Its founder, Brian Houston, resigned last year following an internal investigation which found that he behaved inappropriately towards two women. The global megachurch, based in Australia, is currently facing allegations of tax evasion and fraud.
He also had close links with Hillsong United, a worship collective that originated as part of the Hillsong Church, and formed in 1998 as part of its youth ministry. That same year he was also appointed an MBE in the New Year Honours for his services to young people. Receiving accoladesĪs recently as 2020, Rev Canon Pilavachi was gathering accolades from the likes of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, who awarded him at Lambeth Palace for his “outstanding contribution to evangelism and discipleship amongst young people”. They described it as an “open secret” – yet nothing was done. However, some whistleblowers claim that not only is the church marking its own homework, but also that the alarm was raised years ago regarding his “toxic behaviour” and “horrible cruelty and obsession” with certain young men.
In early April, this newspaper revealed details about Rev Canon Pilavachi stepping back from ministry, as the Church of England launched its own internal investigation into his behaviour. Others remain traumatised, claiming that their lives have been “devastated” by his actions. The alleged abuse of power spanning decades has left many of the whistleblowers “damaged”, with “terrible scars''.
They also claim that they suffered psychological torment and spiritual abuse as he would shower them with attention and promises of a prestigious life in ministry, travelling the world alongside him to exotic destinations on mission trips, or the chance to preach and play music on stage – only to be ignored and dropped. Yet his alleged victims and former Soul Survivor staff members have come forward for the first time to speak exclusively to The Telegraph and claim that beneath the veneer of this celibate preacher who wore colourful tie dye kaftans and dashiki, a number of young men were encouraged to receive full-body oil massages in their underwear in his bedroom, and vigorous wrestling matches that could last as long as 20 minutes at a time – sometimes in church. The 65-year-old charismatic evangelist founded the Soul Survivor festivals which ran from 1993 to 2019, and attracted around 30,000 young people from all over the world each summer. He was a gifted, lovable preacher and lauded as a man with “an amazing connection to the Holy Spirit'', “a direct dial to God” and “the gifts to enable it all”.
And always, right at the centre of the festival, was the magnetic, captivating and “untouchable” Rev Canon Pilavachi. Yet instead of dancing to the latest headline acts, and dabbling in romantic fumbles and illicit substances, they would sing worship songs, engage in religious seminars, speak in tongues and try to experience God.īonded by their ecstatic belief, every morning and night they would gather in a large circus-like tent – known as the ‘Big Top’ – for worship, teaching and ministry. For the tens-of-thousands of teenagers who flocked to the Soul Survivor festivals in Somerset, it had the allure of Christianity’s answer to Glastonbury, held within weeks of it and only a few miles away.
0 kommentar(er)
