The Secrets of Hillsong

Episode Descriptions

Church in the Wild

101 5/19/2023 10 p.m. ET/PT

In 2015, a young pastor named Carl Lentz lands in New York City to spread the Word of Hillsong, an ascendant Australian megachurch. Lentz is magnetic and ambitious. His charismatic style of preaching ignites a modern revival in the clubs of the city with a new gospel that promises to revolutionize and modernize Christianity. The church explodes with followers, musicians, celebrities and influencers and Lentz becomes a national sensation. But allegations of volunteer exploitation, racism, sexual abuse and homophobia explode into the open in the fall of 2020 with the breaking news of the lead pastor's extramarital affairs. Lentz is fired from his role and disappears completely from public view - until now, when he breaks his silence after more than two years.

The Prodigal Son

102 5/19/2023 10 p.m. ET/PT

In their first interviews since their expulsion from the church, Carl and Laura Lentz guide viewers into the inner sanctum of Hillsong, detailing the burden of building the church's most prized congregation and the response from church leadership when it deemed Carl a liability. While the church's founder, Brian Houston, paints Carl as the lone bad apple, observers are left to wonder: Is Hillsong a house of cards?