Brian Houston’s daughter vows to support father after allegations of ‘indiscretions’ surface publicly

The daughter of Brian Houston has pledged to stand by her dad in the wake of allegations he behaved inappropriately towards two women.

Brian Houston’s daughter has shared her “battered heart” following damning allegations her dad behaved inappropriately towards two women while he was a senior Hillsong pastor.

The former church leader’s resignation was announced on Wednesday after it was revealed he allegedly sent an inappropriate text to a member in 2013, and spent 40 minutes inside the hotel room of a non-member in 2019.

On both occasions of alleged misconduct, the church reported he had been under the influence of either alcohol or sleeping tablets.

His daughter, Laura Toggs, has since vowed to stand by her dad despite details of his “indiscretions” coming to light, and pledged to “take a higher road” in the face of the scandal.

In a lengthy post to Instagram, she spoke of her decision to express her “crushing pain” publicly, in retaliation to being “constantly humiliated publicly”.

Stream more Australian news with Flash. 25+ news channels in 1 place. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer ends 31 October, 2022 >

Laura Toggs has vowed to stand by her dad after details of his ‘indiscretions’ came to light. Picture: Instagram/lauratoggs

“When you have a platform people grow from your suffering, because with a platform you suffer out loud. When you grieve, you grieve in front of everybody, when you hurt, you hurt in front of everybody,” part of her post read.

“And there is no place to hide … and everyone inspects your wounds. When you LOVE much, you grieve much, and there is no simple way around it.

“If we can be constantly humiliated publicly, then I am tempted to express my crushing pain publicly. But today, yet again, I choose to lay my deep anguish at the feet of Jesus, my Jesus who treasures my tears and will eventually heal this wounded spirit.”

Ms Toggs also listed a series of choices she had made, including the decision to “text my beloved dad ‘I love you’ a thousand times again”.

Ms Toggs has shared details of her grief to social media. Picture: Instagram/lauratoggs

“And as exhausting as it may be, I choose once again to take a higher road and keep my heart with utmost gentleness and humility and grace. ️I choose,” she wrote.

In a post to her Instagram stories late on Wednesday evening, she shared an old poem she wrote with the new addition: “I wrote this well, well, well before this same grace would need to be extended to my most beloveds. I’m going to bed with a battered heart”.

On Wednesday, she also posted a video of herself delivering a speech to Hillsong churchgoers in which she probed the audience about whether they had “one thing” that kept them “connected to the vine of Christ”.

Allegations against the senior Hillsong pastor were exposed last week with the church holding a crisis meeting on Friday to inform the church’s 800 staff of the alleged incidents.

Brian Houston on stage in 2021 while he was Hillson’s global senior pastor. Picture: Marcus Ingram/Getty Images

“Irrespective of the circumstances around this, we can all agree Brian and (wife) Bobbie have served God faithfully over many decades,” the church wrote in a statement released after Wednesday’s meeting, in which Mr Houston’s resignation was announced.

The church’s board committed to an independent review of their governance structure and processes.

“This is a time of humble reflection and we are committed to doing what is necessary to ensure God is honoured, and our eyes are fixed on Jesus,” the statement said.

Pastor Phil Dooley, who took over the role as the head of the evangelical church after Houston stepped down earlier this year following allegations he concealed his father’s child sexual abuse.

Frank Houston, his father, founded Sydney Christian Life Centre in 1977 which later merged with the Hills Christian Life Centre to become Hillsong.

Brian Houston has pleaded not guilty to charges of concealing a serious indictable offence and is due in court in November.

Originally published as Brian Houston’s daughter vows to support father after allegations of ‘indiscretions’ surface publicly