Who is Hillsong founder Brian Houston?
BRIAN Houston is recognized as the founder of Hillsong Church.
In March 2022, the 69-year-old stepped down as the senior pastor of the Sydney-based church, following allegations raised by two women.
Who is Brian Houston?
Brian Houston is an Australian pastor and evangelist.
He was the National President of the Australian Christian Churches from 1997 to 2009.
Houston comes from a family of pastors, as his parents joined the Assemblies of God in New Zealand and began pastoring a church nearby.
He was elected the president of the Assemblies of God in Australia in 1997.
Three years later, he helped create the Australian Christian Churches network of Pentecostal churches. The alliance represents over 200,000 members in affiliate churches.
Houston was also an executive producer for Hillsong Music Australia.
He has an estimated net worth of $10million, according to .
Houston has been married to Bobbie Houston since 1977. The couple has three children, Joel, Laura, and Ben, who are also active participants in their parent’s churches.
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Why did Brian Houston resign from Hillsong Church?
On Wednesday, March 23, 2022, the church announced the pastor's resignation after he was accused of committing “indiscretions” towards two women.
The church's acting senior pastor, Phil Dooley, said in a statement: "We would like to advise you that Pastor Brian Houston has resigned as global senior pastor of Hillsong Church and the board has accepted his resignation.
"We understand there will be much emotion at this news and we all share these feelings. We ask that you continue to pray for them and the entire Houston family during this challenging time."
The first incident alleged the pastor went into a women's hotel room after drinking during a conference in 2019.
“The truth is we don’t know what happened next,” said Phil Dooley, the pastor who replaced Houston, in a leaked video to the Australian news media.
“The woman has not said there was any sexual activity. Brian has said there was no sexual activity, but he was in the room for 40 minutes.”
The second incident alleged Houston sent "inappropriate" texts to another woman, the church said.
According to , Houston vigorously denied the accusations, saying they “came as a shock to me, and it is my intention to vigorously defend them.”
Where is Brian Houston now?
Houston is often found posting religious content, as well as pictures with his family, on his social media feed where he has over 670k followers.
On May 18, 2023, Houston took to Instagram on May 18, 2023, to announce that he would be “talking through” some issues that had been brought up by FX’s The Secrets of Hillsong.
"I’m going to do an Instagram live and just talk through some of these things," he .
"Documentaries, and my perspective on them, and of course the leaked documents and all of the fallout from that. And some of the statements from Hillsong church consistently saying we’re a different church now and throwing shade on the past. … God bless. Love you.”
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The FX four-part docuseries premiered on May 19, 2023.
According to : "Expanding upon source material from a 2021 Vanity Fair exposé on the church, which revealed cracks in the church’s picture-perfect facade, the series features interviews with former pastor Carl Lentz, who is speaking publicly for the first time since being fired from Hillsong Church NYC in 2020 amid a cheating scandal."