Carl Lentz

Stephen Carl Lentz (born November 6, 1978) is an American pastor. He is the senior pastor of Hillsong Church NYC.

For the German lawyer and politician, see Carl Otto Lenz.
Carl Lentz
Born
Stephen Carl Lentz

(1978-11-06) November 6, 1978
Virginia Beach, Virginia, US
EducationNorth Carolina State University (1998–2000)
Hillsong International Leadership College
Spouse(s)
Laura Lentz
(
m. 2003)
ChildrenRoman Lentz
Ava Lentz
Charlie Lentz
ReligionChristianity
ChurchHillsong Church (New York City)
Offices held
Lead Pastor of Hillsong Church, New York City

Biography

Carl Lentz was born on November 6, 1978, in Virginia Beach, Virginia.[1] 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.[2][3][4][5] As an adult, he moved to Los Angeles to study at The King's College and Seminary.[6] 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, Brian Houston's son, had the idea to plant a campus of Hillsong Church in New York City.[7] He graduated in theology in 2003, then returned to Virginia Beach, Virginia. He then became a youth pastor after being ordained.

Ministry

In 2010, he co-founded Hillsong NYC in New York City with Joel Houston.[8] 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.[9][10]


Lentz has also been heavily criticized for having celebrity friends who have claimed to be "Christians". Lentz was also heavily criticized by many evangelicals for drinking alcohol with Justin Bieber and other claims that abortion and infidelity aren't sin.

Personal views

On October 30, 2017, while on The View, Lentz was asked if he believed abortion was a sin; he did not answer the question directly, instead saying that "The cultural, religious norm right now is that if you and I disagree, we’re done. I don’t believe that’s the case."[11][12] Eight days later, Lentz released a statement via Twitter saying "I do believe abortion is sinful."[13] In January 2019 he strongly opposed the passage of the Reproductive Health Act the State of New York, which allows abortion after 24 weeks when a fetus is unviable or the pregnancy poses a risk to the mother's health, saying it was "evil, shameful and demonic".[14]

Published works
  • Own the Moment (Simon & Schuster, 2017) ISBN 1501177001

References
  1. Phil Haigh, metro.co.uk, Who is Carl Lentz? The Hillsong pastor who is close friends with Justin Bieber, UK, August 2, 2017
  2. "Carl Lentz College Stats".
  3. "Pastor Carl Lentz (Extended Cut)". Retrieved Jan 31, 2020 – via www.youtube.com.
  4. "Carl Lentz – 1998–99 – Men's Basketball".
  5. "Carl Lentz – 1999-00 – Men's Basketball".
  6. Dana Schuster, nypost.com, Justin Bieber’s hipster pastor: ‘I’m praying for this boy to make it’, US, November 13, 2014
  7. Katherine T. Phan, christianpost.com, Interview: Pastor Carl Lentz on Hillsong New York City, US, February 17, 2011
  8. cbsnews.com, Fresh approach to faith draws thousands in NYC, US, December 25, 2014
  9. Taffy Brodesser-Akner, gq.com, Inside Hillsong, the Church of Choice for Justin Bieber and Kevin Durant, US, December 17, 2015
  10. "Hillsong Church: All the Celebrities Who've Attended". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved Jan 31, 2020.
  11. "Handling the Word of Truth "Men who must be silenced"". Archived from the original on 2019-01-17. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
  12. "Carl Lentz: Justin Bieber Is "Getting Better Day By Day" – Watch "The View" Video". 2017-10-30. Retrieved 2017-11-14.
  13. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-07-01. Retrieved 2018-02-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. GMT, Staff writer Wed 30 Jan 2019 21:35. "Hillsong pastor Carl Lentz says New York's new abortion law is 'demonic'". www.christiantoday.com. Retrieved Jan 31, 2020.
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