Hillsong founder Brian Houston has praised his wife Bobbie for being "brave as she is beautiful," following his resignation as the Church's global senior pastor.
Earlier this year, Brian Houston resigned from the Sydney-based megachurch after an investigation found he engaged in inappropriate conduct of "serious concern" with two women.
The New Zealand-born evangelist, 68, showed he was leaning on the love of his family on Tuesday, when he took to Instagram to share a photo of his wife of 45 years.
Captioning the image of Bobbie Houston, with whom he has three children, he wrote: "She's as brave as she is beautiful. I love her so much."
Bobbie Houston, 65, pledged to stand by her husband after his resignation.
Brian Houston's post was met with a flood of supportive comments from his followers, a number of whom wrote that they were praying for him amid the controversy.
The Hillsong Church was founded in Sydney in 1983 and has since expanded into a massive global operation with churches in 25 countries.
It has become popular with young people in recent years and attracted several celebrities—including Justin Bieber (who has since quit the church), Chris Pratt and Bono—but has also been rocked by scandals.
Last month, the Church released a statement noting that they had accepted Brian Houston's resignation as global senior pastor.
"We understand there will be much emotion at this news, and we all share these feelings. Irrespective of the circumstances around this, we can all agree that Brian and Bobbie have served God faithfully over many decades and that their ministry has resulted in millions of people across the world being impacted by the power, grace, and love of Jesus Christ," read a statement on the Church's website.
His resignation came after a meeting where members confirmed an investigation into complaints about inappropriate conduct involving Houston was taking place. One complaint was from 10 years ago and another was made in 2019.
The Church confirmed that the earlier incident "involved inappropriate text messages" sent to a female member of staff.
"At the time, Pastor Brian was under the influence of sleeping tablets, upon which he had developed a dependence," read the statement shared on the Church's website. "He immediately apologized to the person.
"We also worked closely with Pastor Brian to ensure he received professional help to eliminate his dependency on this medication, and this was achieved successfully."
The second investigation stemmed from the 2019 complaint and was also related to an incident involving medication and alcohol.
"Following an in-depth investigation, it was found that Pastor Brian became disoriented after a session at the Hillsong Conference, following the consumption of anti-anxiety medication beyond the prescribed dose, mixed with alcohol," the global board's statement said.
"This resulted in him knocking on the door of a hotel room that was not his, entering this room and spending time with the female occupant."
The Hillsong global board said "that whatever the circumstances at this time, this person did not deserve to be placed in the situation she found herself in by Pastor Brian."
"The investigation by the integrity unit appointed by the global board found that ... the conduct was of serious concern," it said. "We apologize unreservedly to the people affected by Pastor Brian's actions and commit to being available for any further assistance we can provide."
Brian Houston was charged in August last year with concealing a serious indictable offense of another person. Police allege he knew about his father Frank Houston's abuse of a young male in the 1970s, but failed to report it to police.
Houston denied the charge, telling Newsweek at the time he would "set the record straight."
An Australian government inquiry into institutional responses to allegations of child sex abuse said Brian Houston became aware of allegations against his father in 1999, but allowed him to retire rather than report him to police.
Frank Houston died in 2004 at the age of 82. He had been accused of abusing nine boys while he was a Pentecostal preacher, according to Australian newspaper the Sydney Morning Herald.
Brian Houston had already stepped down from the board of Hillsong since being charged last year. The Church is now led by pastors Phil and Lucinda Dooley.
