Hillsong co-founder Brian Houston slams megachurch after it made wife redundant via text

Hillsong co-founder Brian Houston has lashed out at the megachurch after his wife was made redundant via text.  

Mr Houston took to Instagram on Friday to share a screenshot of the message a staff member of the organisation sent to his wife and co-founder Bobbie.

‘I wanted to let you know I will be sending an email shortly regarding your employment,’ the text read. 

‘Please let me know if you would like to talk about it or if you have other questions.’  

Ms Houston responded: ‘I don’t even have the words to express how cold and callous this has become…’ 

The dismissal marks the latest attempt by the organisation to cut ties with the couple after Mr Houston resigned in March over allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards two women.  

The pair founded the megachurch in 1983 and the organisation has rapidly grown to include more than 300 churches in 25 countries and 150,000 weekly attendees.   

Mr Houston condemned Hillsong for making his wife redundant and said it was a sign the couple’s ‘beautiful church’ was ‘losing its soul’.

‘After 39 years of exemplary service and extraordinary faithfulness and fruitfulness, this is the communication Bobbie received from the Hillsong Church board as she is made redundant (effective immediately) through no choice of her own,’ he wrote.

‘This just 3 weeks after she hosted her 26th year of Colour Conferences. (A total of 118 conferences around the world.) 

‘She has relentlessly served God and served people as she stood side by side with me for four decades leading Hillsong Church, faithful in the good times and the tough times alike. And we are supposed to act like this is all ok. It’s not!’ 

Daily Mail Australia contacted Hillsong for comment. 

An internal investigation found Mr Houston breached the church’s moral code of conduct for pastors.

‘We would like to advise you that Pastor Brian Houston has resigned as Global Senior Pastor of Hillsong and the board has accepted his resignation,’ the church said on March 23.

‘Irrespective of the circumstances around this, we can all agree that Brian and Bobbie have served God faithfully over many decades.’ 

A previous statement from the Hillsong board said the two complaints made against Mr Houston were treated ‘extremely seriously’.

‘The first issue was approximately a decade ago and involved inappropriate text messages from Pastor Brian to a member of staff, which subsequently resulted in the staff member resigning,’ the board said.

Mr Houston was ‘under the influence of sleeping tablets, upon which he had developed a dependence’ when he sent the texts, the board said.

The second incident was when Mr Houston knocked on the Sydney hotel door of a female guest following the 2019 Hillsong Conference and spent 40 minutes in her room.

‘An in-depth investigation found that Pastor Brian became disoriented… following the consumption of anti-anxiety medication beyond the prescribed dose, mixed with alcohol,’ it said.

The exact nature of the woman’s complaint has not been publicly revealed and Mr Houston has denied any sexual activity took place.

Hillsong added it had also committed to a review of its governance and structure as a result of the investigation.

Mr Houston in a grovelling apology described his wife Bobbie as ‘Christ-like’ and told church members he was ‘deeply sorry’ in a leaked email. 

The organisation, which started as a modest Sydney church, grew rapidly over two decades to become a global powerhouse.

Nine congregations have cut ties with Hillsong since the complaints against Mr Houston became public.