The Secrets of Hillsong

Nick Allen May 16, 2023

In the mid-2010s, the Australian-born Hillsong Church was on top of the world. In
2016, its celebrity pastor, Carl Lentz, baptized pop ingenue Justin Bieber in the
bathtub of NBA player Tyson Chandler. The year before that, the international,
progressive-presenting megachurch reported over $100 million in revenue, largely
untaxed. Hillsong was the latest megachurch to become a household name, and it had
the image of Lentz hanging with an enamored Bieber to win over new followers and
media praise.

Such a big spotlight helped make a scandal more prominent in 2020 when Lentz
admitted to having extramarital affairs. Once seen as the wholesome, handsome face
of the Pentecostal and Evangelical organization, Lentz was very publicly kicked out
of the church by leader Brian Houston for his “moral failures.” But when reporters
in both Australia and America looked into Hillsong's intense disowning of Lentz,
they found far worse moral failures than Lentz's, including stories of
discrimination, psychological and sexual abuse, misuse of funds, and more. As
former congregant Mary Jones says later in the series: “You plant things in rotten
soil, you gonna have rotten fruit.”

“The Secrets of Hillsong,” a fascinating four-part docuseries, looks at the

church’s shiny edifice and dismantles it piece by piece. It takes on the community
for what it is—a business that once included 100+ churches at its height across 30
different countries, with attendees singing from the prolific, Grammy-winning
Hillsong songbook. As it respects the emotional journeys of its aggrieved
congregants, it also surveys the power moves and scandals that can create a
Hillsong church.

The documentary is expansive yet focused; it equally feels like director Stacey Lee
could have been a former Hillsong congregant or someone whose only skin in the game
is clarity. Produced in part by Vanity Fair, "The Secrets of Hillsong" has some
extraneous beats of various interviewed reporters saying something like, "And then
we realized there was more to the story." But those flaws can highlight its
strengths, how the series is best when its accountability and atonement feel
personal.

With lead editing by Eva Dubovoy, "The Secrets of Hillsong" keeps its storytelling
snappy and emotionally fine-tuned, largely overcoming its numbing talking-head-
heavy style. Its first episode swiftly disproves its presentation as a progressive
church—yes, they had sold out crowds in New York City and other diverse
metropolises, but they rarely gave the platform to people who weren't white, male,
and heterosexual, just like Carl Lentz and Hillsong founder, Australian Brian
Houston. The church is aptly criticized for thinking of crowds and not people,
including how volunteers were used for hard, free labor to organize services or how
people of color were not seen or supported on the main stage. A congregant from
NYC, Tiff Perez, talks about what she gave to one day help preach at Hillsong,
before realizing no support would be given back.

This is a story of voluminous spiritual abuse, told from the inside out. And that
includes adding more nuance to the passion of Carl Lentz, whose background made him
a Hillsong hero. For the first time since being banned from the church, Lentz
speaks in front of the camera. Now he has long Jesus-y curls and a Florida tan and
works behind a small desk, off in the corner of an office for a vague advertisement
company. It is a big change from the thousand-people crowds; his $4,500 leather
jacket and glint of showmanship are nowhere to be seen. What can be seen is his
desire to share his story after leaving the public eye, especially about how
therapy allowed him to talk about what faith didn’t have space for.

This documentary is about the best platform that Lentz could ask for—a fair series
that partly wants to hold him accountable for how he failed as a self-proclaimed
ally, reinforcing how Hillsong sought to elevate some and denigrate others. But the
series is not out for his blood or shame, nor does Lentz carry himself like he’s
looking for pity. Instead, the documentary gives poignant room for him and his
wife, Laura, to be honest. As the doc takes on many powerful forms, it also looks
at a married couple wrestling with the pain of infidelity, while Lentz shares
things about his past that do not excuse his actions but hint at his ways of being
secretive. Among the series' gracefully handled details, Lentz reveals his own
story of being sexually abused as a child.

This gutting revelation, one of many moments that deepens the series beyond
scandal, becomes all the more horrific considering what we hear about Brian
Houston’s father, Frank Houston. Frank was also a pastor with his own church and a
desire to be everyone’s messenger. Frank was accused of child sexual abuse by
multiple people in Australia and New Zealand across decades. His son Brian
allegedly learned about these allegations in the early ‘90s while making Hillsong’s
community even more widespread with his father as a central figure. Interviews and
investigations within “The Secrets of Hillsong” posit that Brian made concerted
efforts to prevent these problems from going public or to the authorities. Brian is
under trial for allegedly concealing allegations against his father as of this
writing. The series' third episode goes into detail about these allegations,
honoring the courage of the survivors who have gone public about such traumatic
experiences.

But Hillsong had corruption on its side. When a Royal Commission in Australia did
their investigations in the early 2010s and found these cases of alleged abuse,
certain police and political figures did not act on it—possibly, in part, because
they were Hillsong members. It is sobering how the series places these moments
together in the same timeline to show things that were not a part of Hillsong’s
narrative as it was wooing followers. In America, we were caught up in the growth
of Hillsong while Australia was attempting to hold its insidious origins to
account.

“The Secrets of Hillsong” is an empathetic pursuit of truth, and it gives viewers

many reasons not to believe in this megachurch. But it saves a lingering question
about everyone's faith for a moving finale: How does being a part of this story
affect one's relationship with God? The answers are expansive and touching. One
interviewee admits to being a happy atheist; another says they have since found a
smaller church and feel loved. And Carl Lentz still wears a crucifix around his
neck.

Whole series was screened for review. The first two episodes of "The Secrets of
Hillsong" premieres on Hulu on FX on May 19th.