Australia’s biggest evangelical church yesterday said that its founder had resigned after acting inappropriately toward two women, another blow to an influential organization already reeling from charges that the leader had covered up sex abuse.
Hillsong Church said an internal investigation into complaints from two women had found that its global senior pastor, Brian Houston, had breached worshipers’ trust.
“We understand there will be much emotion at this news, and we all share these feelings,” Hillsong said in a statement on its Web site.
“We acknowledge that change is needed. We have committed to an independent review of our governance structure and processes, understanding that this is a time of humble reflection,” it said.
INAPPROPRIATE
Houston, 68, had sent unacceptable text messages to a female staff member and had entered the hotel room of, and spent time with, another woman who was also involved with the church after an event, the church said.
Houston was not immediately available for comment. Reuters was unable to determine if he had a legal representative.
Hillsong did not reply to an e-mail seeking comment from Houston and his contact details.
Houston founded the 150,000-strong church in Sydney in the 1980s with his wife, Bobbie, and set up ministries in Europe, Asia, and North and South America.
He had stood aside in January to fight criminal charges of concealing sexual abuse by his late father in the 1970s.
His resignation, and the reasons for it, are likely to deepen the turmoil for the church, which has regularly had political leaders attend its events, including Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who led prayers at a 2019 church conference.
Morrison is expected to call an election within weeks.
Hillsong said in a statement on Friday that its investigation found text messages from Houston to a female employee resulted in her resigning a decade ago.
‘DISORIENTED’
Houston had blamed his actions, which were not described further, on sleeping pills, it said.
In 2019, the church found that Houston became “disoriented” after taking anti-anxiety medication mixed with alcohol after a church conference, which led to him “knocking on the door of a hotel room that was not his, entering this room and spending time with the female occupant,” Hillsong said.
It said it could not substantiate every aspect of the second woman’s complaint, but that it ultimately found Houston had breached its code of conduct.
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