Are you curious about the true fate of the Hillsong controversy? We examine Hillsong Church’s ascent and decline in the wake of several documentaries.
Private aircraft, Designer attire, Cartier wristwatches, Louis Vuitton purses, vacations at five-star resorts, and accommodations in opulent hotels. Journeys abroad and worldwide dominance are all associated with the Hillsong song.
Besides all the extravagance and flashing of the cameras, there were whispers of mistreatment, adultery, and deception.
Hillsong is Accused of Discrimination and Money Laundering
Secrets talks about many things the church might have done wrong, like treating LGBTQ+ and different race people unfairly. People thought that because the church seemed ‘modern,’ it might have good and new ideas about politics.
“Yes, it’s under the radar. Welcome, come one, come all, but Hillsong Church is outside of this. Here, we hold conventional beliefs, according to Lentz.
Josh Canfield, a former Hillsong choir director and Survivor competitor, lost his job at the church after disclosing his connection to his partner in public.
Extremely conservative white guys are the core of Hillsong Global. Canfield states in the series, “Come as you are, and then we’ll change you, no matter how cool or hip you think they are.”
Hillsong Was Accused of Racial Discrimination
Former Hillsong members charged the church with discriminating against people of color in December 2020. Noemi Uribe, a Mexican-American ex-member, told Business Insider that during a meeting, Donnie Mainellis, a different Boston pastor, referred to her Spanish-speaking worship group as “the Rosetta Stone group.”
Other volunteers of color claimed that Josh Kimes, a Boston pastor, only ever used black female stage managers to bring him water while he was onstage and that he rarely asked them to group events.
Brian Houston’s Influence and Downfall
Inspired by his now-deceased father, Frank Houston, a former preacher who created Sydney Christian Life Centre, which would later merge into the founding of Hillsong, Brian Houston founded Hillsong in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia, in 1983.
Frank Houston would eventually come under fire for allegedly abusing youngsters sexually. Frank Houston told Brian Houston about one incident of abuse in 1999.
Before passing away in 2004, he eventually acknowledged it in court while maintaining that he had no memory of the others.
Why Was Hillsong So Popular?
Hillsong was established in Australia in 1983 by Brian Houston and his wife, Bobbie. The organization’s first location in the United States debuted in New York in 2010.
Prior to becoming its denomination in 2018, the church belonged to the Assemblies of God, the Pentecostal organization’s Australian branch.
Hillsong’s tremendous success in delivering praise music served as the foundation for its development in the US.
Young people in large cities were drawn to its services, which took place at music halls like New York’s Irving Plaza and the Hammerstein Ballroom. Celebrities including Vanessa Hudgens, Kevin Durant, and Justin Bieber were among the stylish attendees.
Where Does Hillsong Stand Now?
Since then, Phil Dooley, another Australian preacher, has taken Houston’s place as Hillsong Global Senior preacher. At one point, Hillsong had more than 150,000 members and locations across 30 countries.
The documentary claims that as of March 2023, 10 of the sixteen U.S. locations—including branches in Phoenix and Dallas—had shuttered. Known for having welcomed thousands of ’
The husband of former pastor Josh Kimes, former Hillsong Boston pastor Leona Kimes, wrote an essay titled “Writing My Voice Back” on Medium.
She talked about her move from Australia to the United States to help start Hillsong NYC in the piece. The top pastors of the church, including Lentz, employed her as a nanny.
How Did it Become So Controversial?
For “leadership issues and breaches of trust, plus a recent revelation of moral failures,” Lentz was sacked in November 2020. Possibly the most well-known American pastor from Hillsong, Lentz, has admitted to having an affair with Leona Kimes, the family’s former nanny.
Nevertheless, he has refuted Kimes’ claims of being sexually abused as a child and maintained that he was molested as a youngster.
The FX program also reports on the purportedly exploitative treatment of volunteers and contains claims of racial prejudice within the church from multiple Black women.
