![]() ![]() Moving out: Ignited Church, once among largest in Florida, plans to sell buildingĬity Central Church: Prominent pastor Jay Dennis returning to pulpit at new churchīrian Houston resigned as global senior pastor in January after allegations of misconduct surfaced related to two women who said he displayed inappropriate behavior toward them. 'She knows we had cared about her': Suspect in Bartow church fire visited the church years ago “If I had a moral failure, our local church council could have gone to Hillsong to see if this is restorative or does Andrew need to be fired," Gard explained. "Or number two if my wife and I were killed in a car accident and they had to find new senior pastors, our council could have worked with Hillsong to help us in that.”įormer Grace City building: King's Church moves into nearly century-old sanctuary in Dixieland Gard describes Hillsong Church’s role as an emergency contact. “We’ve always been our own nondenominational church,” Gard said. “We feel bad for everyone that is involved.”Īlthough Grace City Church, where Gard co-pastors with his wife, Christina, was not a Hillsong church, they were part of the Hillsong family. So it’s devastating, it’s heartbreaking,” said Gard. “It impacted us in that these are people I love. The documentary, released March 24, examined several alleged controversies within the Hillsong organization, including allegations of misconduct, manipulation and infidelity by church pastor Carl Lentz. When you lead out of an empty place, you make choices that have real and painful consequences.Andrew Gard, co-pastor at Grace City Church, did not shy away from watching the three-part Discovery+ documentary "Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed." He said he wanted to be able to “have conversations intelligently and with knowledge.” 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 that does not happen, a change needs to be made and has been made in this case to ensure that standard is upheld. That it honors the church, and that it honors God,” he explained. “When you accept the calling of being a pastor, you must live in such a way that it honors the mandate. 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.Ī post shared by Carl Lentz on at 12:12pm PST Thank you for your grace and kindness especially in this season, as you have done so much to protect and love us through this. 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. So to those people, I pray you can forgive me and that over time I can live a life where trust is earned again. I would have liked to say this with my voice, to you, in person because you are owed that. 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 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. This failure is on me, and me alone and I take full responsibility for my actions. I was unfaithful in my marriage, the most important relationship in my life and held accountable for that. When you lead out of an empty place, you make choices that have real and painful consequences. When that does not happen, a change needs to be made and has been made in this case to ensure that standard is upheld. That it honors the church, and that it honors God. When you accept the calling of being a pastor, you must live in such a way that it honors the mandate. 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. This is a hard ending to what has been the most amazing, impacting and special chapter of our lives. Our time at HillsongNYC has come to an end. ![]()
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