1 00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:06,840 Speaker 1: Hillsong is a major dumpster fire. This is a story 2 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:09,960 Speaker 1: of a mecca church and its followers, a church that 3 00:00:10,119 --> 00:00:14,280 Speaker 1: started small and became a global brand. I was introduced 4 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:16,959 Speaker 1: by two friends that I went to high school with, 5 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:20,560 Speaker 1: and they introduced me in the Whole Song, and that 6 00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:23,520 Speaker 1: first day is the date that I have tattooed on 7 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:28,120 Speaker 1: my collar bone. Hillsong created a winning formula, a concert vibe. 8 00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:32,680 Speaker 1: It looked and felt different from the traditional church that 9 00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:35,960 Speaker 1: I grew up in. Like it's at a bar. It 10 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:40,640 Speaker 1: appears unconventional, but at the court it's a Pentecostal church. 11 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:44,120 Speaker 1: It's a lesson in how to make religion cool. It's 12 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:47,400 Speaker 1: a lesson in power, money and abuse. I would like 13 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:51,639 Speaker 1: Hillsong to to stop existing, but even more than that, 14 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:55,160 Speaker 1: I would like for it to account for what it's done. 15 00:00:55,360 --> 00:00:57,560 Speaker 1: I'm no Emmy would even I was a part of 16 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:01,880 Speaker 1: Hillsong Church, but I left. Now I'm telling my story. 17 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:05,920 Speaker 1: While Song started with a few followers in Australia and 18 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:10,279 Speaker 1: now it's in more than thirty countries. Thousands of people 19 00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:13,839 Speaker 1: say Whole Song brought them to Jesus. The message is simple, 20 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:17,760 Speaker 1: welcome home, you belong. I felt like I was building 21 00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:20,880 Speaker 1: God's Church, and I felt like included and it felt 22 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:24,600 Speaker 1: like a family. I felt like a part of something, 23 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:28,560 Speaker 1: even just for the first time. Emotional, financial and sexual 24 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:31,960 Speaker 1: abuse are at the heart of the story, and star 25 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:35,039 Speaker 1: preachers who thought they were untouchable. They never saw the 26 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:38,360 Speaker 1: worth in us, never suspected that we would say anything, 27 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:41,200 Speaker 1: or than anyone would listen. And where some of the 28 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:44,440 Speaker 1: loudest voices out here because we just saw so much 29 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:47,040 Speaker 1: because they never saw us, and they just felt free 30 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:49,960 Speaker 1: to just be bad actors. In this series, we get 31 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:53,280 Speaker 1: access to information hill Song never wanted the public to see, 32 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:57,120 Speaker 1: and access to people prepared to speak out. I remember 33 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:00,559 Speaker 1: sometimes looking around and being like that, I get myself 34 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:03,880 Speaker 1: into The church says it's changed, but has it truly 35 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:07,160 Speaker 1: owned the past? And our Hillsong scandals a symptom of 36 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:11,399 Speaker 1: a deeper problem in Christianity. There's something much bigger than 37 00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:15,359 Speaker 1: just this particular institution. In my opinion, it has everything 38 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:20,239 Speaker 1: to do with modern Christendom, especially within the evangelical world. 39 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:25,840 Speaker 1: There's something really rotten at the core within evangelicalism. Listen 40 00:02:25,919 --> 00:02:28,920 Speaker 1: to False Prophets starting February two on the I Heart 41 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:32,520 Speaker 1: Radio app Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts