Julia A’Bell and her husband Joel left Hillsong in 2019 after 19 years at the Church.
It’s no secret that Hillsong has been in crisis over the last few years. The mega-church has been deeply harmed by horrific revelations that former-leader Frank Houston sexually assaulted an Australian boy and by accusations that his son Brian Houston, who took over as leader, covered this up. Plus the well-publicised sacking on celebrity pastor Carl Lentz in 2020 after it came out that he had had an affair.
All of this has been bubbling away in the press, but it has once more come to the fore with FX’s new docuseries, “The Secrets of Hillsong” on Disney+, that was released in the UK in mid-July.
As I watched the series, I started to Google some of the interviewees involved, to learn more about their lives and how they had pieced them back together. Although she wasn’t featured on the show, I came across a message from Julia A’Bell who, along with her husband Joel, was a senior pastor of Hillsong until 2019.
“More people who love Jesus are currently outside church community than inside church circles.”
She titled the note “A few things I would say to local churches everywhere…” and its contents was powerful to say the least. The first of 13 points was to remember to make it about Jesus so that you can point people to “a healthy disciple” to be at the centre of their lives.
Second, she encouraged churches to keep the Bible at the centre of everything they do and to make sure hard copies are available at every gathering. She also said that anyone who responds to an alter call to give their lives to Christ should be given a Bible as no programme the church offers will ever be “as potent as the Bible”.
Read more on church
‘I’m glad that the prosperity gospel is on its way out’
As a female preacher I was treated very differently to my male counterparts - in the end I left
Julia said people shouldn’t feel they had to be the best at everything but just to be “unapologetically church” in their local communities. She explained that people aren’t nearly as fussed about the lighting, sound and technology as some leaders think they are.
It’s then that she went for the jugular. Julia said: “More people who love Jesus are currently outside church community than inside church circles.” She explained that people are searching for “authenticity, integrity, humility and a focus on Jesus” and also issued a challenge to people looking for “good looking” churches to examine their motives.
She issued a challenge to people looking for “good looking” churches to examine their motives.
Julia also said she thought that people will return to church, but it will look different in the coming years compared to how it has these last few decades. She added that a church should change its name if “it no longer describes who you are and where you are going.”
The pastor, who is now Oceania regional leader for Christian charity Convoy of Hope, ended her sage advice with: “The church will never be perfect. People make imperfect decisions. But may we never forget the perfection of our Heavenly Father.
Amen to that.
The Woman Alive podcast is out now! Available on Premier.plus, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Please do rate and review the podcast and share the episodes you’ve enjoyed, with the women – or indeed men! – in your life.
No comments yet