When Josh Canfield, a Broadway actor and former contestant on CBS' "Survivor," moved to New York in 2010 he was relieved to find a Hillsong church just opening its doors. The Gay 'Survivor' Star Who Was Fired By Hillsong TooFab has made Hillsong aware of every assertion in this story. The following is an investigation TooFab conducted on the church that included conversations with former members, unearthing government documents in Australia, and on the ground research at its Los Angeles chapter which revealed a trackrecord of discrimination against gays. Truth be told, Hillsong has admitted to every one of the claims made above, just not in those words. When one looks beneath the surface, the core values of the church become clear. In fact, Hillsong's past is marred by a history of homophobic beliefs and a valuation of women that harkens back to a darker age. To understand the two faces of Hillsong - the public hipster image and the privately homophobic - TooFab spoke with former members who were initially taken in by the inclusive message preached on the pulpit only to later be ostracized by its core values. However, underneath the glitzy veneer of rock concert religious services and glamorous members is a conservative value system at odds with the liberal ethos commonly associated with Hollywood. The media has breathlessly dubbed the church's most prominent figure - and Bieber BFF - pastor Carl Lentz as a "rock star" in his own right. The fast-growing Christian movement is primarily known for its celebrity congregation - from the likes of Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez to Chris Pratt and Kourtney Kardashian. Sexism and homophobia are not the first things most people would think of when evangelical mega-church Hillsong is mentioned.
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