Laura Lentz, the wife of former Hillsong pastor Carl Lentz, has spoken out for the first time since her husband’s cheating scandal.
Carl was fired from Hillsong Church in November due to ‘moral failures’ and Laura decided to address the issue on Wednesday as she marked the couple’s wedding anniversary on social media.
Taking to Instagram for the first time since October, she posted a photo of a blue sky and several palm trees as she celebrated their 18 years of marriage.
The accompanying caption did not specifically reference Carl’s sex scandal, which made headlines in November, but Laura certainly made multiple alluded to their recent issues.
‘There are many symbolic meanings to these amazing trees,’ she began. ‘A few that have resonated with me during this season of my life: they are strong, can weather the biggest storms, they always grow upwards. Freedom, righteousness, reward, resurrection just to name a few…’
The mother of three then stated she took a break from social media because it was not ‘good for my soul’ as she continued: ‘i have blocked & deleted more people & comments than i can count. trolls are cowards, SOME “Christians” are anything but kind, gracious, or loving…but that won’t stop me from growing upwards & getting stronger.
‘i have learnt a lot about myself over the past few months. now more than ever i know the kindness of God, His grace, forgiveness & strength. i have found true friendships- the ones who have been with me on the mountaintops are the same ones who are with me during my darkest valley!!’
She continued: ‘i will not forget who abandoned us, but i choose to keep my heart free of bitterness & remain thankful for those that have stayed & loved us. i don’t want to judge others nor do i want to be judged…’
She ended her note with a quote from a friend who she said had stuck with her in recent months: ‘I would rather be accused of being too gracious toward someone, over being accused of judging someone too harshly.’
‘I want to be known as a woman who sees the good in people & truly loves people unconditionally,’ she concluded along with the hashtags, ‘You Can Only Change You, Love Wins and Grow Upwards.’
November saw Carl get sacked from his prominent role within Hillsong Church after cheating on his wife.
The pastor, who was one of the Church’s most high-profile figures due to his former friendships with stars including Justin Bieber, admitted: ‘I was unfaithful in my marriage, the most important relationship in my life and held accountable for that.
‘This failure is on me, and me alone and I take full responsibility for my actions. 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.
‘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.’
Hillsong, which was first founded in 1983 in Australia, is known for its young following and its worship music, and has attracted celebrities including Kendall Jenner, Kourtney Kardashian and Chris Pratt.
However, it has gained criticism over its stance on gay people in roles of leadership in the church, with Houston saying in a 2015 blog post: ‘Hillsong Church welcomes ALL people but does not affirm all lifestyles. Put clearly, we do not affirm a gay lifestyle and because of this we do not knowingly have actively gay people in positions of leadership, either paid or unpaid.’
In 2019, Elliott Page called out Chris Pratt for attending a church that was ‘infamously anti LGBTQ’.
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