Five key changes to Hillsong’s governance were announced in yesterday’s church service by Acting Global Senior Pastor Phil Dooley.

The changes, said Dooley, are aimed at “ensuring health within our church”. They include:

1. “The president or global senior pastor and the chair of the board and now separated and not forced to be the same person, as it was previously.

2. The global senior pastor is elected by the board. Previously, it was dictated in the bylaws who this person was.

3. The global senior pastor brings leadership vision and direction to the church, but is accountable to the board.

This means that the vision and direction will be discussed with the board in order to work together to achieve the goals outlined.

4. Previously, only the global senior pastor could nominate new board members. Now, new board members may be nominated by any board member or the global senior pastor.

5. There is no longer a requirement that the global senior pastor is a director. There is currently no reason why that person wouldn’t be on the board, but it’s not a requirement.”

“This is not about heavy-handed accountability. This is about health at every level – from the role of the senior pastor, through to those who are leading at campuses across our church.” – Phil Dooley

Dooley noted the importance of having “Apostolic leaders”, “who are called by God to lead and build the church, ultimately under the authority of the Holy Spirit of God. And their character must line up with the biblical requirements of leadership.”

However, he added that “no one person can carry all the responsibility of our church on their own. No one person, no one couple.”

“The reality is we need to create a healthier model for our church leadership going forward,” said Dooley. “This is not about heavy-handed accountability. This is about health at every level – from the role of the senior pastor, through to those who are leading at campuses across our church. From those who are our global lead pastors, this is about how do we help them?

“The question is how do we ensure that whoever is in the role of global senior pastor or lead pastor or campus pastor, how do we make sure they have the right support, counsel, care and concern to help them do the job to the best of their ability? To fulfil their duties  well, and to ensure our church is safe and a loving community for everyone and anyone who comes through the doors – that’s our goal.”

In addition to these structural changes, Dooley assured the congregation that “we are doing an investigation, which is going to take some time”.

“We will keep you informed as we go on this journey together with the goal of being a healthy church community at every level,” he said.

Dooley urged the congregation to pray the Bible verse 3 John 1:2 for their church, for themselves and for each other: “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health just as your soul prospers.”

“God is in control of his church and we’re going to continue to look to him,” Dooley concluded.