Frank Houston

William Francis "Frank" Houston (born 22 April 1922 - died 8 November 2004) was a former Pentecostal Christian pastor in the Assemblies of God in New Zealand and Australia. Royal Commission records for Case Study No. 18 - “The response of the Australian Christian Churches and affiliated Pentecostal churches to allegations of child sexual abuse.” (2015) - indicate that Frank Houston was ordained as a New Zealand Salvation Army office in the 1940s. He served with the Salvation Army for around 12 years. In 1959, he went on to establish an Assemblies of God church in Lower Hutt, New Zealand and later became the leader of the Assemblies of God in New Zealand. Throughout this time, Frank Houston would occasionally come to Australia to preach and he eventually moved to Australia in 1977 and established the Sydney Christian Life Centre. He was the Senior Pastor, and the church was affiliated with the Assemblies of God in Australia from about 1978 or 1979. In 1978, Frank Houston’s son and daughter-in-law, pastors Brian and Bobbie Houston, moved to Australia on a one-year working visa. Initially, they attended the Sydney Christian Life Centre, with Brian Houston eventually becoming an Assistant Pastor. In 1983, both Brian and Bobbie Houston founded the Hills Christian Life Centre, which was also affiliated with the Assemblies of God in Australia. Brian Houston’s popularity as the Church’s Senior Pastor grew dramatically, and the Hills Christian Life Centre enjoyed success because of its ability to draw large numbers of congregants. In 1997, Brian Houston became the National President of the Assemblies of God in Australia. He held that position until 2009. Brian Houston said that, over a number of years, his father spoke to him about taking over as Senior Pastor at Sydney Christian Life Centre. In May 1999, Frank Houston suddenly retired from the position of Senior Pastor at Sydney Christian Life Centre and asked his son to take over his position. Subsequently, Brian Houston became Senior Pastor of both churches for 18 months, before in 2001 the the two churches were renamed Hillsong Church,

Before he died, Frank Houston faced multiple allegations of child sexual abuse.

Allegations of sexual abuse go as far back when Frank Houston was involved with the Pentecostal Church in New Zealand. It is reported that he abused many young boys in New Zealand when he was head of the Assemblies of God in New Zealand from 1965 to 1971. When he moved to Australia, one victim in Sydney is reported to have been routinely sexually abused from the age of seven to 12. In 1999, his mother reported the abuse to the church. At the time, Frank's son Brian Houston was the National President of the denomination Assemblies of God in Australia. Upon hearing the report of the sexual abuse, Brian Houston immediately dismissed his father, forcing Frank Houston to quietly resign from the Sydney Christian Life Centre with a pension. The Royal Commission in its case study, reports that by November 2000, internal church investigations had discovered several additional cases of child abuse. Although Brian Houston and the Assemblies of God executive council were legally obligated to report the crimes, they did not do so. Frank Houston later made an out of court payment of $10,000 to the victim.

In August 2007, further allegations emerged that Frank Houston had sexually abused a trainee pastor during counselling sessions in the early 1980s.

When Brian Houston confronted the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in 2014, he told the Commission that his father was guilty of other cases of sexual abuse against children and that he expressed regret at not having reported his father to the police when he learned of the abuse in 1999, but noted that other senior members of the church had also known and also did nothing. He alleges that one of the main reasons why they chose not to go to the police was because one of the victims requested not to report it. The Royal Commission censured Brian Houston for his failure to report the sexual abuse allegations against his father and for his failure to avoid a clear conflict of interest investigating his own father while serving as National President of the Assemblies of God in Australia.

In August 2021, Brian Houston has been charged by NSW Police alleging that the he knew information relating to the sexual abuse of a young male by his father in the 1970s and failed to bring that information to the attention of police. He is to appear in the Downing Central Local Court in Sydney on 5 October 2021.

Moody Law has in the past and is still representing clients who have made allegations of sexual and physical abuse against various religious orders and institutions around Australia.

We invite former victims to tell us confidentially what information they may have, and we will explain what options are available to help with these cases.

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