Brian Houston (pastor) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Brian Houston
Born	(1954-02-17) 17 February 1954 (age 69) Auckland, New Zealand
Occupation	Pastor
Spouse(s)	Bobbie Houston
Children	3
Parent(s)	Frank Houston (father)

Brian Houston ( HEW-stən; born 17 February 1954) is an Australian pastor and evangelist. He is the founder and senior pastor at Hillsong Church, based in Sydney with locations around the world. He was the National President of the Australian Christian Churches, the Australian branch of the Assemblies of God, from 1997 to 2009.

Life and career

Early life

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. Here 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 Houston. 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 Andrew Evans' retirement. He helped to create the Australian Christian Churches network of Pentecostal churches in February 2000. This alliance represents over 200,000 members in affiliate churches and he was its inaugural president. He is also a member of the Australian Pentecostal Ministers Fellowship (APMF). At the 2009 National Conference of Australian Christian Churches, Wayne Alcorn was voted in to replace Houston after he chose not to run again for the position.

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.

He is an executive producer for Hillsong Music Australia (HMA), which is the music ministry of Hillsong Church. This music ministry has been very successful over the years with chart topping albums from Hillsong United (born out of the youth ministry), and Hillsong Live, which is the "worship expression" of Hillsong Church and incorporates their entire worship team. Each year Hillsong records their annual live album, and the songs from this live recording are then sung by church congregations all over the world. Some of the most popular songs sung today in churches are Hillsong songs, including "Mighty to Save" and "Shout to the Lord" (which was featured on a special episode of American Idol called "Idol Gives Back" in 2008.

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.

Writings

Details of books written by Houston: