Hillsong bosses' secret millions revealed
The Daily Telegraph, Australia/September 19, 2024
By Aidan Devine
Some Hillsong Church leaders have lived in extravagant homes.
A spate of sales of properties owned by the leaders of the Hillsong Church has offered a rare glimpse into their normally secretive real estate holdings.
And many of their properties include luxury multimillion-dollar mansions in some of the world’s most coveted locations.
They often include plush pools, large entertainment areas with features such as pizza ovens, walk-in wardrobes and landscaped gardens.
Among the most recent sales was from former Hillsong pastors Joel and Julia A’Bell, who this week offloaded their designer Gold Coast home in a hushed multimillion-dollar deal. The sales price was not disclosed, but the couple had listed the luxury duplex with a guide of $2.95m.
The A’Bells left their roles as senior pastors in 2019 after 19 years with the Hillsong mega-church in Sydney, once counting former prime minister Scott Morrison among their congregation.
The transaction has followed sales from other high-profile current and former Hillsong leaders. This included the palatial Sydney home of Hillsong founder Brian Houston and wife Bobbie, which sold in late 2022 for about $4.1m, sales records showed.
That sale came off the back of Houston’s resignation from the global church amid multiple sex and money scandals.
Their son Joel, leader of the worship band Hillsong United, sold a Bondi Beach apartment during the pandemic for $1.23m, pocketing a profit of about $600,000.
Also in the US, Carl Lentz, spiritual advisor to celebrities such as Justin Bieber and Kendall Jenner, was reported to have owned a luxury hideaway in affluent Montclair in New Jersey.
The since disgraced pastor later moved into a rental mansion in Los Angeles supported with nearly $100,000 in alleged rent contributions from actor Tyler Perry, according to media reports. He was reported to be living in a smaller Florida home in 2023.
Church elder and businessman Nabi Saleh, known for purchasing Gloria Jeans, lists his Australian home as a five-bedroom property in Castle Hill. It is estimated to be worth north of $2.4m.
Current leader Phil Dooley, who helmed Hillsong’s South African operations for the better part of a decade, has left little trace of a personal residential property portfolio on any publicly accessible property records within Australia.
A title deeds search in many of the locations other leaders were known to reside within also showed few of their names appearing on property titles.
It comes as Hillsong leaders have continued to be the spotlight over recent years amid investigations into the group’s charities. The church was reported in July to bleeding $100,000 a week in donations as auditors warned high powered investigations risked crippling its finances.
MP Andrew Wilkie claimed last year that huge cash splurges were made by the church hierarchy. Wilkie’s accusations were made against the church under parliamentary privilege.
Hillsong church responded at the time by announcing it will commission an independent financial review.
Wilkie said internal church documents showed senior members were paid considerable honorariums to speak at Hillsong events.
US pastor and author Joyce Meyer was alleged to have enjoyed honorariums of $160,000, $133,000, $100,000 and $32,000.
US Pastor TD Jakes received $71,000 and $120,000, with a staggering $77,000 worth of airfares to and from Australia included.
Meyer, who is president of Joyce Meyer Ministries, has a two-storey, five-bedroom mansion outside St Louis, Missouri with about 740sqm of floorspace, a pool and four fireplaces.
The estate was built in 2006 and a 2022 real estate report had it valued at about US$1.5m.
Bishop Jakes, the senior pastor of Porter House and a frequent Hillsong speaker, purchased his 1,300 sqm mansion in Fort Worth, Texas for $5.5m in 2004.
His former home was an extravagant waterfront mansion near Dallas with five bedrooms, six bathrooms, a game room, sauna and gym. It sits on 1.95 acres with a pool, koi pond and four-car garage. The property sold in 2020 after being listed for about US$5.5m.
The one-time Palm Beach Beach home of former Hillsong pastors Joel and Julia A’Bell recently sold.
Joel and Julia A’bell had put the beachside property to market with a $2.95m guide.
Hillsong founder Brian Houston listed his Glenhaven home in Sydney’s Hills District soon after resigning from his position as head of the church, telling media he and his wife were selling the 3647sqm estate to reduce debts and simplify their lives.
The property was listed with a guide of $4.5m but sold for $4.15m, sales records showed.
The listing described the property as offering a “spectacular entertainer’s lifestyle” with a “chef’s kitchen, private in-ground pool, hot tub plus a superb selection of expansive alfresco entertaining areas while enjoying the tranquil sweeping bush backdrop”.
Egyptian-born businessman George Aghajanian, the Hillsong general manager and once Mr Houston’s right hand man lives in nearby West Pennant Hills.
His home sits on 800sqm and has five bedrooms, three bathrooms and a double garage. It is understood to be worth about $2.5m.
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