{"id":149126,"date":"2021-01-07T16:19:20","date_gmt":"2021-01-07T13:19:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/theres-a-mass-exodus-from-scandalized-hillsong-church\/"},"modified":"2021-01-07T16:19:20","modified_gmt":"2021-01-07T13:19:20","slug":"theres-a-mass-exodus-from-scandalized-hillsong-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/theres-a-mass-exodus-from-scandalized-hillsong-church\/","title":{"rendered":"#There’s a mass exodus from scandalized Hillsong Church"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#There’s a mass exodus from scandalized Hillsong Church<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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Yet another set of high-profile pastors have quietly left scandal\u2013ridden Hillsong Church and wiped their social<\/a>-media profiles of photos during their time there, indicating a mass exodus at the once-popular megachurch. <\/p>\n

Desiree Noel Robertson, 39, and Blaze C. Robertson, 41, were the former lead pastors of the Australia-based church\u2019s Connecticut branch, which they moved to Old Greenwich to help found in 2016, and served at until recently. No formal announcement was made of their departure, but they app<\/a>ear to now be seeking employment at nearby Harvest Time Church, in Greenwich.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a Jan. 2 Instagram post<\/a>, Harvest Time explicitly avoided any mention of Hillsong while inviting congregants to come meet the couple, who are being considered for the church\u2019s \u201cExecutive Pastor\u201d position.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlaze and Desiree have been pastoring in Connecticut since 2016. Prior to that, they served on a ministry team in NYC,\u201d reads the caption on the post, which features an image of Desiree, Blaze and their two young children smiling in front of a Christmas tree.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Neither Harvest Time nor the Robertsons have responded to The Post\u2019s request for comment. Hillsong also declined to comment on the trend of staff departing the congregation. <\/p>\n

Both the Robertsons\u2019 Instagram accounts have allegedly been scrubbed of all Hillsong content, an insider told The Post, and now together contain just eight posts, all shots of the family, prayers and one picture of Harvest Time.<\/p>\n

\u201cBehold, I am going to do something new, Now it will spring up; Will you not be aware of it?\u201d the image<\/a> is captioned \u2014 a quote from the book Isaiah in the Bible\u2019s old testament.<\/p>\n

Before moving to Connecticut, Blaze was a creative pastor at Hillsong\u2019s New York City arm, which is currently undergoing an internal investigation following star pastor Carl Lentz\u2019s adulterous firing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a different style of church. It\u2019s contemporary,\u201d Blaze described Hillsong to Norwalk news<\/a> outlet the Hour<\/a> in 2018, shortly after the Connecticut branch started. When asked about Hillsong\u2019s stance on marriage equality and abortion, Blaze deferred to Lentz, who then did not respond to the Hour\u2019s request for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"brando-kress-hillsong\"
A photo of a 2013 Hillsong service, taken by Brando Kress during his time working as a volunteer lighting director for the church\u2019s NYC branch. <\/figcaption>
Brand Kress \/ Instagram<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The mass departure of staff including the Robertsons is indicative of the church\u2019s deep, toxic roots, which are only beginning to be brought to light, sources told The Post.<\/p>\n

Former Hillsong lighting director Brando Kress, 34, said the Robertsons were co-facilitators of the church\u2019s hierarchical culture.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI talked to them quite a few times and they\u2019d say \u2018hey\u2019 now and then, but they never took the time to remember anything about me. \u2018Oh yeah, you do lights,\u2019\u201d Kress, a Brooklyn-based music producer, told The Post of his interactions with the couple in his five years of unpaid lighting work at Hillsong NYC. <\/p>\n

While Kress, who often commands rates of $150 an hour, was initially happy to work unpaid for the church, managing a five-person team through daylong shifts, the allegedly thankless treatment by the Robertsons and others eventually led him to leave in 2017. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was like, you know what, this is exhausting, I can\u2019t do this anymore,\u201d he said. \u201cI felt useless, disparaged. I wasn\u2019t able to love myself anymore because other people wouldn\u2019t.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dale Smith, whose company ran security at the Norwalk venue Hillsong Connecticut rented for its services, claimed the pastors barely invested in their flock of devoted, unpaid volunteers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPastor Blaze and his wife Desi, they were a part of the Hillsong hierarchy,\u201d Smith told The Post. In his two years working the door and guarding the stage at Sunday services, he observed \u201chigh turnover,\u201d as members became disillusioned. \u201cI saw people . . . work for 12 hours, obviously not getting paid,\u201d he alleged. \u201cThey dedicated so much time, and whatever they were looking for, they weren\u2019t getting it in return.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"dale-smith-hillsong\"
Dale Smith in front of the venue Hillsong Connecticut rented for Sunday services. Smith\u2019s company worked security for the church. <\/figcaption>
Dale Smith<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Smith, who is also a paralegal, grew up in the church, but found Hillsong to be more of a corporation than a religious institution.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just seemed like a business, real robotic,\u201d he said. \u201cEven the ones on the payroll seemed to be fighting, positioning in order to climb that ladder which, in my opinion, is not what a church is supposed to be.\u201d\n <\/p><\/div>\n