Hillsong announces resignation of founder Brian Houston

Hillsong Church founder Brian Houston has sensationally quit after allegations were levelled against him by two women.

Brian Houston has announced his resignation from Hillsong Church following allegations raised by two women.

The announcement was made at an emergency staff meeting at the mega-church’s head office in Baulkham Hills on Wednesday.

Allegations against the senior Hillsong pastor were exposed last week with Mr Houston accused of committing “indiscretions” towards two women.

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

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.

Brian Houston and wife Bobbie were thanked by Hillsong leaders during announcement of Houston’s resignation. Picture: https://www.instagram.com/bobbiehouston/

A crisis meeting was called last Friday to inform the church’s 800 staff of the alleged incidents, which occurred in 2013 and 2019.

Pastor Phil Dooley, who took over the role as the head of the evangelical church after Houston stepped down earlier this year, detailed two incidents investigated by senior church staff.

The first alleged incident involved a female church member who quit after making a complaint about an “inappropriate” text message about a decade ago.

“It was along the line of ‘if I was with you, I‘d like to kiss and cuddle you’, words of that nature,” Pastor Dooley told the meeting.

The woman left her job after complaining about the incident to Hillsong general manager George Aghajanian.

Brian Houston is reported to have paid out the woman several months’ salary to compensate her for the incident.

“Pastor Brian said ‘I want to pay that personally because it was my fault’,” Pastor Dooley said.

An emergency meeting was called to announce the resignation to the church’s 800 staff. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi

The second incident allegedly occurred at a Sydney hotel during the church’s annual conference at Qudos Bank Arena at Homebush in 2019.

The senior pastor spent 40 minutes inside of a woman’s room after claiming to have been locked out of his own.

The woman was not a member of Hillsong staff but did complain to the Church of the incident.

“The truth is we don’t know what happened next,” Pastor Dooley said, though Mr Houston denies that he engaged in any sexual activity.

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

They claim to have helped Mr Houston eliminate his dependency on the medication.

Mr Houston stepped down from his senior position within the mega-church in January following allegations he concealed his fathers 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.

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