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Hillsong megachurch founder Brian Houston resigns

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Agence France-Presse

<p><br/>SYDNEY, Australia - Global megachurch Hillsong announced Wednesday that its co-founder Brian Houston had resigned as Global Senior Pastor after complaints of impropriety were made against him by two women.</p><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CYdWnUWP5fw/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style="background:#FFF;border:0;border-radius:3px;box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);margin:1px;max-width:540px;min-width:326px;padding:0;width:calc(100% - 2px)"><div style="padding:16px"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;align-items:center"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;flex-grow:0;height:40px;margin-right:14px;width:40px"> </div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;flex-grow:1;justify-content:center"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;margin-bottom:6px;width:100px"> </div><div 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style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;height:12.5px;width:12.5px;transform:translateX(0px) translateY(7px)"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;height:12.5px;transform:rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px);width:12.5px;flex-grow:0;margin-right:14px;margin-left:2px"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;height:12.5px;width:12.5px;transform:translateX(9px) translateY(-18px)"> </div></div><div style="margin-left:8px"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;flex-grow:0;height:20px;width:20px"> </div><div style="width:0;height:0;border-top:2px solid transparent;border-left:6px solid #f4f4f4;border-bottom:2px solid transparent;transform:translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"> </div></div><div style="margin-left:auto"><div style="width:0px;border-top:8px solid #F4F4F4;border-right:8px solid transparent;transform:translateY(16px)"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;flex-grow:0;height:12px;width:16px;transform:translateY(-4px)"> </div><div style="width:0;height:0;border-top:8px solid #F4F4F4;border-left:8px solid transparent;transform:translateY(-4px) translateX(8px)"> </div></div></div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;flex-grow:1;justify-content:center;margin-bottom:24px"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;margin-bottom:6px;width:224px"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;width:144px"> </div></div><div style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:8px;overflow:hidden;padding:8px 0 7px;text-align:center;text-overflow:ellipsis;white-space:nowrap"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CYdWnUWP5fw/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:17px;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">A post shared by Brian Houston (@brianchouston)</a></div></div></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://www.instagram.com/embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/01/30/22/hillsong-founder-brian-houston-steps-down-ahead-of-trial">Hillsong founder Brian Houston steps down as leader of church ahead of trial</a></li></ul><p>The first complaint arose from &quot;inappropriate text messages&quot; that Houston sent to a woman who worked in the church, which led to her resignation, the church&#x27;s board said in a statement.</p><p>Church leadership said that at the time Houston &quot;was under the influence of sleeping tablets, upon which he had developed a dependence&quot;.</p><p>The second incident occurred during the megachurch&#x27;s annual conference in 2019, when a &quot;disorientated&quot; Houston entered a woman&#x27;s hotel room while under the influence &quot;of anti-anxiety medication beyond the prescribed dose, mixed with alcohol&quot;.</p><p>The church&#x27;s board said Wednesday that &quot;irrespective of the circumstances around&quot; Houston&#x27;s resignation, both he and his wife -- Hillsong&#x27;s co-founder Bobbie Houston -- &quot;have served God faithfully over many decades&quot;.</p><p>Founded by Brian and Bobbie in Sydney in the 1980s, Hillsong has grown from its Australian roots into a global megachurch, which claims an average weekly attendance of 150,000 people.</p><p>The church is known for its rock concert-style services that feature pop music and high-profile special guests, including Justin Bieber and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/06/29/15/justin-bieber-heads-down-under-hillsong-church-worship">Justin Bieber heads Down Under for Hillsong Church worship</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/11/06/20/carl-lentz-pastor-to-celebrities-is-fired-from-hillsong-church">Carl Lentz, pastor to celebrities, is fired from Hillsong Church</a></li></ul><p>Houston&#x27;s resignation from Hillsong comes as he readies to face trial over the charge that he covered up his father&#x27;s alleged child sexual abuse.</p><p>Houston was charged last year with concealing information from police about child abuse by his father, Frank, who was also a pastor and died in 2004.</p><p>Frank Houston had been accused of sexually abusing a young boy while a preacher in the 1970s.</p><p>A royal commission in 2015 found the younger Houston was told about the allegations in 1999 but failed to report them to authorities, which sparked a police investigation into him.</p><p>Houston has pleaded not guilty and said it is his &quot;intention to vigorously defend&quot; himself against the charges.</p><p>The trial is set to begin later this year.</p><p>mmc/arb/lb</p><p>© Agence France-Presse</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tSAeOM4JxVk?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

Brian Houston has resigned as Global Senior Pastor of megachurch Hillsong after complaints of impropriety were made against him by two women.