One incident involved inappropriate text messages Houston sent to a Hillsong Church staff member that led to her resigning. The board said that at the time, Houston was under the influence of sleeping pills, which he had developed an addiction to, mixed with alcohol. After realizing what he did, Houston immediately apologized and got professional help to eliminate his addiction—which the board said he successfully did.
RELATED: Hillsong’s Brian Houston Pleads Not Guilty to Covering Up Father’s Abuse
In the other incident, which took place in 2019, Houston entered the room of a female occupant during the Hillsong Conference where the two were alone for a period of time. Houston was under the influence of alcohol and an over-prescribed dose of anti-anxiety medication, which the board said made him disoriented and led him to knock on the door of the female’s hotel room, enter into the room, and spend time with her. The board explained that Houston was extremely remorseful about his actions and repaid the church for the funds they refunded to the woman involved after she requested her donation to the church be returned.
Houston’s resignation comes less than 18 months after Hillsong East Coast Pastor Carl Lentz was fired for moral failure and on the same day former Hillsong Dallas pastor Reed Bogard has been accused of raping a female church staffer.
Lentz, a well-known pastor in the United States, was caught having an affair with NYC-based fashion designer Ranin Karim in 2020. Lentz, who was close friends with celebrities like Justin Bieber and Kevin Durant, told Karim he was a sports agent and asked her not Google him.
RELATED: Carl Lentz, Pastor of Hillsong East Coast, Fired for ‘Moral Failure’
Houston called Lentz’s behavior “narcissistic” and described it as “manipulating, mistreating people. Breaches of trust. Constantly lying.” Houston told Hillsong Church leadership that “if it was just about a moral failure, perhaps it would have been possible to work with Carl and Laura and work their way through it and have a period of restoration.”
The accusation against Bogard comes from Australian news outlet Crikey and claims they have access to a 30-page investigation that was conducted by Hillsong Church, which proves he had non-consensual sex with the church staff member in 2013 while on staff at Hillsong East Coast as a church planter under the leadership of Lentz.
According to Crikey’s report, the former pastor admitted that during their first sexual encounter, he was very drunk and has no memory of her saying “no.”
Both Reed and his wife, Jess, were later promoted as pastors of Hillsong Dallas, but in January 2021 announced they were stepping down as pastors after Hillsong’s leadership suspended their pastoral duties while they investigated complaints of misusing tithe money for personal purchases. Hillsong Dallas was closed two months later.
RELATED: Brian Houston Announces Dallas Hillsong Closing After Pastors’ Misuse of Funds
In January, when Houston announced his sabbatical, Hillsong Church introduced Phil and Lucinda Dooley as their Interim Global Senior Pastors. The Dooley’s have been serving as Lead Pastors of Hillsong Africa for the past thirteen years.
Hillsong Church’s board only announced that Brian was resigning so it is still unclear what role Bobbie may still be involved in regarding Hillsong Church leadership. Both Brian and Bobbie are listed as Global Senior Pastors on the church’s website, and Bobbie frequently preaches on Sundays and at Hillsong Church conferences.
