Sydney (Australia), 23 Mar The founder of Hillsong Christian Church, Brian Houston, resigned from his position as senior pastor, after being accused of misconduct against two women and with a trial in tow for alleged cover-up of sexual abuse of minors perpetrated by his father, the organization reported Wednesday . “We would like to inform you that Pastor Brian Houston has resigned as global senior pastor of Hillsong Church and the board has accepted his resignation,” reads the statement from the board of directors of the Hillsong Church global directory posted on its website. Houston resigned after Hillsong's board of directors apologized “unreservedly” to the two women who were victims of these actions that contravene the church's code of conduct on March 18. According to the church's version published on its website, Houston sent him, when he was under the influence of sleeping pills, to which he was addicted, “an inappropriate text” in 2013 to a female worker, who resigned after these events that have not been detailed. The second “worrying” incident occurred in 2019 when the pastor, again under a mixture of alcohol with an overdose of anxiolytics, entered the hotel room of a woman who was not a member of the church and spent about forty minutes with her that night. Houston is also facing legal proceedings in Sydney this year for allegedly learning information related to the sexual abuse of a young man in the 1970s by his father and failing to bring it to the attention of the authorities, charges he denies. The alleged crime of Frank Houston, a former leader of the Assemblies of God in Australia and New Zealand, was one of the cases covered in the 2015 report of the Australian Government Commission that investigated the country's institutions' response to sexual abuse of minors. In addition, Frank Houston, a pastor who died in 2004 without being charged with these crimes, has been accused by victims and legal organizations of sexually abusing a total of 9 minors. The Hillsong Church, founded in 1983 in Australia and to which well-known figures such as Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez belong, has several headquarters in nearly thirty countries such as Spain, the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Mexico. wat/esj/pi
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