The Kimeses, who led Hillsong Church's Boston arm, have announced their "difficult decision to resign" from the global megachurch.
Hillsong Boston's co-pastors Josh and Leona Kimes have announced their departure from the Australian megachurch. On Monday, the two announced that they "made the difficult decision to resign" with an Instagram post of themselves with their two young children. Their resignation comes after the results of an investigation into Hillsong NYC, which they helped lead, were leaked to the media.
According to the Religion News Service, the Kimeses' departure the latest in the most recent leadership changes at the Australian megachurch and multimedia empire. Just two weeks ago, its global senior pastor Brian Houston resigned over allegations of sexual misconduct. The Kimeses helped launch Hillsong NYC, which was led by Carl Lentz, the former pastor who was involved in another scandal and was fired in November 2020. The couple said they were now "ready for a fresh start."
"It was never our plan to ever leave Hillsong Church," Josh wrote. "It's been home for 22 [years] of my life. It's where I've pastored for the last 16 [years]."
Josh added that many of the milestones in his life occurred while he worked for Hillsong Boston, including meeting his wife Leona, having children with her and moving to the U.S. Josh did not provide a reason behind their resignation, but apologized for whatever part he played in "perpetuating a culture that at times valued the building of the church at the expense of those building it."
Hillsong leaders from multiple locations of the megachurch have long been accused of overworking staff and volunteers, including the Kimeses. In 2020, a former volunteer named Tiffany Perez told Business Insider that back in 2017, she was asked to babysit the Kimeses' then four-year old daughter Lyla for $150 a week. Perez reported that she spent up to 25 hours per week babysitting and earning about $6 per hour, or half the minimum wage in Massachusetts. She also ended up cleaning their home and taking care of their dog, for which she was not paid extra.
"Transparency, honesty, accountability & a culture that allows people to create healthy boundaries is so important & I'm encouraged to see things starting to change," Josh wrote in the Instagram post, describing their experience of building the church in the U.S. as "immense pain" that they had to endure.
"Pastor's are meant to be shepherds who protect the sheep, not wolves who prey on the sheep they're entrusted to protect," Josh added.
In 2021, Leona accused Lentz of sexually abusing her while she and her husband were staff at the Manhattan church and she was working as a nanny for Lentz's children. Last week, the Christian Post reported on the "Internal Investigation Report Regarding Carl Lentz and Other Matters" report conducted by law firm Zukerman Gore Brandeis & Crossman, LLP on behalf of Hillsong NYC.
The report detailed how Lentz "engaged in at least 20 but less than 100 sex acts" with Leona in what Lentz called "manipulated intimacy." Lentz allegedly said they would do "'pretty much everything you could do' without engaging in oral sex or intercourse," the report said, revealing that the sexual relationship between the two lasted from 2015 to 2017.
