BRIAN HOUSTON

Born February 17, 1954, in Auckland, New Zealand, 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 organization of the Assemblies of God.

While growing up in Auckland, New Zealand 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 their pastoral of 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.

After moving to Sydney, Australia with his wife in 1978, Brian served at Sydney Christian Life Center, Darlinghurst, where he became the Assistant Pastor to his father, Frank Houston. In 1980 he started a church on the Central Coast, and revived a church in Liverpool in 1981, which are both thriving churches today.

In 1983, Pastor Brian Houston 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 Center. 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 alliance represents over 200,000 members in affiliate churches and was its inaugural president. He is also a member of the Australia Pentecostal Ministers Fellowship (APMF) and a director of Leadership Ministries Incorporated.

In 2000 Frank Houston was advised to resign his ministerial credentials by his son, Brian Houston after Houston senior confessed that he had engaged in pedophile sexual activities with a teenage boy while ministering in New Zealand some thirty years earlier.

Brian and Bobbie Houston 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.

The Hillsong Television program is broadcast in 180 nations of the world, featuring Hillsong Music and teaching by Dr. Brian Houston.

He is committed to teaching the timeless Gospel message in a contemporary and relevant way and helping individuals and families grow and flourish.

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For This I Was Born: Aligning Your Vision to God's Cause

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