Sacked Hillsong NYC pastor Carl Lentz has admitted to marital unfaithfulness after being fired from the church over "moral failures".
The 41-year-old made the admission in a statement on his Instagram page in which he said he was "deeply sorry for breaking the trust of many people".
"I was unfaithful in my marriage, the most important relationship in my life and held accountable for that. This failure is on me, and me alone and I take full responsibility for my actions," he said.
"I now begin a journey of rebuilding trust with my wife, Laura and my children and taking real time to work on and heal my own life and seek out the help that I need."
Lentz was the co-founder of Hillsong NYC, along with Joel Houston, in Manhattan in 2010. He served as pastor from that time and, as Hillsong expanded in the US, he went on to become senior pastor of its East Coast churches.
His firing was announced today by Hillsong Senior Pastor Brian Houston, who said the decision had been taken "following ongoing discussions in relation to leadership issues and breaches of trust, plus a recent revelation of moral failures".
Lentz said his firing was a "hard ending to what has been the most amazing, impacting and special chapter of our lives".
"Leading this church has been an honor in every sense of the word and it is impossible to articulate how much we have loved and will always love the amazing people in this church," he said.
"When you accept the calling of being a pastor, you must live in such a way that it honors the mandate. That it honors the church, and that it honors God.
"When that does not happen, a change needs to be made and has been made in this case to ensure that standard is upheld."
He ended his message by asking for forgiveness and speaking of his hope in one day living a life "where trust is earned again".
"We, the Lentz family, don't know what this next chapter will look like, but we will walk into it together very hopeful and grateful for the grace of God," he said.
