it came to light that Lentz was accused of sexual misconduct as far back as 2017.

In July 2017, a member wrote to one of the church’s directors with allegations that some Hillsong leaders were texting nude photos to female volunteers. 

They said Lentz made one volunteer ‘extremely uncomfortable’ after he ‘acted inappropriately’ was ‘extremely flirtatious’ and ‘involved in inappropriate sexual behavior with different women,’

But a month later a senior member of Hillsong New York wrote a terse email back, claiming the allegations were all false.   

The revelations continued to pour in, and in December, Lee Martin, who worked as a dog walker for the Lentz  family in Brooklyn for several years, told The Sun that in 2014 he heard the disgraced pastor and a celebrity having sex in his Williamsburg apartment one time when he went to pick up his dog.

Martin claimed he could hear noises coming from the bedroom and left the apartment but then bumped into the pair by the elevator ‘looking flushed.’ 

The celebrity in question was not identified but Martin said she was several years the pastor’s junior.   

Then this January, a former nanny for the Lentzes accused him of ‘bullying, abuse of power, and sexual abuse’ in a story for Medium. Hillsong Boston pastor Leona Kines wrote that she was sexually assaulted several times over the seven years she worked as a nanny and personal cleaner for the church leader.

Although she did not name Lentz in her Medium post, referring to him as the lead pastor of Hillsong NYC,’ she confirmed his identity to the Religion News Service. 

She said she remembers the pastor telling her: “After you have kids, we’ll buy you a boob job.’

Another time, Kimes recalls him taking her photo while she was sunbathing, and cropping his wife out, editing the picture with a black and white filter and texting it to her saying: ‘Sheesh girl, looking good.’

Kimes further claims Lentz would get into the hot tub she was in with his kids and position himself so his hands ‘could graze my legs.’

It allegedly escalated from there. 

‘While he never had intercourse with me and never kissed me, I was physically violated by his unwanted and repeated sexual touching of my intimate areas,’ Kimes wrote in her post.

She detailed how he once touched her inappropriately as she was driving his sick son to the doctor, and once again when she took his children to the movie theater and the lights went dark.

Kines said Laura found out about Lentz’s alleged misbehavior in 2016, and ‘blamed’ and ‘silenced’ her, at which point she started to blame herself.

‘I would leave church on Sunday full of shame after hearing his sermon,’ she wrote. ‘I would think it was all my fault … He was my pastor, I was the problem. He was the boss, I was the employee.’ 

An attorney for Lentz and his wife, Laura, told the Religion News Service they ‘vehemently deny the allegations and, in addition to that, have irrefutable proof the events did not happen as they are being described.’  

Source: Daily Mail