Hillsong: Fall of the Megachurch

There is no more well-known name in the evangelical Christian church than Hillsong. On any given Sunday, at any church of any size in any city in the world you are more likely than not to hear at least 1 song by Hillsong.

Hillsong began as the in-house band of Hills Christian Life Center in Australia, started by pastor Frank Houston in 1983. The small, Pentecostal church quickly grew into a megachurch and by 2010 became one of the most popular music production powerhouses in the world.

As Hillsong churches and schools sprouted up all over the world, there was a dark underside not known by many. Throughout the 1990's the church quietly covered up allegations of child sexual abuse from 13 young boys against its founder Frank Houston from 1965-1977.

In 1999 a victim of Frank Houson's - Brett Sengstock - threatened to go public. Frank then gave his church to his son Brian Houston. Brian begged members of the Assembly of God denomination to keep the allegations as a church matter and not report it to the police.

Frank soon resigned and later died in 2004 without ever facing any formal charges. However, his son Brian had to face the music in his stead a decade later. In 2015 the New South Wales government opened a Royal Commission investigating child sex abuse in major institutions.

The Royal Commission found that Brian Houston had withheld information about his father's crimes from police. In August of 2021, Australian police charged Brian Houston for concealing his father’s child sex abuse. He pled not guilty saying he did not know he had to go to report.

As Hillsong's Global Senior Pastor was facing court, one of its most notorious local Pastors - Carl Lentz was also under fire. Lentz led the NYC branch, including celebrities like Justin Bieber. In the fall of 2020, it was revealed that Lentz was having an extramarital affair.

The married pastor and father of 3 was abruptly fired from Hillsong Church, but the 5-month affair was only the tip of the iceberg. Numerous allegations later came in of Lentz being flirtatious and inappropriate with many women and even sending nude photos to female volunteers.

As the church began unraveling, additional info came out about staff and volunteers being forced to sign non-disclosure agreements, but many of them broke those to expose the church's financial malfeasance including tax fraud and forced work from professional staff without pay.

Between 2020 and 2023 Hillsong church went from 16 locations in the US to 6 and revenue and attendance has reduced significantly. Brian Houston will be sentenced in June of 2023.

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