Brian Houston has resigned from Hillsong Church, the congregation he founded nearly 40 years ago and led as world senior pastor.

The Australian congregation and global ministry boards announced they accepted his resignation in a letter released Wednesday.

Houston had been on leave from the church pending his court appearance for covering up for his late father’s abuse.

Last week, news broke that Hillsong had also investigated the pastor in two cases of inappropriate behavior. One involved text messages sent to a female staff member; the other happened when Houston walked into a woman’s hotel room drunk after a Hillsong conference three years ago.

The council letter stated:

Regardless of the circumstances, we can all agree that Brian and Bobbie have served God faithfully for many decades and their ministry has empowered millions around the world to be touched with power, grace and love of Jesus Christ.

Hillsong Church was born out of Brian and Bobbie’s obedience and commitment to God’s call and we are extremely grateful for all that Brian and Bobbie gave to build his home. We ask that you continue to pray for them, and for the entire Houston family, during this difficult time.

Last Sunday, Phil Dooley, Hillsong’s interim world leader, apologized to the congregation and pledged to make it a safe place for healing.

“Where trust and aspects of transparency have been lost, we will do our best to rebuild that,” he said.

The church plans to undergo an independent review of its governance structure and processes.

“Much remains to be done, and our church leadership continues to seek God for His wisdom as we set the course for the future,” the councils wrote. “We recognize that changes are needed.”

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Previous story (March 18, by Roxanne Stone and Bob Smietana – Religion News Service): The board of directors of Hillsong, the global megachurch and music empire co-founded by Australian pastor Brian Houston, released a statement Friday addressing of two Houston complaints, including an accusation that the married pastor spent time alone in a hotel room with a woman in 2019.

The statement, which came as the story broke in the Australian press, said Hillsong’s board had “dealt with two complaints made against Pastor Brian in the past 10 years”, and said each had been investigated by a council member or “a body”. appointed by the Global Board”, and treated confidentially.

The other complaint involved an accusation that Houston flirted with a staff member over text a decade ago.

Prior to the release of the statement, Hillsong reportedly held a video meeting with 800 Hillsong staff members around the world in which acting senior pastor Phil Dooley, who leads the church while Houston is on leave due to ongoing legal issues, discussed complaints for the first time with the church as a whole. Dooley explained the texts, according to ABC News in Australia, as being to the effect of “‘If I was with you I’d like to kiss and hug you’, words of that nature.”

The second incident, as reportedly detailed at the staff meeting, took place during its annual conference at Qudos Bank Arena in Homebush, New South Wales in 2019. According to ABC, Dooley said Houston had “drunk with a group.

“Later that evening, Pastor Brian attempted to enter her room but did not have her room key and ended up knocking on the door to the woman’s room,” Dooley reportedly said. “She opened the door and he walked into her room.”

“The truth is, we don’t know what happened next,” ABC Dooley reported, telling staff members. “The woman didn’t say there was any sexual activity. Brian said there was no sexual activity, but he was in the room for 40 minutes.

The Hillsong board statement said Houston, 67, became “disoriented” after taking more than the prescribed dose of an anti-anxiety prescription, mixed with alcohol. “This led to him knocking on the door of a hotel room that was not his own, entering that room and spending time with the occupant,” the statement read.

The council’s statement said Houston was also under the influence of sleeping pills at the time he sent the inappropriate texts, “which he had developed an addiction to.” The text messages ultimately led to the staffer resigning, according to the statement, which also says Houston apologized to the staffer.

“We also worked closely with Pastor Brian to ensure he received professional help to eliminate his addiction to this medication, and this was successfully achieved,” the statement read.

After the hotel room incident, the board said there was an investigation “by the Integrity Unit” and that “although not all parts of the complaint could be sustained , important elements of the complaint stood and the conduct was of serious concern.”

The council’s statement also said they had agreed to return the money the woman had donated to the church, “to provide a solution in the spirit of love and care”, and to ” comply with his request for confidentiality”. The statement said Houston returned the money to the church.

At the time, Houston agreed to step down from leadership for a period of time and “take specific actions,” but ultimately, according to the statement, he failed to take all agreed-upon actions, “which led to the board to take further action in late 2021.”

The statement did not say whether Houston would return to his position at the church.

The incidents are the latest controversy to engulf Hillsong, a Pentecostal powerhouse founded by Houston with his wife, Bobbie, in 1983. The church, which draws 150,000 people to services in 30 locations, has also produced some of the most popular worship songs popular songs used in evangelical churches around the world, including ‘Oceans’, ‘What a Beautiful Name’ and ‘Shout to the Lord’.

In January, Houston announced he was taking a leave of absence from pastoral duties in 2022, to prepare for his trial in Australia for failing to report sexual abuse.

“The result is that the Board of Hillsong Global believes it is in my interest and that of the church for this to happen, so I have agreed to step down from all ministry responsibilities until the end of the year,” Houston said in the Jan. 30 video. announcement.

Houston was charged in August 2021 with covering up another person’s serious criminal act. Police say her late father, Frank Houston, also a preacher, indecently assaulted a young man in 1970. Court documents allege Houston knew of her father’s abuse as early as 1999 and ‘without a reasonable excuse’, did not disclosed this information to the police.

His son has long denied covering up his father’s abuse.

“I think I’m a pretty tolerant person, but one thing I’ve really never had tolerance for is sexual abuse, and child abuse in particular,” Brian Houston said in a 2005 interview. with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “So I don’t think you could have kicked me in the gut with a bigger punch, in some ways.”

According to Australian news sources, Brian Houston’s trial will be held in late 2022.