Pastors across America are supposed to be the pillars of their churches, but when they misbehave they ruin their spiritual mission and undermine trust in their institutions.
From Hillsong’s disgraced Carl Lentz, who had multiple affairs with women, to an Indiana pastor who was confronted in front of his entire congregation about his sexual relationship with a 16-year-old girl, these are the greatest sins.
Carl Lentz and the Hillsong scandal: affairs and allegations of abuse
Carl Lentz, the star pastor who brought global megachurch Hillsong to the United States from Australia, was fired in 2020 after it was revealed he cheated on his wife
Lentz with Justin Bieber, one of the church’s most famous parishioners. Lentz left the church after admitting to cheating on his wife
Carl Lentz, the celebrity pastor who brought global megachurch Hillsong to the United States from Australia and once ministered to Justin Bieber and a bevy of other celebrities and sports stars, was exposed in 2020 for cheating on his wife.
He was released from the church in November 2020 after news broke of his five-month affair with Brooklyn-based jewelry designer Ranin Karim.
Lentz and his wife Laura have also been the subject of allegations of abuse from another Hillsong pastor.
Leona Kimes, co-pastor of Hillsong Boston with her husband Josh, revealed in a bombastic Medium post in May 2021 that she had been subjected to “manipulation, control, bullying, abuse of power and sexual abuse” by the Lentzes while working her home as a nanny. The Lentzes strongly denied Kimes’ allegations.
The Christian Post published excerpts from an internal investigation into the Lentzes’ behavior which revealed that Laura punched Leona Kimes while cuddling her with her husband Carl on the sofa.
The Lentzes’ investigation also alleges that while he was seeing Ranin Karim, Lentz also had another “inappropriate relationship” with a woman he called Germany, whom he met in Brooklyn.
Lentz has been accused of causing mental health problems to workers by belittling and bullying them. Other former church members have compared the church to a cult and detailed incidents of sexual assault.
Josh and Leona Kimes resigned as Hillsong pastors in April 2022 after Josh admitted to sending a “racist text” to a church.
In 2022, Hillsong Dallas pastor Reed Bogard was accused of raping a co-worker with whom he had an affair in 2013.
He and his wife were ousted from the church over allegations that they had misappropriated church donations to support their lavish lifestyle.
It then emerged that he was having an affair with a young female co-worker between October 2013 and 2014.
The woman claimed in October 2020 – six years after the affair ended – that Bogard raped her during the first sex on Manhattan’s Upper East Side in 2013.
Hillsong began in Australia in 1983 and has since grown into an international mega-church with celebrity followers like Justin and Hailey Bieber.
But in the last few years the so-called disciples of the church have shown that they have somewhat compromised morals.
New York’s “Bling Bishop” Lamor Whitehead accused of cheating
Lamor Whitehead, the notorious “bling bishop” of New York City, the founder of Brooklyn’s Leaders of Tomorrow International Church, was charged in December 2022 with defrauding his parishioners out of more than $100,000 and lying to the FBI
Lamor Whitehead made headlines when he was robbed at gunpoint by two men while delivering a livestreamed sermon
Whitehead appeared in a white Rolls Royce to accuse two men of robbing him while he was preaching
Lamor Whitehead, the notorious “bling pastor” of New York City, the founder of the Leaders of Tomorrow International Church in Brooklyn, was charged in December 2022 with defrauding his parishioners out of more than $100,000 and lying to the FBI.
Whitehead, who made headlines for preaching prosperity, was robbed at gunpoint by two men while delivering a live-streamed sermon.
It was later revealed that he had previously served two years in a state prison on multiple counts of identity fraud and grand larceny before being paroled for good behavior.
According to the indictment, Whitehead defrauded one of his parishioners of $90,000 from their retirement savings.
It says he promised to buy the woman a house but instead spent the money on luxury goods and clothing.
Separately, federal authorities allege that in April and May 2022, Whitehead extorted an unnamed businessman out of $5,000 and asked the man to loan him $50,000 with promises that it could make them both “millions.”
The pastor also made a name for himself negotiating the surrender of a subway shooting suspect who was wanted for killing a Goldman Sachs employee.
In May 2022, Whitehead rolled into the NYPD’s Fifth Police Precinct in his $350,000 Rolls-Royce and a Fendi blazer on behalf of the shooting suspect.
Whitehead, who denies the fraud allegations, later faced other fraud allegations for forging bank records to fund his multimillion-dollar New Jersey mansion, federal prosecutors said.
The pastor allegedly created a fake bank account to get a mortgage loan in 2019 and altered bank records to make it appear that the LLC had an average bank balance of more than $2 million, when in fact it had less than $10 had dollars.
Miami Pastor David Stocker: Allegedly had hot affairs
David Stocker, 46, who had pastored Brave Church in Miami since 2014, was evicted in April 2022 when he was fired for “gross sexual misconduct and immoral acts.”
Stocker was accused of having affairs with three different women in his congregation, in a scathing email sent to the church’s governing body, which exposed his womanism
David Stocker, 46, was fired from Brave Church in Miami’s Westchester neighborhood in April 2022 for allegedly having torrid affairs with three women from his congregation.
The minister, who had preached at the church since 2014, was also accused of using the church’s credit card to fund some of his illegal encounters, including paying for a flight to New York for one of his lovers.
The shocking allegations were contained in a 307-page complaint filed by the council, which sued Stocker after he refused to resign and continued to preach despite his dismissal for violating church order.
The pastor was investigated after the despised woman from his first alleged affair reported him to the council in a scathing email in which she provided “hundreds” of photos, videos and text messages cataloging his shame.
The middle-aged mother claimed she and Stocker had sex on their first date as part of their “whirlwind romance” and later got each other’s names tattooed on their necks the day they met.
She also claimed that the sacked minister, whose position required him to abstain from alcohol altogether, was frequently intoxicated. One such incident happened with another alleged lover at a Miami Heat basketball game, where police were called when the couple attempted to walk onto the court.
Indiana Pastor John Lowe II: Had affair with 16-year-old
Pastor John Lowe II resigned from New Life Christian Church in Indiana in May 2022 after admitting he had an affair with a 16-year-old girl
Pastor John Lowe II resigned from New Life Christian Church in Indiana in May 2022 after admitting to his entire congregation that he was having an affair with a 16-year-old girl.
In a shocking moment, the pastor was confronted onstage by Bobi Gephart, a 43-year-old woman who came forward with a microphone to tell her church in Warsaw, Indiana, how he had nurtured her as a teenager, starting at she was 16 – the legal age of consent in the state.
Pastor Lowe II had told the church that 20 years ago he had “sinned” by committing adultery without mentioning the age of the woman or girl at the time. He asked the church for forgiveness and then received a standing ovation.
Bobi then stormed onto the stage with her husband Nate to say that it wasn’t “just adultery” because she was so young at the time.
She told Lowe: “I was only 16 when you took my virginity on your office floor. Do you remember that? I know you do.
“You did things to my teenage body that should never have been done. If you cannot admit the truth, you must answer to God. You are not the victim here.”
Her husband then gave her a necklace of pearls that his wife had received from the church and a “ring of purity” that he believes the pastor had given her during their affair.
Lowe has resigned from the church and has been removed from its website.
Pastor Johnny Hunt: Charged with sexual assault
Former Southern Baptist Convention President Johnny Hunt, 69, took the stage at Hiland Park Baptist Church in Panama City, Fla., in January 2023 to deliver his first sermon since being suspended from Southern Baptist Church in May 2022
Hunt (pictured with his wife) was suspended from duty after the Southern Baptist Church (SBC) confirmed claims that he sexually assaulted a pastor’s wife – who was 24 years his junior – on a beach vacation in 2010
Former Southern Baptist Convention president Johnny Hunt, 69, was suspended from Southern Baptist Church (SBC) for allegedly sexually assaulting another pastor’s wife during a beach vacation in 2010.
But he returned to the pulpit at Hiland Park Baptist Church in Panama City, Fla., in January 2023, where he delivered his first sermon in eight months.
Hunt used to preach at a First Baptist church in Woodstock, Georgia, before being suspended after SBC’s executive committee released an investigative report in May that found the truth in the sexual assault allegations against him.
He was accused of sexually assaulting the wife of a young pastor – who was 24 years his junior – and telling her he wanted to have sex with her three times a day while he was on a beach vacation in Panama City in 2010.
The pastor was found guilty in the report of kissing and “touching her breast over her clothing” and “pulling down” the woman [her] Trousers.’
In a May 2022 statement after the 288-page report was released, Hunt admitted to being placed in a “compromising situation” and having a “brief but inappropriate encounter” with the man’s wife, who was not named became. He said he “escaped” from the room after experiencing an “overwhelming sense of conviction.”
He claims it was a “consensual encounter” and that there was “neither abuse nor assault.”
In 2022, Hunt and his wife, Janet, joined the Hiland Park Baptist Church, where he was introduced as “one of the greatest pulpit speakers of our generation.”
Florida Pastor Evan Edwards: Charged with Covid Fraud
Evan Edwards, 64, has been in hospital since December when he was arrested with his son for allegedly forging documents from his company, ASLAN International Ministry
Edwards allegedly used the pandemic CARES Act to apply for the loans through the Paycheck Protection Program in 2020. His family planned to use the money to buy a $3.7 million home at Disney World Resort
The church was reportedly incorporated in Ohio in 2005 but later applied to conduct business as a foreign nonprofit in Florida in 2018
Florida Pastor Evan Edwards, 64, is said to have forged documents for $8.4 million in Covid loans. The documents relate to his company, ASLAN International Ministry, which is reportedly a church founded in 2005.
His family planned to use the money to buy a $3.7 million home at Disney World Resort.
He has been in the hospital since December when he was arrested along with his son Josh. A judge declared him unfit to appear in court on January 26. Some have speculated that Edwards may be faking his illness to avoid a trial.
Edward’s arrest came more than two years after his family was pulled over by the Florida Highway Patrol while attempting to flee the country in a Mercedes SUV, according to a federal complaint.
Federal agents found bags of shredded paper in the car and their electronics in a Faraday bag — a data loss protection bag.
They were arrested at the time but released the next day and reportedly fled to Canada until Edwards and his son returned to Florida.
According to a federal court filing, Josh first applied for a $6.91 million loan using documents to portray the church as a successful organization that generated $51 million in revenue in 2019.
The family’s loan was approved in May 2020 for a total of $8.4 million, nearly $2 million more than requested.
It remains unclear if Evan will stand trial. He and Josh are each charged with six counts of fraud and each face a maximum of 30 years in prison.