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The megachurch that hired the ousted pastor of Hillsong New York City, Carl Lentz, has been accused of throwing an “inappropriate” Easter service that saw performers twerk on stage.
Lentz last month was hired as a strategist by Transformation Church, a predominantly black, nondenominational megachurch in Tulsa, Oklahoma, after he was fired from Hillsong after an extramarital affair came to light in 2020.
Transformation Church, led by pastor and popular YouTuber Michael Todd, held a musical performance titled “Ransom” on April 9 — but fellow pastors slammed it for its lack of holiness and labeled it “blasphemous.”
The church claims the performance showed how “God’s love conquered sin, death and the grave” after a female figure appeared on the cross while others danced around.
Elsewhere, a slew of performers appeared in tight, skimpy outfits with an eyebrow-raising pyrotechnic display as the backdrop.
In a video shared on YouTube, one performer was seen wearing a pair of $1,050 Mschf Big Red Boots.
Frederick Clement, a pastor and the founder of By The Book Ministries, fumed that the production was “nothing short of blasphemous.”
“Pastor Mike Todd never ceases to amaze me,” Clement said in a YouTube video. “Mike Todd’s Easter service was nothing short of blasphemous and it was a complete mockery of the resurrection of Jesus Christ! His remarks, the service, the performances were only meant to entertain the goats and mocked the sheep!”
“It is entirely inappropriate. You have women basically twerking on stage but hey, it’s twerking for the kingdom. We’re twerking for the Lord out here,” Blaze TV’s Allie Beth Stuckey said of the performance.
“Woohoo. Apparently, that is supposed to bring people to God. That is supposed to share the Gospel with people.”
But despite the mass criticism, the church has defended its creative choices, saying they “transformed” lives with their bold production.
“We believe that so many lives were TRANSFORMED today because He’s not DEAD,” the church said in a Facebook post on April 9.
“This weekend over 500 people gave their lives to Christ and we want to let you know that TC and all of heaven is rejoicing because of your decision!”
Todd also defended the production, saying he had “never preached an Easter message” before, prompting him to “come up with a play.”
“I said, ‘But it can’t be no whack, raggedy, just, He got up. I was like, this gotta move people. And I really want it to be focused on people who don’t know God or are far from Him,” he said.
“I want the person who feels lonely and isolated, like God doesn’t care. I want them to see how amazing Jesus actually is and what God actually did for all of us.”
“So I said, ‘We goin’ go to the edge on this.’ So they said, ‘Pastor, how far on the edge are we gonna go?’ I said, ‘We’re gonna do everything short of sin,'” he added.
Lentz, then with Hillsong, served as a spiritual adviser to celebs such as Justin Bieber, whom he baptized, and Kendall Jenner.
The Post has reached out to Transformation Church for further comment.
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