Sacked Hillsong pastor Carl Lentz to get church payout

Pastor Carl Lentz was “narcissistic” and “manipulative”, according to leaked audio of Hillsong leader Brian Houston.

Disgraced Hillsong pastor Carl Lentz was “narcissistic”, “manipulative” and may have had “multiple affairs” but will still receive a pricey payout after being sacked, according to leaked church audio.

Lentz was fired from his top spot as the leader of the megachurch’s New York following last month before he later admitted he had cheated on his Australian wife Laura.

Carl Lentz with his Australia wife Laura. Picture: Instagram

But a leaked secret conversation involving church officials including Hillsong leader Brian Houston revealed Lentz, the one-time spiritual adviser of Justin Beiber, would be given a severance package to cushion the blow, US media has reported.

Recorded at a Hillsong executive and donor meeting held on November 19, director George Aghajanian revealed the church was “negotiating” a payout for the Lentz family but they had not yet agreed to an amount.

“We’re working on a severance package which we’re negotiating with them on,” Mr Aghajanian said on the audio. “They haven’t accepted that at this point in time.”

New York designer Ranin Karim. Picture Instagram

Hillsong leader Brian Houston. Picture: John Grainger

It comes as New York designer Ranin Karim, 34, claimed father-of-three Lentz, 42, had a “months-long” affair with her midway through 2019.

The Lentz family have since uprooted their life in New York to move to LA and “work on their marriage”.

But Australian-born Hillsong leader Houston is heard telling colleagues in the audiotape he had “significant” evidence of “multiple affairs”, before accusing Lentz of “narcissistic” and “manipulative” behaviour and “constantly lying”.

Sacked Hillsong pastor Carl Lentz backstage at the Hillsong Conference being held at Allphones Arena in Sydney. Picture: Toby Zerna

Houston said he and staff members had confronted Lentz after finding “compromising” texts and evidence of “historical” bad behaviour, which made firing him the church’s “only option”.

“A staff member found a very compromising chain of text messages on Carl’s laptop … These issues were more than one affair, they were significant,” he said in the recording.

“He was a difficult man to have any kind of direct conversation with because it was always defensive, it would always be put back on the other person … I was already at the point at the end of summer that I felt like Carl and Laura’s time in New York was coming to an end.”

Houston also said on the recording Lentz displayed “just general narcissistic behaviour, manipulating, mistreating people” and the church had hired a NYC law firm to independently investigate the former pastor’s leadership.

Originally published as Sacked Hillsong pastor Carl Lentz to get church payout