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What lies ahead for Hillsong after scandals rock the megachurch

Published April 21, 2022 at 10:40 AM MDT
In this July 14, 2013 photo, Pastor Carl Lentz, foreground, leads a Hillsong NYC Church service at Irving Plaza in New York. With his half-shaved head, jeans and tattoos, Lentz doesn't look like the typical religious leader. But with its concert-like atmosphere and appeal to a younger demographic, his congregation, Hillsong NYC, is one of the fastest growing evangelical churches in the city. (Tina Fineberg/AP)
In this July 14, 2013 photo, Pastor Carl Lentz, foreground, leads a Hillsong NYC Church service at Irving Plaza in New York. With his half-shaved head, jeans and tattoos, Lentz doesn't look like the typical religious leader. But with its concert-like atmosphere and appeal to a younger demographic, his congregation, Hillsong NYC, is one of the fastest growing evangelical churches in the city. (Tina Fineberg/AP)

Hillsong — the global megachurch that started in Australia in 1983 and attracted celebrities and athletes — is in crisis. Scandals, secrecy, and the resignation of Hillsong’s founder and global pastor Brian Houston last month have led to more than half of its American campuses breaking away from the church.

Mike Cosper, a reporter and the director of podcasting at Christianity Today, tells host Scott Tong about Hillsong’s problems and its future.

Watch on YouTube.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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