There’s never any silver lining in a story about inappropriate creep behavior. But I guess if there is one upside to all of this, it’s that former Hillsong megachurch Pastor Carl Lentz is no longer the only married former Hillsong Pastor to get caught putting his penis where his penis didn’t belong? Hillsong Pastor Darnell Barrett recently announced he’s stepping down from his position at Hillsong, due to a penis-print pic being sent to someone who was not his wife.
According to People, 32-year-old Pastor Darnell Barrett was the creative director of Hillsong’s Montclair, New Jersey chapter, and he resigned from his position on Tuesday. This came after it was revealed that he had allegedly sent pictures of himself, post-workout, in a pair of some Nike compression tights that left very little to the imagination. Here is one such alleged picture, obtained by The Daily Mail, in which Pastor Barrett captions the photo: “Day 2 of kicking depressions tight ass.”
Married pastor for Hillsong Church RESIGNS after sharing photos of his bulging manhood on Instagram https://t.co/Ql1fgOMREY
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) April 28, 2021
If only this story was as simple as “Horny Pastor tries to get laid by sending out selfies featuring his stuffing his loaves and fishes into workout tights,” but it’s not. The Daily Mail says that Pastor Barrett’s dick print plan might have involved some casual lies. But Jesus was very specific about honesty! Did Pastor Barrett learn nothing from his employee manual, The Bible?? I guess not. Pastor Barrett shared the pictures on his Instagram Story close friends list. One such close friend was reportedly a 30-year-old woman who used to volunteer with the Montclair chapter of Hillsong, who shared DMs between herself and Pastor Barrett with The Daily Mail:
Barrett then shared his Instagram story in a direct message to at least one follower, a 30-year-old woman who used to volunteer under him at the New Jersey church. In messages obtained by DailyMail.com, Barrett initially tried to play it off as a mistake before apparently trying to lure the woman into a conversation. “Hey! I think I might’ve added you to my close friends list by accident,” Barrett wrote. “I’m so sorry. Trying to figure out how the hell to edit it.” He later claimed that the explicit photos were “some real raw shit I send to my friends man.”
He added “Seriously, sorry about that. I guess,” to which the woman responded by blocking him. After a while, she unblocked Pastor Barrett and called him out, saying that she knew exactly what those pictures meant and that she’s not stupid. She accused him of trying to lure her in, by posting the photos, then immediately messaging her to apologize, knowing full well that she would then go take a look. The woman also accused him of preying on women in a shady way, by pretending that his dick selfie was a whoopsie. But if you ask Pastor Barrett, which The Daily Mail did, he’ll be happy to gaslight that woman worse than Peter denying he knew who that Jesus guy was. According to Pastor Barrett, he sends those post-workout selfies to all his close friends, as a way to motivate them into staying healthy. And that woman? Well, she just assumed what she wanted to assume, and that’s on her.
He explained he stepped down Tuesday morning citing “infidelity” in his marriage that, “We thought it was best for me to move on. I don’t want to get into the details.”
Barrett acknowledged that the photos indeed showed off his private parts, but insisted they were shared accidentally. “It shows me with my leggings on,” he said. He described them merely as “gym photos” and said they were meant to encourage his followers to participate in a “gym challenge.”
“This was something that was just an honest mistake and I informed my wife as soon as it happened. I was not at all trying to lure her. I get that she, within the context of what’s happening with Hillsong, that she would draw those conclusions. But I barely know her. That was not my intention.”
That anonymous woman agreed that she barely knew Pastor Barrett, but she also claims he reached out to her earlier this year, to let her know he’d be visiting the state she lived in, and allegedly asking if she knew of anywhere private to stay. I’m surprised he didn’t also ask her if there was a good gym in town with decent overhead lighting, since, you know, he’s so dedicated to documenting his fitness journey.
This is the third time we’ve heard of a Hillsong higher-up getting into trouble. The first of course was Pastor Carl Lentz, who admitted he’d been unfaithful to his wife. Then we heard stories of inappropriate sexual behavior amongst staff and interns, causing former Hillsong congregation member Selena Gomez to quit the church. And now we’ve got Hillsong’s New Jersey creative director suddenly stepping down, for a vague reason that may or may not have to do with infidelity. I’ve never attended a Hillsong church service, but I’m starting to get the feeling that whenever they get to the part in the ten commandments that says “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” the Pastor adds, “But if thou shalt wanna do that, try to think of a semi-believable excuse.”
Pic: YouTube
