Alleged mistress issues apology to disgraced Hillsong ex-pastor’s wife as church ramps up investigation into church, behaviors



A woman purporting to be the mistress of Hillsong ex-pastor Carl Lentz is speaking out about her affair with the married former megachurch pastor and has issued a public apology to Lentz's wife, Laura.

The alleged mistress' admission of the affair comes as Hillsong Church announces an investigation into Lentz's behaviors as well as those at the church at large.

Hillsong Church fired Lentz following what it referred to as moral failures on his part.

What are the details?

According to the Daily Mail, 34-year-old Ranin Karim — a Muslim fashion designer who lives in New York City — said that she began the purported affair with Lentz earlier this year.

Karim — who said the alleged entanglement took place over a period of five months — said if she could talk to Lentz's wife today, she would say, "I'm sorry, life is complicated, and s*** happened, but I never intended to hurt you."

Karim told the outlet that Lentz would visit her apartment at least three times weekly "with tequila in his backpack so people wouldn't see him with it in the street."

"He said the sex we had was the best he's ever had in his life, and he couldn't stop being with me," she recalled.

Karim, who is of Egyptian and Palestinian descent, said that she didn't know "anything about the Christian world" or that he was a pastor at Hillsong Church. She also claimed not to know that he was married with a family.

During their conversations, Lentz, according to Karim, would "brag about his BMW" and flaunt his friendship with superstar musician Justin Bieber and others.

"When I found out he was married, I told him repeatedly, 'Go back to your wife, go back to your family,'" she recalled, "but he kept turning up in the lobby of my apartment block with bottles of Clase Azul tequila for us to drink. ... He said he felt bad for what he was doing to his wife, that she was an amazing, good woman, that he had never done it before, but his marriage wasn't perfect."

What else?

Following the announcement, the church revealed an investigation into "its own culture," the outlet added.

"Hillsong has appointed a New York City legal firm to conduct an 'in-depth review' into its culture after a 'number of people came forward' with concerns, following the revelation of Lentz's infidelities," the outlet reported.

A spokesperson for the church told the Daily Mail, "Since last week's announcement of a leadership change at Hillsong East Coast, we have heard from a number of people about their experiences and concerns."

"It is important that we establish the truth and then do everything we can to ensure our church is both a safe place and one that seeks to glorify God in all that we say and do," the spokesperson added. "For this reason we have decided to appoint a New York based legal firm that is not associated or affiliated with Hillsong to conduct an in-depth review and investigation into all concerns and any wider cultural issues."

The church's statement concluded, "We are taking this extremely seriously and on the basis of this report, we will be better positioned to take whatever actions are deemed necessary to right the wrongs and see Hillsong East Coast move forward in a way that enables many more people to find hope in Jesus."

Hillsong Church fires celebrity Pastor Carl Lentz for 'leadership issues,' 'breaches of trust,' and 'moral failures'



Hillsong Church East Coast announced Wednesday that it has fired Pastor Carl Lentz — famous for palling around with celebrities like Justin Bieber and the Jenner sisters, Kendall and Kylie — for "leadership issues," "breaches of trust," and "moral failures."

In an email sent to church staff and later published on the megachurch's website, Hillsong's founding Senior Pastor Brian Houston said that Lentz, 41, will no longer serve as lead pastor for the New York City location.

What are the details?

In a statement on the church's website, Houston announced that the church opted to terminate Lentz's employment for the "best interests of everyone" involved.

"The action has been taken following ongoing discussions in relationship to leadership issues and breaches of trust, plus a recent revelation of moral failures," the statement added. "It would not be appropriate to go into detail about the events that led to this decision."

The church pointed out that it will not publicly comment further following the statement.

The full statement said:

Today Hillsong Church East Coast advised our congregation that we have terminated the employment of Pastor Carl Lentz. This action was not taken lightly and was done in the best interests of everyone, including Pastor Carl.

We thank Pastors Carl and Laura for the way they have served faithfully and sacrificially since the start of Hillsong NYC and for contributing so significantly to the countless lives that have been transformed for Jesus Christ through this ministry. They have a heart for people and we are confident that after a time of rest and restoration, God will use Carl in another way outside of Hillsong church. In terminating his tenure, we in no way want to diminish the good work he did here.

This action has been taken following ongoing discussions in relation to leadership issues and breaches of trust, plus a recent revelation of moral failures.

It would not be appropriate for us to go into detail about the events that led to this decision. Our focus at this time is to honor God and pastorally care for our East Coast church community as well as the Lentz family.

While I have no doubt that this is the right course of action, I must mention Bobbie's and my personal sadness, as we have known Laura her entire life and Carl for well over 20 years.

Hillsong East Coast services and all of our ministries will proceed as usual, and we will continue to be a place of hope, love and faith through the powerful and transforming message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is a message our nation and the world need to hear more than ever during a time of such instability and uncertainty.

I appreciate the great team of people who serve here, and as we embark on the process of selecting new leadership, we are praying that God would bring about an exciting new season for our church and this region.

Hillsong Church will not be making further public comments on this matter.

Lentz — who has been fairly active on Instagram — has not issued and remarks about the firing, and has not updated his page since Sept. 19.

In 2017, the former megachurch pastor took heavy fire after refusing to call abortion a "sin" during an appearance on "The View."

(H/T: Religion News Service)