Hillsong pastor accuses unnamed leader of bullying, sexual abuse, ‘boob job’ offer

A current Hillsong pastor previously accused of taking advantage of congregant labor has claimed that she, too, was once taken advantage of — and sexually abused — while working for an unnamed ex-Hillsong pastor.

In a bombshell essay published on Medium on Memorial Day, Leona Kimes, 37 — currently a lead pastor of Hillsong Boston — has alleged that in the seven years she spent as a nanny for Hillsong NYC pastors, she was “subjected to manipulation, control, bullying, abuse of power, and sexual abuse.” Her allegations join a months-long stream of claims about the formerly celebrity-adored church and its leaders, beginning with the shocking news that its now-fired head “hypepriest” pastor Carl Lentz had cheated on his wife. His “moral failure” exposed rifts across the church, fraud accusations and congregant allegations of abuse. The global mega-church’s Australian founder Brian Houston has since apologized, and the church conducted an internal investigation into its culture and whistleblower policies. However, allegations such as Kimes’ continue to roil the once-praised institution.