Hillsong New York City is brimming with church attendees — so much so that hundreds of people have to stand in line outside the church venue to be able to attend service.
This was revealed by Pastor Carl Lentz on his Instagram account (@carllentz) on Friday when he shared a photo taken just the other night featuring a throng of people patiently waiting to get inside their church venue on a New York City block. Lentz says that night was both special and typical for them, since it's normal for their churchgoers to patiently wait in line and suffer a bit of inconvenience to be able to hear God's message.
"This photo encapsulates the heart of our church," he writes on his caption. "When churches have buildings they own, it's easy to take for granted how convenient it is to simply have meetings! We have never known that. Every meeting we have ever had, we have to rent a venue. Pay for it. And it's never big enough!"
Lentz says they had some churchgoers who decided to leave Hillsong thinking, "You know what, I just want to be somewhere smaller."
But the pastor, who is known for his friendship with celebrities and NBA stars, says every small church they know also has the same dream of growing and getting bigger. The thing with other churches is that their growth just hasn't happened yet, he says.
"Last night, hundreds of people couldn't get into our first service. So they waited two hours to be a part of the 'second' one," he says. "Who knows, perhaps someday soon we will have our own building. But I will never forget THESE DAYS. I'm thankful for the amazing people in our church. I'll tell you that! When comfort calls? They hang up the phone. May that be said of all of us!"
