By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Brian C. Houston and Bobbie Houston, founding pastors of Hillsong Church, appear in a photo shared on Facebook in March 2014. | (Photo: Facebook/Brian and Bobbie Houston).
The Australian founder and global head of Pentecostal megachurch Hillsong announced Sunday he will step down while he faces trial over charges he covered up his father’s child sexual abuse.
Pastor Brian Houston said Hillsong’s lawyers had advised him to hand over leadership of the church during his criminal trial.
Houston was charged in August 2021 with concealing information from police about alleged child abuse by his father, Frank, who was also a pastor and died in 2004.
Frank Houston had been accused of sexually abusing a young boy while a preacher at the Assemblies of God Church in the 1970s.
A royal commission in 2015 found the younger Houston was told about the allegations in 1999 but failed to report them to authorities, sparking the investigation by police.
It’s been an unexpected season, and we are thankful for you all and for the community we share,” Houston said on the video streamed toward the end of the service. “I never get tired of the praise reports and miracles, especially those committing to Jesus.”
Houston’s leave of absence comes after more than a year of scandals have rocked the church both in Australia and abroad and amid Houston’s own legal troubles at home. Houston stepped down from the board of Hillsong in September.
The result is that the Hillsong Global Board feel it is in my and the church’s best interest for this to happen, so I have agreed to step aside from all ministry responsibilities until the end of the year,” Houston said in the January 30 video announcement.
Founded by Houston and his wife, Bobbie, in Sydney in the 1980s, Hillsong has grown into a global megachurch which claims an average weekly attendance of 150,000 people.
The church is known for its concert-style services that feature pop music and high-profile special guests, including Justin Bieber and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Houston’s criminal trial is expected to take up most of 2022 with pastors Phil and Lucinda Dooley stepping in to lead the church.