(CP) The variety of Hillsong Church campuses in America has now fallen to simply five after leaders in the worldwide Australia-based megachurch announced Sunday that Hillsong San Francisco — led by pastors Brenden and Jacqui Brown — is separating from the Hillsong brand and can be independently run under a latest name.
Hillsong Church Global Senior Pastor Phil Dooley joined Hillsong California Lead Pastor Sam Lopez in making the announcement to their followers on Sunday.
“After much prayer and thoughtful consideration, we’re announcing that Brenden and Jacqui Brown can be taking over the leadership of our church community in San Francisco as a separate church, so separating from what has been a part of Hillsong California,” Dooley told the Hillsong California community in a distant broadcast.
“We imagine the time is correct for this. This is an exciting season for the Browns and for our church in San Francisco, and we wish to say how much we love Brenden and Jacqui, and we value their dedication, their sacrifice, and their commitment to pastoring and leading the Hillsong San Francisco community,” he added.
Dooley’s announcement marks the lack of the eleventh of the church’s 16 campuses that previously operated within the U.S. since a series of scandals erupted amid the pandemic, equivalent to the firing of former Hillsong NYC Lead Pastor Carl Lentz in November 2020 over “leadership issues” and moral failures, including being unfaithful to his wife, Laura.
Some of the abuses were the topic of a documentary called “Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed” on Discovery Plus.
The Christian Post also published details from a leaked report highlighting accusations of abuses at Hillsong NYC under Lentz’s reign. The allegations included, amongst other things, the alleged mishandling of incidents of consensual or non-consensual sexual interaction between church leaders and congregants, staff volunteers or non-churchgoers.
In his remarks to members of Hillsong California, Pastor Lopez said the San Francisco church’s separation had been under discussion for about two years, and the Browns are simply following God’s call on their life with a “fresh vision” with Hillsong’s blessing.
Come next week, Lopez and the Browns said Hillsong San Francisco’s latest name can be revealed.
“In my conversations with a pair of individuals in our church, I’m starting to comprehend that this is not very normal. … The tone I keep getting is like, ‘So what happened?’ And let me let you know, nothing happened,” Lopez insisted.
“We have an incredible couple there. They have a vision for it. God has called them. God has asked them to take a step of religion. We’re backing it 100% and going absolutely, let’s do it. That is the extent of it,” he said.
“And then the response is generally like, ‘That’s too good to be true. What really happened.’ And I’m going, ‘That’s actually what happened.’ That’s genuinely the complete truth. We’re just excited. And a part of my job shouldn’t be to maintain and to hoard and to try to construct slightly empire. My job is to see especially our staff step into the decision of God on their life.”
In a statement on Instagram Monday, the Hillsong San Francisco leaders, who’ve served the Evangelical megachurch network for twenty-four years, acknowledged that they can be pursuing “something fresh and filled with purpose.”
“God has been faithful in every step of our journey, and we imagine He’s leading us into something fresh and filled with purpose. While our name is changing, our heart stays the identical — to like people and connect them to Jesus,” they wrote.
“We are so grateful for our @hillsong Church family, whose faith and investment have laid the muse for this next season. A special thanks to our Global Senior pastors @philldooley_ and @lucindadooley , California Lead Pastors @samlopez and @courtneylopez , and the Global Board for his or her leadership, love, and support. Join us next Sunday as we reveal the brand new name of our church and unpack the vision for what’s ahead! We cannot wait to step into this latest season together.”
