Hillsong Dallas has been shut down due to the worldliness of its leaders, husband-wife “pastor team” Reed and Jess Bogard. It has been reported that the leadership “has been using church money to fund their lavish lifestyle, including insanely expensive designer clothing, frequent stays at expensive Airbnb rentals, and thousands of dollars on single meals” (“Hillsong Caving in on Itself,” Reformation Charlotte, Apr. 12, 2021). This is the latest in a long list of Hillsong scandals. The following is only the tip of the iceberg: According to the New York Times for October 17, 2014, a homosexual couple, Josh Canfield and Reed Kelly, sang in choirs at Hillsong New York City, and Canfield was a volunteer choir leader. Canfield and Kelly were billed as the “Broadway Boyfriends” on the reality show Survivor: San Juan del Sur.” In May 2016, Hillsong New York City hosted a Hillsong Women’s Conference that featured, among other things, scantily-dressed ‘cheerleaders,’ an Elvis impersonator, and a naked cowboy wearing only a cowboy hat, boots, and a guitar. The cowboy was Hillsong NYC’s own youth pastor, Diego Simla. In 2017, Hillsong NYC pastor Carl Lentz and pop star Justin Bieber were photographed in New Zealand drinking heavily and partying in a tavern. Lentz baptized Bieber in 2014 in the bathtub of a pro-basketball player. In 2019, Yelp identified Hillsong Los Angeles as one of the top ten “gay friendly churches” in the city. In November 2020, Lentz was fired as pastor of Hillsong NYC after having been caught in an affair with a Muslim fashion designer. According to the Religion News Service (RNS), multiple reports have also described money mismanagement at Hillsong NYC. Observers need to understand that Hillsong is not true biblical Christianity. It is a fake.
(Friday Church News Notes, April 23, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)