Brian Houston, the founder of the Australia-based Hillsong megachurch and also one of its pastors, has resigned following the church’s revelations that he behaved inappropriately with two women.
“We would like to advise you that Pastor Brian Houston has resigned as Global Senior Pastor of Hillsong Church and the board has accepted his resignation,” said the church’s board in a statement on Tuesday.
In a separatestatement on Friday, the Hillsong global board detailed the two incidents that resulted in complaints against Houston. Multiple news outlets have reported that both incidents involved women.
“At the time, Pastor Brian was under the influence of sleeping tablets, upon which he had developed a dependence. He immediately apologized to the person,” the board wrote in its statement.
During a global staff meeting held hours before the statement’s release, the church’s acting head Phil Dooley described Houston’s text messages as essentially saying, “If I was with you, I’d like to kiss and cuddle you,” and other “words of that nature,” per ABC News.
The second incident took place in 2019 and involved Houston becoming “disoriented” due to consuming an excessive dose of anti-anxiety medication along with alcohol.
According to ABC News’ coverage of the staff meeting, Dooley said Houston had been “drinking with a group” on one of the nights of a Hillsong conference in New South Wales.
“This resulted in him knocking on the door of a hotel room that was not his, entering this room and spending time with the female occupant,” the board wrote in its statement, noting that Houston’s actions had breached the church’s code of conduct for pastors.
During a staff meeting on Wednesday, Dooley said the church would be launching an “independent review” of its structure.
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