User:Jurassic56
HILLSONG CHURCH
Hillsong is an Australian Pentecostal Megachurch that began its life as Hills Christian Life Centre, located in the suburb of Baulkham Hills, which belongs to the Hills district of Greater Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales. The Hillsong name evolved as a result of the enormous volume of insipid, yet popular Christian Rock albums being pumped out by this money hungry church on a regular basis.
The Church was started by husband and wife hucksters Brian and Bobbie Houston in 1983 and has rapidly expanded into a global enterprise with large operations in 23 countries and a Hillsong TV Channel which takes their shameless message of financial prosperity in the name of Jesus, to even more people around the globe.
Like all wealthy, tax exempt, fundamentalist megachurches, Hillsong's leadership group have proven to be complete degenerates behind closed doors.
- Frank Houston (father of Brian) confessed at age 77, to sexually abusing hundreds of little boys throughout his entire career as a church pastor in Australia and New Zealand. The actual number of victims is still unknown. When Pastor Brian and other hillsong church leaders were made aware of this in 1999, and instead of obeying the law and reporting the abuse, they kept quiet about Frank Houston's depravity. Brian Houston even told one victim that it was his own fault he was abused, because he "tempted" his pedophile father. Fortunately, it all came out during the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sex Abuse requested by the Australian government in 2013. Following these revelations, the New South Wales Police confirmed that they were launching a criminal investigation into Brian Houston for failing to report a serious crime. After his eventual confessions, Frank quit preaching, but he never saw the inside of a prison cell. He died in 2004 at the age of 82. Several conservative politicians attended his funeral.
- Like all prosperity doctrine churches, the leaders of Hillsong live incredibly lavish lifestyles and see this as a sign of God's blessing. The core lie of their ministry is this idea that if you give your money to the church, then God will reward this act of faith, by giving a bigger amount right back to you. If this doesn't happen and no money is magically returned to you, then it's your fault for not having enough faith. Fleecing vulnerable people like this has made the Hillsong corporation extremely wealthy, to the tune of around $100 Million. Of course, once these desperate parishioners have nothing financial left to give, they are labelled the spawn of Satan and kicked out of the church.
- Worship leader and musician, Geoff Bullock, became completely burnt out and suffered a nervous breakdown due to the excessive demands placed on Hillsong employees and volunteers. Since he was no longer useful to the Hillsongbusiness, he received no support or compassion from the Houstons, who completely ostracised him.
- Hillsong is passionately anti-abortion, anti-euthanasia and anti-gay. They support the discredited practice of gay conversion therapy and performing exorcisms on gay and lesbian people. They also support teaching Creationism in schools.
- Former church member turned Atheist, Tanya Levin, details the toxic culture at Hillsong in her critically acclaimed book -
"People in Glass Houses".