Several years of scandals and a culture of secrecy has led to calls for an overhaul of the global Pentecostal megachurch
“Pain happens in life – sometimes we cause the pain,” he told Hillsong congregations around the world from its Hills Campus headquarters in western Sydney last Sunday. “In order to get healthy, sometimes we have to go through some pain.”
Without directly referencing the recent troubles affecting the Pentecostal megachurch – which in the last two weeks alone include its founder Brian Houston resigning for breaching its code of conduct after two women said he had behaved inappropriately towards them, and the airing of an explosive documentary containing allegations about the church’s culture – Dooley also spoke about the need for “honest conversations” and added that “healing can only take place when we acknowledge this pain”.
