Brian Houston facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Brian Houston
Born	(1954-02-17) 17 February 1954 (age 70) Auckland, New Zealand
Occupation	Pastor
Spouse(s)	Bobbie Houston
Children	3
Parent(s)	Frank Houston (father)

Brian Charles Houston (ⁱ/ˈhjuːstən/ HEW-stən; born 17 February 1954) is a New Zealand-Australian former pastor and evangelist. He was the founder and senior pastor at Hillsong Church, based in Sydney with locations around the world. He was the national president of Australian Christian Churches, the Australian branch of the Assemblies of God, from 1997 to 2009.

..... In March 2022, he stepped down as the global senior pastor of the church, after he was found to have breached the moral code of the church in his behaviour with two women. In 2023, he was found not guilty of concealing a serious indictable offence.

Life and career

Early life

Brian Charles Houston was born in Auckland, New Zealand, on 17 February 1954. 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, where Houston and his brother and three sisters spent their childhood. After completing school he went to a Bible college for three years. 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. 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. 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 about 200,000 regular attenders in affiliate churches and Houston was its inaugural president. He is also a member of the Australian Pentecostal Ministers Fellowship (APMF).

Houston founded Hillsong Music Australia (HMA), the music ministry of Hillsong Church. 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 Worship, which is the "worship expression" of Hillsong Church and incorporates their entire worship team. 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".

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

..... Houston was in the United States at the time of being charged and resigned from the church's board as a result of his arrest.

In March 2022, Houston resigned his position as senior global pastor after an internal investigation into his conduct with two women connected to the church. It was reported that in 2013 and 2019 he had engaged in inappropriate behaviour with both women.

Views on homosexuality

Houston has said, "I think my father was homosexual, a closet homosexual."

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.

Houston has been friends with Australian prime minister Scott Morrison, who described Houston as a mentor during his maiden address to parliament in 2008. Morrison has, however, distanced himself from Houston following the circumstances of Houston's resignation from Hillsong Church.

Writings

Details of books written by Houston: