7 Mar 2024

Inside the rise and fall of Hillsong Church

From Nine To Noon, 9:30 am on 7 March 2024

New Zealand born Brian Houston built a global brand after founding the Hillsong Pentecostal church in Australia.

Starting with a small congregation which gathered in a Sydney school hall, it grew to gaining a weekly attendance of more than 150,000 people worldwide. Justin Bieber, some of the Kardashians and the former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison were amongst attendees.

But when the church was at the height of its popularity, it was rocked by a series of scandals and fraud allegations and Brian Houston was charged with concealing his father's sexual abuse of a minor.

He's since been acquitted, but by then the megachurch he founded had disowned him. 

In his new book Mine Is The KingdomAustralian investigative journalist David Hardaker takes the reader inside the rise and dramatic fall of Brian Houston and the tarnishing of Hillsong.

Author David Hardaker next to an image of the cover of his book "Mine is the Kingdom:
The rise and fall of Brian Houston and the Hillsong Church".

Photo: Supplied