Hillsong Church is a non-denominational Christian church that began in Australia in 1983 and quickly expanded to a global audience, including the U.S. and nearly 30 other countries. The churchs rapid growth can be credited to its casual, almost secular style, and music for the congregants resembles a Kings of Leon concert. The church services are regularly held in venues like nightclubs. Hillsongs expansion into the United States built on its enormous success in presenting worship music. Its services drew in young people in big cities, where services were held in concert venues, such as Irving Plaza and the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York. The congregants were fashionable and included celebrities such as Justin Bieber, Kevin Durant, and Vanessa Hudgens. However, in recent years, the church has faced massive scandals, including allegations of sexual abuse going back nearly five decades, marital infidelity, and inappropriate behavior by its founder, Brian Houston, who resigned in March 2022 after the church said that an internal investigation had found that he behaved inappropriately toward two women, breaching the churchs code of conduct. In November 2020, the lead pastor of Hillsongs New York branch, Carl Lentz, was fired from Hillsong due to his affair with jewelry designer Ranin Karim and "moral failures". In March 2022, nine of the 16 Hillsong churches in the United States cut ties with the organization.