Faith on Trial podcast: Hillsong leader allegedly sacked for sex abuse revelation

This is how Hillsong allegedly sacked a leader from speaking to young women because of her own private hell she had disclosed. Listen to the podcast.

Hillsong allegedly sacked a leader from speaking to young women because she revealed she was a victim of sexual abuse.

It is the latest claim made against the Christian megachurch detailed in the podcast Faith On Trial.

The woman claims she made the disclosure during a Hillsong talk at a government school as part of its Shine program.

Kirsty, who asked for her name to be changed, said she was shocked when she was told she had done something wrong after speaking about her trauma.

“Some of those girls actually came up to me afterwards and said, ‘Oh, thank you so much for sharing that. I thought I was the only one that experienced that’, which is actually quite common among victims of abuse, that feeling of isolation and shame,” Kirsty said.

“And I remember encouraging them to just go visit the GP and go and ask for a referral for a psychologist or a counsellor.”

Kristy said Hillsong dismissed her from her volunteer role when a youth pastor challenged her “a few days later”.

Millions of people have joined Hillsong around the world. Picture: Alamy

“And then she’s like, right, that was very inappropriate and that actually distracted from the program,” Kirsty said.

“She said: ‘We’ve made the decision to remove you as a Shine facilitator’.”

Kirsty’s discussion was part of a program aimed at young women aged between 11 and 17, where Hillsong sent its young leaders into government schools to discuss religion.

“SHINE is a unique personal development and group mentoring tool that uses an inspirational, practical and experiential approach to learning for girls and women,” Hillsong’s website says.

The details emerged in episode seven of the Faith On Trial podcast, which is out today.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST BELOW

The episode features interviews with five women about their experiences at Hillsong.

The women who spoke out claim that Hillsong interrogated them about their sex lives, and that the church had a “rape culture” where women were taught to physically submit to their husbands.

Phil Dooley, Hillsong’s global senior pastor has denied the church has a “rape culture”.

“I have two daughters and of course I would not want them to be part of a place with this kind of culture. It’s simply not who we are,” he said.

Hillsong Church Global Senior Pastor Phil Dooley. Picture: Facebook

Hillsong has been in damage control since the release of the podcast and the tabling of more than 10,000 of the church’s financial records in Federal Parliament.

The documents reveal claims of money laundering and fraud at Hillsong.

The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission has since confirmed it was investigating Hillsong.

The church was also accused in the documents of misusing $15.7 million of ineligible tax deductible donations for the purchase of Festival Hall in Melbourne.

Hillsong announced a new lease with music promoter Live Nation to bring concerts back to the venue a week after the documents were dropped in parliament.

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Originally published as Faith on Trial podcast: Hillsong leader allegedly sacked for sex abuse revelation