Frank Houston

Houston commenced ministry training as a Salvation Army officer shortly after turning 18. He married Hazel and they had five children. The couple transferred their allegiance to the Baptist church, and later to the Assemblies of God in New Zealand. Houston initially attended the Ellerslie Assembly in 1960, but later transferred to the Lower Hutt Assemblies of God, and served as the superintendent of the Assemblies of God in New Zealand from 1965 to 1971.

In 1977 Houston moved to Sydney, and founded the Sydney Christian Life Centre in "Sherbrooke Hall" in Double Bay, which was not affiliated with any denomination in its first decade, but then became an Assemblies of God church. With further growth it moved to Darlinghurst, and then warehouse premises in the inner Sydney suburb of Waterloo, which housed a 600-seat auditorium, a Bible and Creative Arts College, and many other ministry arms. Houston was known by those close to him in the church as "the Bishop",[6] not as an official title but as a humorous reference to mainstream churches. He was also involved in over twenty Christian Life Centres being opened throughout New South Wales and overseas. Houston served as pastor at his church for more than two decades, and in senior positions within the Assemblies of God in Australia.

In 1999, after consultation amongst senior pastoral staff of the church, and the staff of Hills Christian Life Centre, a daughter church pastored by his son Brian, the churches were merged to become the Hillsong Church.

During Houston's tenure as lead of Assemblies of God in New Zealand from 1965 to 1977, he abused many young boys in New Zealand and Australia.[3][7][4] One victim in Sydney was routinely subjected to sexual abuse from the age of seven to 12.[8][9][10] In 1999, his mother reported the abuse to the church. At the time, Frank's son Brian Houston was the National President of the denomination Assemblies of God in Australia.[4] Upon hearing the report of the sexual abuse, Brian Houston immediately dismissed his father, forcing Frank Houston to quietly resign from the Sydney Christian Life Centre with a pension.[3][5][11][9][2] By November 2000, internal church investigations had discovered several additional cases of child abuse.[10]^:11:24 Although Brian Houston and the Assemblies of God executive council were legally obligated to report the crimes, they did not do so.[7][10]^:6:30 Frank Houston made a payment of AU$10,000 to his victim.[5]

In August 2007, further allegations emerged that Houston had sexually abused a trainee pastor during counselling sessions in the early 1980s.[12]

On 8 October 2014 Brian Houston admitted to a Sydney hearing of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that his father was guilty of other cases of sexual abuse against children.[13] Brian Houston further expressed regret at not having reported his father to the police when he learned of the abuse in 1999, but noted that other senior members of the church had also known and also did nothing. One of the reasons why they chose not to go to the police was because one of the victims requested they not report it.[14] The Royal Commission censured Brian Houston for his failure to report the sexual abuse allegations against his father and for his failure to avoid a clear conflict of interest investigating his own father while serving as National President of the Assemblies of God in Australia.[5]

Houston is the subject of the biography Being Frank (1989), authored by his wife Hazel.[15]

Houston died at the aged 82 on 8 November 2004. Mourners at his funeral included the then federal MP for Greenway, Louise Markus, a member of Hillsong church, the federal MP for Mitchell, Alan Cadman and the Deputy Police Commissioner, Andrew Scipione. Houston's wife, Hazel, had died 6 months earlier.[2]