Hillsong Church says founder Brian Houston breached its code of conduct, with the organisation apologising "unreservedly" to two women who complained about his inappropriate behaviour.
The Hillsong Global Board on Friday afternoon sent a letter to church members, leaked to the ABC, about complaints made about Mr Houston's conduct in 2013 and 2019.
The letter was sent to members hours after the new head of Hillsong Church, Pastor Phil Dooley, held an extraordinary meeting with 800 global staff members detailing Mr Houston's "indiscretions".
"We have sadly been dealing with two complaints made against Pastor Brian over the last 10 years," the board said.
"We apologise unreservedly to the people affected by Pastor Brian's actions and commit to being available for any further assistance we can provide."
The first incident, detailed in the letter and by Pastor Dooley, involved "inappropriate text messages" sent to a female staffer which led to her resigning.
Pastor Dooley, in an emotional video conference, said the texts were along the lines of: "'If I was with you, I'd like to kiss and cuddle you,' words of that nature".
The Hillsong Global Board said Mr Houston at the time was "under the influence of sleeping tablets, upon which he had developed a dependence".
"He immediately apologised to the person. We also worked with Pastor Brian to ensure he received professional help to eliminate his dependency on this medication, and this was achieved successfully."
Pastor Dooley said the female staffer, who was "upset and felt awkward", made a complaint to Hillsong general manager George Aghajanian.
When she returned months later and told the church she was unable to find employment after resigning, Mr Houston paid "a couple of months salary" as compensation from his own pocket.
"Pastor Brian said, 'I want to pay that personally because it was my fault,' because it was personal indiscretion," Pastor Dooley said.
The 2019 incident, the church said, occurred during its annual conference in Qudos Bank Arena in Homebush, NSW which Prime Minister Scott Morrison opened.
Pastor Dooley said Mr Houston met a woman, who was not a member of the church, in the foyer of the Pullman Hotel.
"It was after one of the conference nights and he was drinking with a group," Pastor Dooley said.
"Later that evening, Pastor Brian attempted to get into his room but didn't have his room key and ended up knocking on the door to the woman's room.
"She opened the door and he went into her room.
"The truth is we don't know what happened next. The woman has not said there was any sexual activity. Brian has said there was no sexual activity but he was in the room for 40 minutes."
The board said an investigation found Mr Houston "became disorientated... following the consumption of anti-anxiety medication beyond the prescribed dose, mixed with alcohol".
The investigation did not uphold all parts of the complaint but "important elements of the complaint were sustained and the conduct was of serious concern".
"Ultimately, the board found that Brian had breached the Hillsong Pastor's Code of Conduct," the board said.
"We also acknowledge that this person did not deserve to be placed in the situation she found herself in by Pastor Brian".
Pastor Dooley said after the incident, the woman's conference fee and her "Kingdom Builder" donation were returned. Both were personally paid for by Mr Houston.
He said Mr Houston had taken three months off, promising to abstain from alcohol during that period.
"Unfortunately, he didn't abide by that. He did conduct some ministry, I believe on three separate occasions... and he also did, as he would say, consume some alcohol."
Mr Houston stepped down as the director of all Hillsong boards earlier this year to defend a criminal charge that he concealed his father's child sexual abuse.
"In December, during our board meeting, Hillsong's external legal counsel gave the board advice regarding the current charge I am facing," Mr Houston said in January.
"[The advice said] that it would be 'best practice' for me to step aside completely from church leadership during the court proceedings."
Pastor Dooley told the meeting that some church elders raised concerns the board had "covered up" the two women's complaints by failing to mention them in the statement about Mr Houston stepping aside.
He denied any allegations of a cover-up.
"I would say that I believe that the board acted appropriately under the circumstances of the information given to them and with a desire to see Brian healthy," he said.
Pastor Dooley said the decision was made to offer "grace".
"I think we have always been a church that sees the grace of God expressed in Jesus and that our desire is not to expose anyone".
He told the meeting it was important anyone who came to the church felt safe and did not feel like they would be subjected to "any form of abuse or harassment".
"We're deeply sorry for those victims and for what they've had to go through and what they've had to endure," he said.
"We acknowledge Pastor Brian has made significant mistakes ... we also do want to pray for Pastor Brian and for Bobbie [his wife] and the family because there is a lot of pain associated with this.
"Sin is messy and it brings all kinds of pain".
Mr Houston and Hillsong Church have been approached for comment.
