Casting Crowns Controversy: Hillsong Worship pulls out of Casting Crowns tour amid scandals
World renowned music band Hillsong Worship, from Hillsong Church, have pulled out of a nationwide tour to “heal.” The 18-city concert-tour was scheduled to begin with Casting Crowns and We The Kingdom in just over two weeks. However, in a Facebook post, Hillsong Worship went back on the agreement by requesting to withdraw from the upcoming Casting Crowns/Hillsong Worship tour with We The Kingdom.
Hillsong Worship are deeply sadden with the recent cases of scandals surrounding the Hillsong church in recent months, the group is putting the “health and well-being of the people on our team first,” the statement continued.
Recall that Pastor Brian Houston, who is the co-founded of Hillsong Church in 1983, resigned as the church leader after investigation revealed that two women brought up allegations of misconduct against him within the last 10 years of the ministry. In similar manner, some leaders of the church have also been accused of improper handling with women in the U.S. and Australia.
This has led to some of the Hillsong pastors leaving the church to start their own ministry.
The global network of churches has also been the focus of documentaries that set out to rehash some of the misdeeds of church leaders that were brought to light in recent years. A Discovery Plus docuseries that was released on March 24, “Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed,” set out to show how the Australia-based global network has toed a “fine line between cult and culture.”
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Hillsong Worship said in their statement that the band members need to take a break because they’re “an extension of and expression of Hillsong Church — a collective of our local church worship teams.” Each member of the group, which include Joel Houston (son of Brian Houston), Brooke Ligertwood, and Taya Smith, among others, are “either on staff at Hillsong Church or volunteers.”
“Now is the time for us to humbly seek the Lord, to grieve in hope and to heal in community, together,” the statement added. They thanked Casting Crowns, We The Kingdom, and Premier Productions for being understanding and admitted being “devastated” to do so.
Hillsong Worship encouraged fans to keep their tickets as the tour will hold on April 22. However, Casting Crowns leader Mark Hall also took to Instagram to show support for Hillsong Worship’s decision to withdraw from the tour.
“Their church is hurting right now, and they’re going through some stuff,” Hall shared in a video message. “Hillsong Worship, they’re a church-based ministry … and when your church is hurting, you need to be with your people.”
“That’s what the Body of Christ does,” he explained. “So they’re going to be home walking this season out with their people, and we’re going to be out on the road loving on you guys.”
To further clear the air on the ministry’s scandals, the Hillsong Church interim global Senior Pastor Phil Dooley, has recently addressed the public regarding the wrong impression targeted towards the. He assured that the church does a lot of good in the world and “never claimed to be a perfect church.”
Dooley, who has served under the church for over 30 years, confess that he was grieved by the recent scandals in the ministry and by the experiences of some of the church leaders’ alleged victims.
