Carl and Laura Lentz Reveal Daughter’s Suicide Attempt Weeks Before Hillsong Scandal

Carl and Laura Lentz are sharing a painful chapter of their family's history: their daughter Charlie attempted suicide at just 14, weeks before Carl's infidelity became public.

According to ChurchLeaders' November 2 report, Laura recounts the September 2020 emergency in the couple's new book, Overcoming Infidelity: 10 Conversations to Help Heal the Hurt. Her account describes frightened parents rushing to hospital and the difficult weeks of treatment that followed.

Laura writes that she and Carl were attending a birthday dinner away from home when they missed several calls. A message from a friend staying with their children alerted them that Charlie was in the emergency room.

The couple immediately began the journey to reach her. Laura remembers Carl crying intensely as a friend drove them to the hospital.

Once there, they learned Charlie needed inpatient psychiatric care. Leaving their daughter with medical professionals was devastating.

"When we stepped outside the building, we both dropped to the sidewalk and sobbed," Laura writes.

Charlie subsequently entered a treatment facility, where she remained for six weeks. Laura describes restricted contact and closely supervised visits, recalling the anguish of being able to spend only brief periods with her daughter.

The disclosure places a previously private family emergency alongside the public events that followed. Carl's infidelity became public in November 2020, ending his tenure as pastor of Hillsong NYC. The chronology matters: Charlie's suicide attempt preceded that public scandal. The account does not establish a single cause for her crisis.

The couple's book, published October 20, addresses betrayal, damaged trust and their efforts to rebuild their marriage. This account also draws attention to their experience as parents confronting a child's urgent need for psychiatric treatment.

Laura's recollections describe the fear and uncertainty surrounding that period. The excerpt does not provide a current clinical update on Charlie, and her treatment history should not be taken as a statement about her present health.

For readers encountering the family's story through headlines about ministry and marital failure, the disclosure reveals another deeply personal experience: parents trying to support their daughter through a serious mental health crisis.