Three days on, the tears are still flowing at Hillsong Church.
Interim global pastor Phil Dooley has not been able to stop since last Friday morning when he tearfully told an all-Hillsong staff meeting of pastor Brian Houston’s errant ways with two women. Yesterday was the church’s first service since Friday’s revelations. And still Pastor Phil was unable to keep it all inside.
“I thought I was over my tears because I’ve cried a lot of them,” he told the uncharacteristically subdued Hillsong crowd. “But it’s not out yet. Maybe you feel the same.”
Pastor Phil is a parable in himself. Hillsong to his Gucci bootstraps, he hails from the church’s heartland in north-west Sydney. He began with the church 30 years ago. The very image of the hip pastor, with black beanie pulled down over blond hair that tumbles nearly to his shoulders, Pastor Phil spoke of the dash he had made back to Sydney last week from the United States where he had spoken with church leaders, presumably on the Brian situation.
Watching an inflight movie about the poignant story of the tennis-playing Williams sisters had triggered yet more tears for the already overwrought pastor. Meanwhile, Phil’s wife Lucinda was stuck in South Africa and couldn’t be by his side for this day.
It seemed truly that in Hillsong world, the meek with the most frequent flyer points would inherit the earth.
Pastor Phil’s tragic inheritance was now to front the church barely 72 hours after the savaging of Brian Houston — in the very church Houston had built. The trademark energy and bounce were missing as he addressed the doleful task of shepherding Hillsong through its darkest days.
“This has possibly been one of the hardest weeks of my life,” said Pastor Phil of the recent convulsions which have seen Houston sidelined, perhaps for good.
It fell to Hillsong’s head of creative, the normally effervescent Cassandra Langton, to grasp the nettle and reframe the day for the despairing believers. Cassie, as Pastor Phil referred to her, has one of the most important jobs at a Hillsong service: urging the flock to part with their money for the glory of the church. Today it was a task she hadn’t really wanted to do.
“(People) are asking me: ‘How can you stand up there and ask (for donations)?'” Cassie said, perhaps reading the minds of anyone who has watched the hypocrisy of the mighty moralist, Brian Houston, laid bare of the mighty moralist, Brian Houston.
But Cassie had woken up with a story to tell — a story about lost sheep and the Lord — which of course led directly to Psalm 23, and before long a new reality was taking shape.
“The Lord is my Shepherd,” Cassie declared — placing emphasis on the Lord, in seeming distinction to Pastor Brian, now cooling his heels far away in the USA, the purgatory of a man whose secret life has suddenly been prised open.
Now Cassie was tearful as she fought through the morass of doubt and angst to emerge clarified and clear of purpose.
“We will give out of everything that we have (sic),” she declared, before firing off a volley of ways the faithful could show their devotion.”We will offer our finances, our lives, our families, our homes, and everything to Jesus, because he is the Good Shepherd and he cares for his sheep.
“I have no worries in inviting you to share everything that you have with the Good Shepherd again this morning, because it is always him, and it will always be him. I’m going to pray for us. I’m going to invite you to continue to give your lives to the Shepherd. Jesus Christ, you are the Good Shepherd.”
The surge of optimism was catching. The Houston problem addressed, Pastor Phil too caught the wave. Wiping away the tears, he was soon promising that a better day was on the way.
“In this season, health and healing are our focus,” Pastor Phil said. “We will continue to build a beautiful, unified church. Continue to build, because that’s what we have been part of, so that here generations can come and stand strong and build together.”
And yet, not all were on board.
As Cassie and Phil saw a new vision, there were serpents slithering in the weeds of social media, via a live online chat which accompanied the YouTube video of the church service, allowing the faithful — and increasingly the not-so-faithful — to heckle from the bleachers.
“Is Brian in cuffs yet?” a member of the disenchanted threw in.
“How are we so happy with what’s going on?” asked another, incredulous at the hope now emerging.
“I am at one with you and Pastor Brian,” one supporter offered, only to be met with a question from a sceptic: “Yes, but are they at one with you?”
“Please let the truth come out,” one pleaded.
It was at this point, as Pastor Phil elaborated on a vision of togetherness and a new way for the church, that Hillsong’s invisible monitors swooped on the live chat and began to delete any message that questioned the new narrative.
“Why do you keep silencing us? Deleting our messages and not answering emails?” one dissident asked.
“Keep the focus on the Service,” ordered a Hillsong monitor.
Shutting down questions while promising a better day. It seemed at that moment to capture the hopelessness of where Hillsong has ended up.
And most particularly the social media revolt captured the new reality: there’s a younger brigade of believers who won’t have any more of the deceptions and the old authoritarian ways of the church which has delivered prosperity for an inner circle clustered around Brian Houston.
Surprise surprise . With the imprint of the Hillsong church indelibly inked on our PM and his morals and ethics, how much longer can this country support him as PM?
My thoughts exactly Eric.
Please keep in mind that Scomo sits on all of the Hillsong boards and “Jen” sits on a number too.
Religions always forgive their errant sheep so long as they still adhere to the church teachings.
Nearly half the voting public supported Morrison at the last election, with probably half of those being RWNJs who will always vote for a self-professed ‘man of god’ and the others still adhering to ‘cons good, progressives baaaaad’, not comprehending that modern conservatism is in itself a con, to allow the sheep to be fleeced for the greater good of the very few.
Bertrand Russell should be obligatory reading in high school.
RWNJ, should be RWRNJ, the second R is for those who subscribe to these strange religious cults.
Cassie is at least honest in calling the Hillsong adherents sheep.
It’s a fascinating look into a strange world. Cult implosions is one of my favourite spectator sports, but I do feel for the poor exploited and the horrors exposed.
That they in fact really worship Mammon is fairly obvious,
If as Phil says, Cassie, head of creative has one of the most important jobs at a Hillsong service that of urging the flock to part with their money for the glory of the church.
Cassandra Langton is in that most important position as Head of Creative akin to Chief Fleecer?
If poker machines had voices I imagine they would similarly suggest to double down on coin in the hope of future salvation.
Also seems like a faith based version of a bank run.
Tears for whom? Standard Christian response when the hypocrisy is exposed. Isn’t Houston married? Didn’t he oppose same sex marriage because the gays would ruin marriage. Seems like he was doing a good job of ruining his own marriage without being gay
Sounds similar to another religionist, that Faux Catholic All Hat No Cattle Joyce.
With his hypocrisy and mendacity concerning legislation for both Gardasil, claiming it would bring about promiscuity and same sex marriage in that it would ruin the chances of his daughters for marriage as it would ruin “ the sanctity of marriage”
All the while carrying on affair with a person employed in his office at the tax payers expense.When such became publicly known his inamorata was shifted into not one but two further positions, again at the taxpayers expense, that creatively appeared in two other National Party politicians offices.
Provided by The Senator for Mining Queensland Canavan, but when he had to stand down because of the citizenship kerfuffle there was some how a job in the office of the then National Party Whip, Damian Drum.
Absolutely!
Interesting, isn’t it? Both great men of the land. Barnaby is an accountant, while Christensen was a journalist.
This church takes takes takes taxpayers money and their congregation’s money hand over fist. Then it immediately shuts down debate if it doesn’t fit with their narrative.
Secrecy leads to more abuse and corruption. They are not doing themselves any favours by burying their wrongdoings.
Somewhat akin to the Catholic Church in its approach to and handling of the same abuse and corruption.
Suspect they are mere understudies to the World’s Richest Corporation.
True, as The One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church is still centre stage in regard to such malfeasance.
Putting the “fun” and the “mental” into “fundamentalist”!
Though this is a digression from the discussion. How did Hillsong Church take up the M.O. of the Catholic Church, since they claim to be opposed to everything the Catholics stand for?
Brian Houston has fallen to what Catholic Priests used to call “Punch and Judy” — booze and women. I’m sure the cash scandals are on the way, though the magical fountain of fundamentalist cash will be the most heavily defended hill for sure — that’s their escape route.
I just find it very surprising why there’s so much real emotional fall out on display, surely it was clear this wasn’t going to end well, and even blind Freddie could see where this was going..
The thing is when the higher-ups aren’t able to save themselves, even the “close relationship” with the PM isn’t going to prevent the judicial washing of
Hillsong’s dirty laundry in public, which isn’t surprising..
Or the fact that it took many years and number of Police Commissioners in NSW before one of them progressed the recommended prosecution of Brian Houston for concealing the sexual predation of young males by his father.
Agreed. But will the airing of the dirty washing have any effect on how the sheepie vote ? There are none so blind as those who will not examine their precepts in the face of cataclysm.