(Image: Zennie/Private Media)
(Image: Zennie/Private Media)

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Hillsong founder Brian Houston received hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax-free honorariums for speaking at churches run by his pastor friends, as part of a round-robin arrangement that has delivered huge wealth to the pastors of international megachurches.

The Hillsong papers tabled by independent MP Andrew Wilkie, now publicly available, show Houston has been paid in the range of US$10,000-$30,000 for appearing at churches run by his friends as well as churches in the extended Hillsong “family” of churches. The payments add up to more than $1 million during the 10 years from 2011. 

The great tax-free honorarium money-go-round has been a fabulous earner for an elite group of international megachurch pastors. It has been going on for decades. 

The system works like this: I speak at your church and get paid $10,000 tax-free. You then speak at my church and get paid $10,000 tax-free.

The “honorariums”, as they are known, are ultimately paid for by the tithes and offerings of churchgoers. It is likely, though, they have never known the sheer size of the fees that they have been paying.

Taxpayers and the Australian government might also have a right to feel aggrieved. The funds paid to international megachurch pastors who visit Australia — and walk away with tens of thousands of dollars — are derived from tax-exempt charities.

In documents tabled in Parliament last week, a Hillsong whistleblower said “this scam” meant Australian tax-exempt church income was being used to make celebrity pastors personally wealthy.

“The mega-wealthy pastors of the world’s largest mega-churches are all ‘in on it’ by continually inviting each other to speak at their church services and events,” the documents read.

“They are essentially lining each other’s personal pockets and enabling luxury lifestyles — all with church money sacrificially donated by the general public”.

So where has the money gone?

According to a schedule of payments included in the tabled documents, Brian Houston has picked up fees for speaking at Hillsong Cape Town, Hillsong France, Hillsong Germany, Hillsong Los Angeles, Hillsong London, Hillsong Monterrey (Mexico), Hillsong Norway and Hillsong Phoenix. 

He was also paid to speak at the megachurches of prominent international pastors, many of whom are old friends of Houston and his wife Bobbie. 

Prominent among them are US pastors Bill Johnson and his Bethel Church in Redding; Casey Treat and his Christian Faith Centre in Seattle; Judah Smith and his City Church, also in Seattle; Chris Hodges from Church of the Highlands in Alabama; and Jentezen Franklin and his Free Chapel Church in Georgia.

Houston and wife Bobbie were also paid to speak at the church of his old friend, Paul de Jong, in New Zealand. 

The Hillsong papers record that the dozens of fees paid to Houston have gone into his personal not-for-profit entities registered in Australia and in the United States. These are Leadership Ministries Inc and Maximised Leadership Inc. 

Some of Houston’s biggest paydays have been:

  • Arise Church conference, New Zealand, in 2016: A$27,840
  • Bethel Church, Redding, USA, in 2016: US$21,500
  • Christ Church Fellowship church, Miami, USA, in 2016: US$25,000
  • Churchome, Seattle, USA, in 2017: US$50,000
  • Let’s Talk Church conference in Hawaii, in 2012: A$30,000
  • New Creation Church, Singapore, in 2013: A$50,000

Several US pastors have been paid to speak at Hillsong events in Australia, with fees paid by Hillsong, which has also footed the bill for first- and business-class travel, as well as luxury hotels for visiting celebrities.

The US pastors include prominent American televangelists Joyce Meyer and TD Jakes, who have both been paid more than $100,000 as headline names for Hillsong conferences, according to information tabled by Andrew Wilkie. (Meyer is a wealthy US televangelist and prolific writer of advice books aimed especially at the female market. She has her own charity registered in Australia in addition to her US charitable entities.) 

Other names include well-known US pastors Jentezen Franklin, Rick Godwin, Charles Nieman, Judah Smith and Ravi Zacharias.

According to the Hillsong papers, the church’s 2021 accounts showed that $288,000 was spent on honorariums to celebrity guest speakers. The whistleblower alleges that Hillsong congregation members haven’t been aware that their donations have gone to “backfill” Hillsong conference losses, which were due to “the excessive amounts of honorariums paid to celebrity pastors”.

The files also show that lesser lights in the Hillsong universe have also shared in the honorarium scheme. These include Brian Houston’s successor as global pastor, Phil Dooley, who last Sunday used Hillsong’s morning service to rebut allegations he had benefited personally from the fees-for-speaking circuit.

Dooley told a Hillsong gathering that the church had implemented a new gifts and honorarium policy in October last year.