Should Brian Houston return to ministry?

The Hillsong founder is one of many Christian leaders who appear to have brushed off past scandals, and made a quick return to the pulpit. But when serious misconduct is unearthed, should church leaders be restored to ministry? Tim Wyatt investigates

Two years ago, Brian Houston was the global senior pastor of the Hillsong empire. He oversaw a megachurch network which boasted hundreds of sites in more than 25 countries. He was an in-demand international speaker. His wife Bobbie – who had co-founded their first church plant in a Sydney suburb in 1983 – and several of their children were deeply embedded in Hillsong ministries alongside him. And then it all fell apart. 

First, Houston was charged with failing to report historic child abuse carried out by his own father, also a pastor, when he became aware of the crimes in the 1990. Then it emerged complaints had been made against the pastor for sending inappropriate text messages to a younger member of staff, and for drunkenly spending a mysterious 40 minutes inside the hotel room of a woman while attending a Hillsong conference. Meanwhile, a string of highly critical documentaries on Hillsong were released, accusing the megachurch of exploiting unpaid volunteers working 12-hour shifts while its celebrity pastors lived the high life off church donations. Eventually, the pressure became too great and Houston was forced into quitting his role, accusing Hillsong of “losing its soul” as he went. 

After his resignation the hits kept coming, with an Australian MP last year lodging evidence in parliament about tax evasion and fraud at Hillsong and lavish spending of church funds by the Houstons on private jets, luxury holidays, and designer clothes. Although Houston was cleared last year in his Australian criminal trial of covering up his father’s abuse, many assumed the beleaguered pastor would hunker down to ride out the storm of scandal and criticism which now surrounded him. But Houston appears to have had no such plan.