Megachurch slammed for hosting 'demonic' and 'blasphemous' Easter show

A pastor in Oklahoma has been slammed by Christian critics for retelling the Easter story in a 'demonic' way – after performers twerked on stage.

Transformation Church, which recently hired disgraced Pastor Carl Lentz as a strategist, put on a musical performance of the resurrection of Jesus, which has been slammed by other Christians.

Pastor Mike Todd's church in Tulsa claims that 500 people 'gave their lives to Christ' after hosting the edgy play called 'Ransom' on April 8 and 9.

They claim that the performance showed how 'God's love conquered sin, death and the grave' as women danced in tight-fitting outfits and a female version of Jesus on the cross.

But the lively performance, enhanced with pyrotechnics, attracted criticism from the more traditional churches, who branded it as blasphemous.

Transformation Church claim that the performance showed how 'God's love conquered sin, death and the grave' as women danced in tight-fitting outfits 

Footage of the show also depicts a rapper stomping around the stage in $1,050 Mschf Big Red Boot shoes.

Frederick Clement, a church planter, pastor and the founder of By The Book Ministries, said the production was 'nothing short of blasphemous,' though Todd claims the production involves 'everything short of sin.'

Preaching on YouTube he said: 'Pastor Mike Todd never ceases to amaze me! 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!'

Allie Beth Stuckey, of Blaze TV added: '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.

'Woohoo. Apparently, that is supposed to bring people to God. That is supposed to share the Gospel with people.'

But the church has defended their decision, saying that they 'transformed' lives over the Easter period with the performance.

Todd himself also defended the performance, saying he had 'never preached an Easter message' and so decided to 'come up with a play.'

Footage of the show also depicts a rapper stomping around the stage in $350 Mschf Big Red Boot shoes

Pastor Mike Todd, left, defended the performance, saying he had 'never preached an easter message' and so decided to 'come up with a play'

Pastor Mike Todd's church in Tulsa claims that 500 people 'gave their lives to Christ' after hosting the edgy play called 'Ransom' on April 8 and 9

But the lively performance, littered with pyrotechnics, attracted criticism from the more traditional churches, who branded it as blasphemous

He said: '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.

'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.'

It comes after the church hired Carl Lentz, who was fired from the global megachurch Hillsong after bringing it from Australia to the United States.

He once ministered to Justin Bieber and a bevy of other celebrities and sports stars, before being exposed in 2020 for cheating on his wife.

His five-month affair with Brooklyn-based jewelry designer Ranin Karim emerged and resulted in him being sacked from the church.

Lentz and his wife Laura were also the subject of abuse accusations from another Hillsong pastor.

Leona Kimes, co-pastor of Hillsong Boston with her husband Josh, announced in a bombshell Medium post in May 2021 that she had been 'subjected to manipulation, control, bullying, abuse of power, and sexual abuse' by the Lentzes while working at their home as a nanny.

The church has defended their decision, saying that they 'transformed' lives over the Easter period with the performance

Carl Lentz, the star pastor who brought the global megachurch Hillsong from Australia to the United States, was fired in 2020 after it was exposed that he cheated on his wife

Lentz with Justin Bieber, one of the church's most famous parishioners. Lentz left the church after admitting to cheating on his wife 

The Lentzes strongly denied Kimes's allegations. The Christian Post published excerpts of an internal investigation into the Lentzes' behavior, which found that Laura had punched Leona Kimes when she found her snuggled on the sofa with her husband Carl.

The investigation into the Lentzes also alleges that while Lentz was seeing Ranin Karim, he also engaged in another 'inappropriate relationship' with a woman he called Germany, who he met in Brooklyn.

Lentz was accused of causing workers to suffer mental health problems by belittling and bullying them.

Other former church members have compared the church to a cult and detailed incidents of sexual assault.