An ex-staffer from Australia’s most famous megachurch is being ordained in the Metropolitan Community Church, the broadly evangelical denomination that caters specifically to the LGBT community.
Penny Davis, who underwent ex-gay therapy during her stint at Hillsong Church, Sydney, will become a pastor at CRAVE, an MCC congregation in the Paddington suburb of the city.
“My journey has led to this moment, where I stand as a confident woman who is being ordained and happens to be a lesbian,” she told the Sydney Star Observer.
The 20,000-strong Hillsong Church is well-known worldwide for its praise and worship songs, which have dominated Christian album sales and charismatic worship for almost two decades. It has, however, also faced criticism for its teachings, its finances and late Pastor Frank Houston’s confession that he sexually abused a boy. His son, Brian Houston, now leads the church.
Hillsong also had connections with Mercy Ministries, an organization that purportedly exorcised LGBT people and definitely exorcised anorexics.