# Carl Lentz **Summary.** Former lead pastor of Hillsong NYC. Dismissed in 2020 by Hillsong leadership, citing "leadership issues and breaches of trust, plus a recent revelation of moral failures." Emblematic figure for the celebrity-pastor problem the Reformed-cessationist and progressive critiques both name. ## Facts - **Role.** Lead pastor, Hillsong NYC (from 2010). - **Dismissal.** November 2020. - **Notable congregants.** Justin Bieber and other celebrities, giving Hillsong NYC outsized cultural footprint. - **Post-Hillsong.** Documented as undergoing restoration processes; later confirmed infidelity. ## Role in the Critique Lentz's dismissal is a canonical example in both Aniol's and Modern Reformation's arguments that the celebrity-pastor model Hillsong institutionalized lacks functional accountability structures. ## Tradition Pentecostal, charismatic, celebrity-pastor model. ## Related - [[Hillsong]] - [[Brian Houston]] - [[NAR Worship Critique Traditions]]