Hillsong’s drama continues

Hillsong is a global brand. Starting in the northern Sydney suburbs it has spread from Sydney to more than 125 sites in 27 countries – including 12 in the UK.

Its music is probably the most commercially successful in the world – and there will be few churches in the UK which have not sung a Hillsong song. The organisation claims that it has 150,000 attenders worldwide – including over 40,000 in Australia – where it is a key part of one of the fastest growing denominations – the Australian Christian Churches (Assemblies of God). But the brand is in trouble, after several cases of ‘inappropriate’ behaviour – including that of Carl Lentz, its high-profile New York leader. However, it is the case of Brian Houston, its founder and global leader, which has done most harm.

In August 2021 Houston was charged by the New South Wales police with failing to report his father’s sexual abuse of children which he became aware of in the 1990s. Houston senior was also a Pentecostal pastor. Brian Houston and his wife Bobbie, who in the megachurch tradition is also a senior pastor, took a leave of absence whilst they fought the charges. The trial is due to take place in December of 2022 and is expected to last up to three weeks: at the time of writing the result is not known.