Brian Houston (pastor)

Brian Houston
Born	February 17 1954 (1954-02-17) (age 54) Auckland, New Zealand
Occupation	Pastor
Spouse	Bobbie Houston
Children	Joel, Ben and Laura
Website	[1]

Brian Houston (born February 1954, in Auckland, New Zealand) is a Pentecostal Christian pastor in the Australian Christian Churches. He is currently the Senior Pastor of Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia, Australia's largest church with a current congregation of over 21,000 people. He is also the National President of Australian Christian Churches, the largest Pentecostal denomination in Australia, which is the Australian organisation of the Assemblies of God.

Biography

Early life

Born in Auckland, New Zealand, in February 1954, Brian's parents Frank and Hazel were then Salvation Army officers. When Brian was three, his parents joined the Assemblies of God in New Zealand, and began pastoring an AOG Church in Lower Hutt, near Wellington where Brian, his brother and three sisters spent their childhood. After completing school, Brian went to Bible College for three years. Shortly after completing College, he met Bobbie on Papamoa Beach in New Zealand during a Christian convention. They were married in 1977.

Ministry

After moving to Australia with his wife in February 1978, Brian served at Sydney Christian Life Centre, Darlinghurst, where he became the Assistant Pastor to his father, Frank Houston. In 1980 he planted a church on the Central Coast, and revived a church in Liverpool in 1981, which are both thriving churches today. In 1983, Brian saw a need in Sydney's north-western suburbs and hired the Baulkham Hills Public School hall to start a new church, Hills Christian Life Centre. The first service was held on Sunday August 14 1983 and from an initial congregation of 45 people, is today the 21,000 strong Hillsong Church. In May 1997, Brian was elected President of Assemblies of God in Australia/Australian Christian Churches, after Andrew Evans' retirement. His passion for leadership and trying to successfully inspire people to live to their full potential and make a difference in the world has made Brian a popular speaker at Christian conferences and churches across the globe. Brian helped to create the Australian Christian Churches network of Pentecostal churches in February 2000. This aliance represents over 200,000 members in affiliate churches [2] and was its inaugural president. [3] He is also a member of the Australia Pentecostal Ministers Fellowship (APMF) [4] and a director of Leadership Ministries Incorporated. In 2000 Frank Houston was advised to resign his ministerial credentials by his son,^[1] Brian Houston the after Houston senior confessed that he had engaged in paedophile sexual activities with a teenage boy while ministering in New Zealand some thirty years earlier.^[1][2]

Family

Brian and Bobbie live in Sydney, Australia with their three grown children; Joel, Ben and Laura. Joel is a musician and songwriter and Hillsong Church's Creative Director. Ben is married to Lucille and is Senior Pastor at Hillsong's Northern Beaches extension service. Laura works for the church in the area of graphic design and marketing.

Books

Brian Houston is the author of many books, including Get A Life (1996), For This Cause, You Can Change the Future, You Need More Money (1999 - Now out of print), How to Build Great Relationships, How to Live a Blessed Life, How to Make Wise Choices, How to Flourish in Your Life, How to Live in Health & Wholeness, Selah (2006) and Selah 2 (2007). The Hillsong Television program is broadcast in 180 nations of the world, featuring Hillsong Music and teaching by Brian Houston.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Stephen Gibbs. "Hillsong farewells a lost sheep pioneer", Sydney Morning Herald, John Fairfax Holdings, 2004-11-13. Retrieved on 2006-06-21. 
2. ^ Peter Fowler writes to Philip Powell. Christian Witness Ministries. Vanguard Magazine.

External links

• Brian and Bobbie Houston's Web page at Hillsong.com.
• Australian Story interview with Brian Houston
• A brief history of the Assemblies of God in Australia.
• Hillsong Preachers run $1.3m business - Sydney Morning Herald
• The lord's profits - Sydney Morning Herald
• Hillsong - the church with no answers - Sydney Morning Herald