At the time, he said he was leaving to focus on fighting a charge brought by police in Australia which alleged he concealed child sex offenses in a court case involving his father, the Associated Press reported. © 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc.In January, Houston announced he would be stepping aside from all ministry responsibilities but did not mention the misconduct complaints. Hillsong did not respond to The Post’s request for comment. The Crists’ decision to leave Hillsong was exclusively due to the fact that the global board refused to return their church’s “governances back the local level.” Then, this month, he once again made a show of stepping away from power following the revelation of multiple misconduct allegations. Houston, 68, had already announced his decision to “step aside completely” from leadership of the multinational church he and wife Bobbie founded in 1983 this January, citing his need to focus on an ongoing court case accusing Houston of hiding his late father’s child sexual abuse. “Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed” examined several allegations against Houston. While the Crists are “deeply saddened by recent revelations, and we feel great compassion for those who have been victimized by anyone in any position of leadership,” Terry noted in his email, their departure is “not because of the documentary that has been released this week, however horrible that may be - I haven’t seen it.” So with great sadness, I chose to leave,” he went on. “I was told this past week it is ‘all or nothing’ - we either had to allow the global board to govern our church and to own our properties or we had to leave. “In the course of the global restructuring our governance was reassigned along with our corporation, along with our church,” said Crist, going on to detail how the restructuring removed not only his decision-making power over his congregation but also accountability for the church. However, problems began for the Phoenix branch in 2017, when a “global restructuring” left the Crists with “concerns,” Terry said in an emotional sermon published to Hillsong Phoenix’s YouTube channel this Sunday. The Crists - both fifth generation pastors - started their congregation “in our living room 22 years ago” before becoming a Hillsong Network Church and then “Hillsong Family,” more formally merging them with the Australian-born Pentecostal institution. Would you pray for our community today? 1/2- Terry Crist March 27, 2022 It was a difficult and heartbreaking moment and many are processing the pain. With a heavy heart I announced our decision to withdraw our church from the Hillsong Church global family this morning. “We are grateful for the decade we spent as a part of the Hillsong Family and as a Hillsong Church, and we pray for the global family,” the married pastors wrote. “After much prayer and pastoral counsel, we have decided to withdraw from Hillsong Church,” Terry, 57, and Judith Crist, 60, the now former lead pastors of Hillsong’s Phoenix, Arizona, branch wrote congregants in an internal Friday email that has been viewed by The Post. Yet another set of Hillsong megachurch pastors stepped down this weekend, following the resignation of church founder and former leader Brian Houston last week, as well as the release of Discovery+’s three-part docuseries on the church, produced in association with The Post. These shepherds are running to greener pastures. Disgraced celebrity pastor cheated with family nanny Hillsong Church doc details scandalĮx-Hillsong pastor Carl Lentz on ‘sobriety’ and ‘humiliation’ after cheating scandalĮx-Hillsong pastor Carl Lentz’s new megachurch accused of ‘inappropriate’ Easter serviceĭisgraced Hillsong pastor Carl Lentz hired by new church: ‘We believe in Carl’
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