Special report “WE’RE NOT A CULT”

Bobbie Houston T’S A BRIGHT Sunday morning spearheaded by Joel Houston, the pop found God at 15, in Baulkham Hills and already idol eldest son of founders Brian, 62, the traffic is backed up on the and Bobbie, 59, who now records and married her first Solent Circuit. Smiling teens in co-pastors in the US, and the rousing boyfriend Brian at 20 high-visibility orange vests and rhetoric of Pastor Brian. Whatever Iback-to-front baseball caps embroidered they come for, it’s working. and together they with Y & F – Young and Free – have There’s a dress code among the planted Hillsong, been directing cars for hours. They are church youths, teens and 20-somethings: BY BIANCA LANE. BOBBIE WEARS BY BIANCA LANE. BOBBIE WEARS Australia’s fastest all heading the same way; to the Hills skinny black jeans, often ripped at the Campus to take part in uproarious knees, sequinned or sloganned T-shirts, growing and most worship at one of the four capacity waves of flowing boho tresses for the controversial church. services at the Hillsong convention girls and boy-band gelled quiffs for centre and chapel. the lads. In an exclusive Every Sunday, more than 10,000 The mix of parishioners is notably interview, she talks to parishioners descend on this hallowed multicultural, taking in Chinese, Pacific quadrant in the Business Park in Islander, Vietnamese, Indian, African Juliet Rieden about Sydney’s north-west, some by car, as well as white Australian. As they

AND WITCHERY CAMI TOP. THESE IMAGES HAVE BEEN RETOUCHED. her mission to some in the church’s private buses, gather together in the sunshine empower women, the and significantly more will be tuning drinking coffee and eating muffins in via Hillsong TV from all over the from the cafe culture stalls, there’s an day she discovered country and the world. Seventy-five overwhelming sense of community. Bobbie Houston has her per cent of the church’s followers People hug, chat about their families, own personal crusade – her father-in-law was to empower women are under 35 and 91 per cent under wave to one another in the throng. through the Hillsong a paedophile and 50. They come perhaps for the Around the corner, children flock to Sisterhood program. bringing Justin Bieber razzamatazz that has made Hillsong the Hillsong Kids’ Club. It’s manned Australia’s fastest-growing church, the by youth leaders in turquoise T-shirts. into the flock. > PHOTOGRAPHY BY NICK SCOTT. HAIR AND MAKE-UP SAM POWELL. STYLIN G BIANCA SPENDER JACKET AND PANTS , chart-topping, award-winning music The excited youngsters huddle in an

MARCH 2016 AWW.COM.AU 51 Brian, the musician and preacher. His philosophy – people should come into church and leave more encouraged Brian and Bobbie Houston run a massive global business than when they came and their followers are urged to excel financially, too. – has struck a chord Left: Bobbie relaxes by the pool at the Houstons’ calm with parishioners. and comfortable home in Baulkham Hills, Sydney. enthralled circle around a guest visitor the prayer lists, specific messages from and for a young person on a Friday or it was high time for Bobbie and Brian to her church. I actually was hungry. I showmanship, the shininess, the expert from the Reptile Park who has Spike the people eager to get a special hotline Saturday night, it’s better than going to create their sanctuary. was searching for something more,” she marketing. Brian, especially, has a Iguana and a huge python to keep them to God and then a call for tithes and clubbing. And on a Sunday, it’s a great The couple is a living, breathing recalls. “My father had died five or six finely tuned business brain (he was a amused while their parents worship. offerings as buckets are passed along way to start the day.” example of what they preach: teenage months prior quite suddenly and I felt Schweppes sales rep in New Zealand) At 11am, the crowds move inside in each row. On the screen, there are But is it a cult? sweethearts who met as hungry young like my world caved in. Now I can see and his zeal for branding can feel waves, eager to nab the best seats. It’s a details outlining the ways you can ✽✽✽✽✽ Christians, waited until marriage to that God was awakening my desire, my distinctly ungodly. Also criticised is the vast arena with stacked rows of seating give – via the envelope on your chair, THE HOUSTON FAMILY home sits at consummate their love and have grown reality, my awareness that he was there.” perceived materialism of his church. This around an apron stage. Immediately in online, via the Hillsong app, BPAY. the end of a leafy cul-de-sac in the heart together as pastors and parents following Bobbie talks about being saved at isn’t a world where poverty is noble; front of the podium, overexcited teens A Youth Leader bounces onto the of Baulkham Hills. Houses are big in this the word of God. They are, Bobbie says, that moment, about experiencing her rather Brian and Bobbie encourage their fresh from summer youth camps swap stage and introduces young student part of the world and theirs is certainly still very much in love and on many own personal revelation, when she flock to earn money and be successful. complex handshakes and whoop and Jasmine, who retells her revelation of not the fanciest in the street. It is very levels their brand of worship is not just knew for sure that God was real, that “There’s nothing inherently noble about holler. Bobbie Houston, her daughter speaking in tongues at last week’s youth comfortable with a handsome swimming working for them, it’s a global success He loved her and was “on her side”. being impoverished. God wants us to be Laura, Bobbie’s young perky PA Nikki camp, to loud applause. Next is an pool out the back, decked verandas story, saving souls in record numbers. “It is a faith step,” she says. “I think resourced so we can help the poor and (an American who came to study at advertisement for the Bible college next and a rather slick “shades of white” It all sounds too good to be true and the human mind cannot figure God make a difference,” pleads Bobbie. Hillsong’s Bible college seven years ago door, where would-be pastors learn their renovation care of an interior designer. certainly the Houston path to the top because He’s so much grander and Resourcing is key in the Hillsong and stayed) and other senior members craft. And finally the leader of Hillsong, Inside, it’s an orchestrated bubble of hasn’t been without its pressures and greater than that. In faith, you open machine. There’s a jangling ker-ching of the ministry fill impresario Brian beauty and spiritual calm. By the door, its detractors. They met back home in your heart to the fact that He exists from the tills in the merchandise shop, up the premium “God wants us to Houston, dressed on a trendy perspex lectern, a vast New Zealand, where both were raised. and you invite him to come and be post-service; here, you can buy T-shirts, seats to the right down in jeans and quasi world encyclopaedia sits open Brian was a youth pastor following in a part of your life. It’s a personal caps, DVDs, CDs of music, books and, of the stage. And be rescourced so a loose white shirt, at pictures of children in Africa. “I the footsteps of his father, Frank, who encounter. It’s a personal revelation.” of course, Bibles. Those that Bobbie then the lights dim that we can help moves to the front. love it; it was a gift from conference had birthed his own Pentecostal church. It is guiding others to this encounter markets for her Sisterhood program – and the music starts. His rasping voice [Hillsong’s annual conference],” says Bobbie was a shorthand typist who had that Hillsong is all about. Bobbie and her own brand of religious feminism The stage comes the poor.” echoes around the Bobbie. On the wall, a framed photo found God at the age of 15. Brian talk about personal journeys, – are bound in soft cream leather and alive with a flashing centre. He talks of Mother Teresa with a handwritten “It was at a church in Auckland, about feeling God’s grace and building feature beatific photos of women. light show. Images of the heavens, of about the sanctity of marriage, about note underneath – “God is love. He called First Assemblies of God,” she boundaries to live by, which include In 2014, 19 per cent of the church’s water, of palm trees flash across the spiritual solutions to human problems. loves you. Love others as He loves you.” says. “There was this Jesus thing no sex before marriage, not being revenue – that’s close to $18 million central screen, which is surrounded His parishioners are rapt. They are – is another personal treasure. happening throughout New Zealand seduced by “the gay lifestyle” and – came from merchandise, including by stars and circles of beaming neon rapt for more than an hour. The home hasn’t always been this and I think all the pieces started to all-round sober living. To non-believers, music, while 58 per cent ($54.7 million) tubing. Meanwhile, the 14-strong band It’s easy to take aim at this happy, chic, Bobbie is quick to explain. She come together.” Bobbie was christened it can sound forced, fake and a little came from donations. Most of these pumps out classics from Hillsong’s shiny group of Christians gorging on and Brian bought it in 1995, a an Anglican, but her parents were like brainwashing, but the Hillsong donations are “tithes and offerings”. repertoire. “Holy, Holy, Holy is your their Sunday fix of clappy worship, ramshackle house in which they planned not churchgoers and throughout her world is all about taking that leap In the olden days, tithes were a 10 per name,” they sing as the crowd wave but one thing is clear, they all love to raise their family while they “planted” childhood she recalls a vague belief of faith and then running with it at cent tax levied by churches and while their arms and sway to the beat. this place and they’re all having fun. Hillsong. Their three children are now in God, but nothing more fevered. an exhilarating speed. critics have claimed that Hillsong still With parishioners drunk on the “There’s excitement, you’re involved,” married with babies of their own – “Then I had a conversation in biology Traditional churches criticise the demands such payment from its staff > music, the service kicks off. First are says one parishioner. “There’s praise and all working for the church – so THIS PAGE: PHOTOGRAPHY BY NICK SCOTT. BOBBIE WEARS WITCHERY MAXI DRESS. with my girlfriend and she invited me brashness of the Hillsong dynamic, the and supporters, Bobbie says it’s simply

52 AWW.COM.AU MARCH 2016 MARCH 2016 AWW.COM.AU 53 From childhood sweethearts to wholesome wedded bliss ... Bobbie says she was drawn to Brian’s “magnetic” presence. Their children, Joel, Benjamin and Laura, work for the church.

not true. “No one is forced to give. We there was no other career path,” she Prime Minister John Howard and, have no idea whether people give or says. And very soon serving God lately, Justin Bieber. “He was nearly not. But like every church in the world, became the Houston family business. dead a couple of years ago, he was at we accept offerings.” Those parishioners They arrived in Sydney in 1977 to his wits’ end and if it wasn’t for our The Weekly spoke to backed this up, help Brian’s father, Frank, establish New York pastor, he’d be dead,” says saying donations were optional. his church. They set up the Sydney Bobbie, who welcomed Bieber into one Hillsong is now “planted” in 14 Christian Life Centre in Double Bay, of their Sydney conferences last year. countries and its services broadcast in with both Bobbie and Brian taking “He sat in front of me. He’s sweet.” more than 180 nations. In Australia extra jobs to make ends meet. “Brian Yet the business nearly came crashing alone in 2014, 34,083 attended services cleaned windows in Paddington and down in 1999, when Frank left under a every week. It’s impossible to put a I worked for that first year with an very dark cloud. Behind closed doors, figure on how many the church’s gospel import company in downtown Kent Brian stripped his father of his ministry touches, but safe to say it’s a lot. Street, using my shorthand and typing.” following accusations received from a For Bobbie, shifting into that fast lane The business model was for fast man who claimed Frank had sexually of Pentecostal pizazz came about when expansion, planting more churches and abused him when he was seven years old, she met Brian at a Christian convention putting in young pastor couples to run in 1969 and 1970, while he was a house on the beach at Tauranga in New them. Yet when Brian and Bobbie got guest of the victim’s parents in Sydney. Zealand. “I saw Brian in the crowd. He to Baulkham Hills, they decided to It’s a day Bobbie will never forget. stood out because he was tall and he settle this church themselves. They “It was a huge part of our lives. It caught my eye. I was 16 and I chose to moved their family – by now, they changed Brian’s relationship with his buy everyone ice-creams, and I bought had three children, Joel, Benjamin father forever,” she says. “He called his him one. But he had spotted me also.” and Laura – and Hillsong was born. father in and he confronted him – he was Letters followed, Brian moved from “It started in a school hall with in his late 70s at this time. Brian asked Wellington to Auckland on the pretext 45 people and then it just took off. if this accusation was true and he says of a pastorship, but really to court her. We were young – Brian was 30, I was his dad went dry at the mouth and then “We started dating and got married four 27. Brian always says he wants people he said ‘Yuh’. And in that moment years later. Brian was my first and only to come into church and leave more Frank also told Brian something that he boyfriend. I’m remarkably old-fashioned encouraged than when they came. People had never told anyone. He said that in that way,” says Bobbie, who adds they think it’s all about lights and staging when he was younger, his grandfather didn’t live or sleep together before they and flash, but those things just serve came home drunk one night and abused wed. “He ran the youth ministry and the bigger picture and that is the same him. It doesn’t excuse the abuse, but was the life and soul of the party. for any church – to worship God and it helps to understand that this is a He was that person that walks into experience his presence,” says Bobbie. series of broken lives. Brian ended his the room and is like a magnet.” This Soon, the couple was able to build father’s ministry immediately, took his charisma is a large part of Brian’s their own premises and attracted notable credential off him, fired him and said, > success as a pastor. “For him personally supporters, who to date include former ‘You’ll never preach again’.” IMAGES SUPPLIED AND USED WITH PERMISSION.

54 AWW.COM.AU MARCH 2016 agree,” says this aggrieved parishioner, who asks not to be named. “If you’re gay, you’re already suffering from a lot of internal and psychological issues. The last thing you want is being turned away.” Bobbie admits, “This is a hard area for the wider church – even the Pope can’t give a definitive on this. It’s a dilemma because the Bible’s quite clear about some of the parameters that belong to those in leadership. And we’re still figuring it out.” Her three children are all married in heterosexual relationships, but how would Bobbie have reacted if they had been gay? “Right now, I don’t know It’s showtime, folks! how to answer that. I’m skirting here, Music, theatrics and razzamatazz – and but I would want them to find donations – are part happiness. But that makes some other and parcel of the Christians angry. We want to bridge Hillsong experience. all the divides in society and I think that’s one of the final divides.” Subsequent allegations surfaced that broken part of [Frank’s] life, a horrid The other divide Bobbie is fighting, built up a picture of Frank as a serial part of his life, there’s no excuse. But with a proud personal crusade, is to paedophile, his victims being boys and I think he had repented in his own empower women thorough her Colour young men in the church. heart and moved on. The Frank that Sisterhood programs, which aim to “I was in high school at the time,” we knew was so different.” build esteem and fight violence against says Laura, who is now 28, a mother of The Commission’s findings received women. It was inspired by what she two and a Hillsong Youth Leader, “and widespread media coverage and Brian quaintly calls “a God whisper” and I remember coming home from school and the church may yet face a police is now more than 20 years old. Her and my dad sat me down and he told investigation, but the case doesn’t seem treatise is laid out in her new book, me everything that was happening. I to have dulled the church’s shimmer. The Sisterhood: A Mandate For Women could tell how difficult it was for him When The Weekly asks one parishioner Who Want To Make Their World A and that he was heartbroken.” how she feels about the case, she is quick Better Place. It starts as a memoir and With Frank out of the picture, Brian to defend Brian. “I feel sorry for him in quickly trails off into proselytising, but took over the church completely. Frank that it was something that his father did Bobbie has grown in her confidence died in 2004, aged 82, an old man with a long time ago, and is now a powerful dementia. He never faced charges. Yet but he is being preacher in her own the sins of the father ended up being persecuted for a “If my children right, with her own delivered on his son last year when the dead man’s crimes.” were gay, I would following. Royal Commission into Institutional This sentiment is want them to find So is Hillsong a cult? Responses to Child Sexual Abuse found common among “No, not at all,” says Brian had “made no attempt to report those The Weekly happiness. ” Bobbie. “A cult is his father to the police” and a clear talks to, but a more usually exclusive, “conflict of interest existed because controversial subject is the church’s line divisive, separates families, it’s built Pastor Brian Houston was both National on homosexuality. One of the key about one little leader who’s usually President of the Assemblies of God in messages of Hillsong is inclusiveness. delusional and deceived, and does Australia and Mr Frank Houston’s son”. Yet while there are certainly many everything that is contrary to the “Brian didn’t report it to the police young gay men and women who go to gospel. And we’re not that.” because the victim was an adult [36 their church, their “lifestyle choice”, Cult or not, megalomaniac’s empire years old] and he was extremely brittle, as it is neatly dismissed, is criticised in or not, Hillsong’s success arguably extremely fragile, and was adamant that Brian’s gospel and they are banned says more about society’s failure to he did not want anyone to know about from being leaders or pastors. provide genuine environments for this, not even the church leadership,” “For Brian, it’s his belief and his community life than it does about says Bobbie. “That was years ago, a conviction, but for me personally I don’t the power of religion. #

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