Laura,<\/strong> days before Lentz\u2019s trysts with a Brooklyn-based jewelry designer became a full-on gossip cyclone.\u00a0<\/p>\nBut there was so much more to the story than a single pastor behaving poorly, as French and Adler found. The pair documented a long-running culture of impunity among the church\u2019s leadership, who often asked everything of their congregants while demonstrating little to no accountability themselves. Even as the story went to press, scandals continued to subsume the church and Lentz\u2019s mentor-master, Houston, who is currently awaiting his fate in his native Australia in a criminal case surrounding his alleged concealment of his own father Frank\u2019s predatory abuse. (Frank was never charged with a crime.)\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Two years later, and with a wealth of new reporting gathered in the meantime,\u00a0Vanity Fair<\/em> Studios and Scout Productions are set to premiere\u00a0The Secrets of Hillsong,<\/em> a four-part investigative docuseries, on Friday, May 19, exclusively on FX at 10 p.m. ET\/PT. Directed by\u00a0Stacey Lee<\/strong> (Olivia Rodrigo: Driving Home 2 U; Underplayed<\/em>), the series features the first interviews with former pastors Carl and Laura Lentz since their public ouster from the church as well as poignant conversations with many of the congregants left in the wake of a still-unfolding global reckoning as the church faces a rash of fresh revelations.\u00a0<\/p>\nWith the church at an existential crossroads,\u00a0The Secrets of Hillsong<\/em>\u00a0goes beyond the sensational headlines and examines its humble beginnings, meteoric rise, and troubling pattern of covering up misconduct to protect itself. The portrait that emerges\u2014through interviews with former leaders, victims, and experts including ex-worship pastor\u00a0Geoff Bullock,<\/strong>\u00a0author\u00a0Tanya Levin,<\/strong> congregants\u00a0Ashley<\/strong> and Mary Jones<\/strong> and Janice Lagata,<\/strong> Frank Houston survivor\u00a0David Cowdrey,<\/strong> onetime Hillsong NYC choir director\u00a0Josh Canfield,<\/strong> and Australian senator\u00a0David Shoebridge<\/strong>\u2014shows a cornerstone of global evangelicalism that was often as compromised as it was influential.<\/p>\n\u201cUncovering stories that contend with power and the people who hold it is core to\u00a0Vanity Fair<\/em>\u2019s mission,\u201d says\u00a0Agnes Chu,<\/strong>\u00a0president of Cond\u00e9 Nast Entertainment. \u201cThanks to stellar reporting by Alex French and Dan Adler, and the courage of those who stepped forward to share their experiences, we know that power\u2014and its systemic abuse over people seeking faith and community\u2014is central to the Hillsong collapse. I\u2019m grateful to our partners at Scout Productions, and to FX for helping us bring this eye-opening story to light.\u201d<\/p>\nSays\u00a0Joel Chiodi,<\/strong> executive producer and head of documentary for Scout Productions, \u201cWith the depth and clarity of this project owed to the excellent reporting of Vanity Fair,<\/em> and the perspectives of those speaking out for the very first time, we have been committed to telling a well-rounded and definitive story of Hillsong. Because of these voices, along with unprecedented access to Carl and Laura Lentz, The Secrets of Hillsong<\/em> offers new insights into how decades of scandal and corruption went unchecked within the church, and more importantly, what it meant for the community left in their rubble.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\nThe May 19 premiere will include the first two episodes, with the final two episodes airing May 26. All episodes will stream the next day on Hulu.\u00a0The Secrets of Hillsong<\/em> is produced by Scout Productions and\u00a0Vanity Fair<\/em>\u00a0Studios. Executive producers include\u00a0David Collins,<\/strong>\u00a0Joel Chiodi,\u00a0Michael Williams, Rob Eric,<\/strong> Agnes Chu, Dan Adler,\u00a0Sarah Amos,<\/strong> and Alex French.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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