Hillsong Church Founder Guilty Of Inappropriate Behavior With Women, Resigns

Hillsong Church announced on Wednesday that founder and senior pastor Brian Houston voluntarily resigned after an investigation found he acted inappropriately with two women.

According to the biggest evangelical organization in Australia, Houston, 68, sent inappropriate text messages to a staff member and entered the hotel room of a woman after a church event.

“Pastor Brian Houston has resigned as Global Senior Pastor of Hillsong Church and the board has accepted his resignation,” the announcement read.

Houston was allegedly under the influence of drugs during both of the incidents, specifically sleeping and anti-anxiety medicines, according to the church.

Founded in 1983 by Brian Houston and his wife, Bobbie, Hillsong Church is an international evangelical church that operates globally but was founded in Australia and now has an estimated 150,000 members globally.

The incidents described both occurred within the last 10 years. Houston already stepped down from his role in January but did not officially resign, to deal with charges against him that he concealed child sex abuse involving his father.

Regardless of his actions, the church concluded that founders Brian and Bobbie Houston, “have served God faithfully over many decades and that their ministry has resulted in millions of people across the world being impacted by the power, grace, and love of Jesus Christ.”

The church has also more recently been under fire from allegations against another pastor, Carl Lentz, who was terminated in 2020.

In light of these two recent scandals involving pastors of Hillsong Church, the church acknowledges “that change is needed,” and is “committed to an independent review of our governance structure and processes.”

As of now, the two Interim Global Senior Pastors of the church are Phil and Lucinda Dooley.