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Brian Houston (pastor)

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Brian Houston
Pastor Brian Houston 2008.jpg
Born (1954-02-17) 17 February 1954 (age 67)
Auckland, New Zealand
OccupationPastor
Spouse(s)Bobbie Houston
Children3
Parent(s)
Websitebrianchouston.com

Brian Houston (/ˈhjuːstən/ (About this soundlisten) HEW-stən; born 17 February 1954) is an Australian pastor and evangelist. He is the founder and senior pastor at Hillsong Church, based in Sydney with locations around the world. He was the National President of the Australian Christian Churches, the Australian branch of the Assemblies of God, from 1997 to 2009.[1]

Life and career

Early life

Houston was born in Auckland, New Zealand, on 17 February 1954.[2] His parents, Frank and Hazel, were then Salvation Army officers. When Houston was three his parents joined the Assemblies of God in New Zealand and began pastoring a church in Lower Hutt, near Wellington,[3]:62 where Houston and his brother and three sisters spent their childhood. After completing school he went to a Bible college for three years.[3]:66 Shortly after completing college he met his future wife, Bobbie, on Papamoa Beach in New Zealand during a Christian convention. They were married in 1977.

Ministry

After moving to Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, in 1978, Houston served at the Sydney Christian Life Centre in Darlinghurst, where he became the assistant pastor to his father, Frank.[4] In 1980 he started a church on the Central Coast and worked at a church in Liverpool in 1981. In 1983, Houston hired the Baulkham Hills Public School hall in Sydney's north-western suburbs to start a new church, the Hills Christian Life Centre.[5][6] The first service was held on Sunday, 14 August 1983.

In May 1997, Houston was elected the president of the Assemblies of God in Australia (now called Australian Christian Churches) after the retirement of Andrew Evans. In February 2000, Houston helped to create the Australian Christian Churches network of Pentecostal churches. This alliance represented over 200,000 members in affiliate churches[7] and Houston was its inaugural president.[8] He is also a member of the Australian Pentecostal Ministers Fellowship (APMF).[9] At the 2009 National Conference of Australian Christian Churches, Wayne Alcorn was elected to replace Houston.

On 10 May 1999, Frank Houston stepped down from the role of senior pastor at Sydney Christian Life Centre and Brian Houston was appointed to the position.[10] Brian Houston said that Frank "appeared rushed" to hand his church to him. This was before the revelations of Frank's child sexual abuse became known.[11] Fifteen years later, in 2014, Brian Houston spoke at hearings held by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, stating that he received an allegation in October 1999 that his father sexually abused an Australian under-age male. Brian Houston's statement and the evidence submitted to the Royal Commission revealed that in November 1999, his father confessed of committing child sexual abuse.[10] The Royal Commission censured Brian Houston for his failure to report the sexual abuse allegations against his father and for his failure to avoid a clear conflict of interest investigating his own father while serving as National President of the Assemblies of God in Australia.[12] On 5 August 2021, NSW Police issued a warrant for Houston to attend the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney on 5 October, alleging that he concealed child sexual abuse by his late father, Frank. Houston was in the United States at the time of being charged.[13]

In September 2018, Hillsong left the Australian Christian Churches to become an autonomous denomination, identifying itself more as a global and charismatic church.[14] According to both Hillsong and ACC, the parting was amicable.[15]

Houston is an executive producer for Hillsong Music Australia (HMA), the music ministry of Hillsong Church.[16] Over a number of years, this music ministry has been successful with chart topping albums from Hillsong United (born out of the youth ministry), and Hillsong Live, which is the "worship expression" of Hillsong Church and incorporates their entire worship team.[clarification needed] Annually, Hillsong records a live album, and songs from this recording are sung by church congregations all over the world. Hillsong songs include "Mighty to Save" and "Shout to the Lord"; with the latter featured on a 2008 special episode of American Idol called "Idol Gives Back".[17]

Houston has made public comments on homosexuality[18][19][20][21][22] and same-sex marriage:[23]

"I do believe God’s word is clear that marriage is between a man and a woman.... Hillsong Church welcomes ALL people but does not affirm all lifestyles. Put clearly, we do not affirm a gay lifestyle and because of this we do not knowingly have actively gay people in positions of leadership, either paid or unpaid."

— Do I Love Gay People?, Brian Houston, August 2015.

Despite this statement, a few months later it was reported that Houston conceded "..I think my father was homosexual, a closet homosexual."[24]

Family and personal life

Houston and his wife Bobbie reside in the suburb of Glenhaven, Sydney, Australia. They have three children, Joel, Ben and Laura. All are married and involved in the leadership of Hillsong Church.[25][26][27]

Houston is friends with Australian prime minister Scott Morrison, who has described Houston as a mentor.[28]

Writings

Details of books written by Houston:

Title Year ISBN Notes
Get A Life 1996 ISBN 978-0957733619 No longer in print
You Can Change The Future 1999 ISBN 978-0957733626 No longer in print
You Need More Money 1999 ISBN 978-0957733602 No longer in print
How To Build Great Relationships 2002 ISBN 978-0957733671
How To Live A Blessed Life 2002 ISBN 978-0957733633
How To Flourish In Life 2003 ISBN 978-0957733688
How To Make Wise Decisions 2004 ISBN 978-0957733602
How To Live In Health & Wholeness 2005 ISBN 978-0975206003
Selah 2006 ISBN 978-0975206027
For This Cause 2006 ISBN 978-0957733657
Selah 2 2007 ISBN 978-0975206034
For This I Was Born 2008 ISBN 978-0849919138
Live Love Lead 2015 ISBN 978-1455533428
There Is More 2018 ISBN 978-0735290617

References

  1. ^ "Brian Houston Title & Occupation". Archived from the original on 12 October 2011. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
  2. ^ Detzler, Wayne (11 February 2013). Emerging Awakening - A Faith Quake: Revival Is Rising in the Emerging Church Paperback. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock. ISBN 978-1610979870.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Hey, Sam (9 August 2013). Megachurches: Origins, Ministry, and Prospects. Australia: Wipf and Stock. ISBN 978-1625643223.
  4. ^ Oslington, Paul (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Christianity and Economics. USA: Oxford University Press. p. 266. ISBN 9780199729715.
  5. ^ Anderson, Allan (2013). An Introduction to Pentecostalism: Global Charismatic Christianity. UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 155.
  6. ^ Bailey, Sarah Pulliam (5 November 2013). "Australia's Hillsong Church Has Astonishingly Powerful Global Influence". Huffington Post. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  7. ^ Croucher, Rowland (6 January 2003). "Australian Christian Churches". John Mark Ministries. Retrieved 24 January 2017.[unreliable source?]
  8. ^ Brooks, Adrian; Gallagher, Paul (11 April 2000). "Spreading God's Fire in Australia". Charisma Magazine. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  9. ^ AUSTRALIAN PENTECOSTAL MINISTERS FELLOWSHIP (January 2001). "INQUIRY INTO THE DEFINITION OF CHARITIES AND RELATED ORGANISATIONS". Archived from the original on 18 June 2005. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b Houston, Brian (28 September 2014). "Statement in the matter of Case Study 18 - Statement of Brian Charles Houston" (PDF). Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. p. 4. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  11. ^ Houston, Brian (9 October 2014). "Transcript (Day 88)" (PDF). Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. pp. 55–5 6. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  12. ^ Browne, Rachel (23 November 2015). "Royal Commission sex abuse inquiry censures Hillsong head Brian Houston". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  13. ^ Hunter, Fergus; Smith, Alexandra; Chung, Laura (5 August 2021). "Hillsong pastor Brian Houston charged for allegedly concealing child sexual abuse by his father". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  14. ^ Blair, Leonardo (19 September 2018). "Hillsong Church Becomes Own Denomination, Splits From Australia's Largest Pentecostal Group". christianpost.com. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  15. ^ "Hillsong splits from denomination: 'we have no grief or dispute at all'". Premier. 19 September 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  16. ^ "Executive Producer credits: Brian Houston". All Music.
  17. ^ Shout to the Lord on American Idol on YouTube
  18. ^ Houston, Brian (4 August 2015). "Do I Love Gay People?". Hillsong Church. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  19. ^ Kuruvilla, Carol (20 October 2014). "Hillsong Church's Brian Houston Clarifies Position On Same-Sex Marriage". Huffington Post. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  20. ^ Honderich, Holly (13 August 2019). "Hillsong: A church with rock concerts and 2m followers". BBC News. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  21. ^ Houston, Brian (12 March 2014). "Mega-Robbery at America's Biggest Mega-Church | Hillsong Pastor on Homosexuality: 'I Can't Unwrite the Bible'". Nightline (Interview). Interviewed by Byron Pitts. United States: ABC News. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  22. ^ "Hillsong pastor Brian Houston denies gay marriage support". Courier-Mail. APN Newsdesk. 20 October 2014. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  23. ^ Paulson, Michael (17 October 2014). "Megachurch Pastor Signals Shift in Tone on Gay Marriage". New York Times. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  24. ^ Snow, Deborah (13 November 2015). "Inside the Hillsong Church's money-making machine". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  25. ^ "Joel Houston Lead Pastor NYC". Hillsong International. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  26. ^ "Ben Houston Lead Pastor LA". Hillsong International. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  27. ^ "Laura Toggs Youth Pastor". Hillsong International. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  28. ^ Kelly, Cait (1 October 2019). "The shocking story of the pastor Scott Morrison considers a major influence". The New Daily. Retrieved 5 August 2021.

External links

Assemblies of God titles
Preceded by
Andrew Evans 		National President of Australian Christian Churches
1997–2009 		Succeeded by
Religious titles
Preceded by
Frank Houston 		Senior Pastor, Hillsong Church
1999–present
Served alongside: Bobbie Houston 		Incumbent


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