Carl Lentz.
It’s a name with which you likely weren’t familiar just a few days ago, but it’s quickly become a name that may have a significant impact on the world of pop culture.
That’s because Carl Lentz is a pastor who has grown very close to Justin Bieber… and who may even be the reason Bieber quits the music business.
As previously documented, Bieber ended his world tour early this week, with insiders claiming the singer is simply exhausted.
But a deeper dive into the situation has alleged that Bieber actually made this decision because he’s grown very close to Lentz and is undergoing some kind of “spiritual awakening.”
Without being told directly by Lentz to cancel the remaining dates on his tour, Justin simply thinks this is the right thing to do at the moment.
It’s unclear exactly why.
However, it seems rather evident at this point that Lentz has a lot of influence on Bieber and also on other stars in Hollywood.
Therefore, this seems like an appropriate time to answer a pressing celebrity gossip question:
WHO IS CARL LENTZ?
– He is pastor of Hillsong NYC, the local branch of the global megachurch that offers a Sunday service at Montclair’s Wellmont Theater in New Jersey.
– The church attracts about 100,000 people per week across the globe and is known for infusing its services with Christian Rock songs.
– Lentz is married to a woman named Laura and has three children.
– He’s been described as the “rock star pastor,” “hipster pastor” and “punk pastor” for his affinity for leather, skinny jeans and tattoos.
– Lentz is a Virginia Beach native who grew up in the Baptist church.
– According to a 2009 newspaper article, he who was playing basketball for N.C. State University when, at the encouragement of his parents, he attended a church service with a contemporary music ministry.
It changed his life forever.
– The Virginian-Pilot went on to write that Lentz attended Virginia Wesleyan University and at a Bible college in Los Angeles and then studied at the Hillsong International Leadership College in Australia.
– This is where he met and married Laura in 2003.
– In 2010, couple moved to New York City, setting down roots in Williamsburg .
– A big basketball fan, Lentz was quickly introduced him to Allan Houston, according to a Bleacher Report profile; he also includes Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, and Jeremy Lin as his friends.
– A TMZ report claims that Lentz also influenced Kyrie Irving’s recent demand to be traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers.
– Lentz met a then-14-year-old Justin Bieber in 2008 through another pastor close to artist.
“I remember being involved in this pre-service prayer [backstage] and just looking at him and going, ‘This is going to be a challenge.’ And that day being like, ‘I’m going to pray for this boy to make it,"” Lentz told the New York Post in 2014.
This quote was given back when Bieber was spotted at a brothel in Brazil and seen smoking a lot of marijuana and was receiving negative press up the wazoo.
So that brings us up to speed on Carl Lentz.
Like Scientology, his church seems cater to celebrities, a charge Lentz has not denied.
“Celebrities deserve a relationship with God. Celebrities deserve a place to pray,” Lentz told Esquire in the past.
A source close to the situation told TMZ this week that Bieber is like the “Tom Cruise” of Hillsong.
We’ll let you interpret that quote and that comparison however you see fit.