Faith on Trial podcast: Hillsong member says she was allegedly sexually harassed by church leader

A former Hillsong member has told of being allegedly sexually harassed at one of the church’s offices before it happened again at the supermarket. Listen to the podcast.

A former Hillsong member has told of being allegedly sexually harassed by a church leader – once while shopping for frozen peas at her local supermarket.

The woman told the Faith on Trial podcast the first alleged assault took place while working as a volunteer at one of Hillsong’s offices.

“He grabbed me on the side of my chest, right near my side boob, right up underneath my arms, because my arms were up grabbing papers out of the filing cabinet and grabbed me there,” the woman known as Amy said.

“And I turned around and he’s like inches away from my face, grinning maniacally. Like, he really got off on that”.

It was while shopping at her local Coles that Amy ran into the same church leader again, whom she alleges grabbed her again – this time while she was reaching for a bag of frozen peas.

“I was getting some frozen peas and looking at it … all the sudden he did exactly the same thing, grabbed me up under my arm, side boob, scared the crap out of me,” Amy tells the podcast.

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“I may or may not have screamed. I can’t remember. And then, you know, I was like, ‘Oh, it’s just you’. And we start talking. And then two minutes later, his girlfriend comes around the next aisle pushing a trolley, like he’d actually snuck off from her to come and do this”.

Amy said the alleged assault took place while she was volunteering for the megachurch, working alongside other churchgoers in the same “connect group”.

Hillsong is known for its practice of “connect groups” – connecting churchgoers together so they become friends outside of church, often volunteering together.

A Hillsong member was allegedly harassed at a supermarket.

Amy said she initially did not report the leader because “essentially, he was my boss. And unfortunately, in our generation and being a woman, this I hate to say this, but this stuff happens all the time and we minimise it … I didn’t see the pattern that was emerging”.

That was until he would start playing with her hair and saying things such as “Oh, I really want to have kids with your hair colour’. And I’d be like. ‘Okay. That’s a random.’ Yeah, it’s super, super creepy.”.

It was only after the leader gave her an unwanted hug, that Amy made a complaint to a female Hillsong leader.

“She basically jumped down my throat immediately and was incredibly hot, incredibly threatening and hostile,” Amy said of the reaction she got.

Later at a church dinner, Amy said the same woman tried to befriend her before once again turning on her.

“She just kind of lent across the table and slurred. I mean, she’s like, ‘you really need to get over this. You really need to you know, … things happen. Things happen at church. Then she stopped and I stopped and I looked at her and she looked at me and … the look on her face. She was like, ‘Oh, my God, I’ve just let the cat out of the bag’.”.

Amy has since left the church and Hillsong. And while she initially spoke to lawyers about the incidents, she has not pursued any legal action.

Hillsong was contacted for comment.