It’s 7 a.m. on a recent Friday and Anna Crenshaw is “feeling alright” in Sydney, Australia. Months after her arrival in the Land Down Under to attend Hillsong College in 2016, though, this pastor’s daughter from Pennsylvania was left in shock after a Hillsong Church worship leader assaulted her.
Anna Crenshaw, 23, a former Hillsong College student and former Hillsong Church volunteer. | Anna Crenshaw
It’s 7 a.m. on a recent Friday and Anna Crenshaw is “feeling alright” in Sydney, Australia. Months after her arrival in the Land Down Under to attend Hillsong College in 2016, though, this pastor’s daughter from Pennsylvania was left in shock after a Hillsong Church worship leader assaulted her.
The now 23-year-old, who spent four-and-a-half years studying and training between Hillsong College and Hillsong Church, says she initially struggled with the decision to report what happened, partly because she was asked to keep quiet. With the help of her counselor in the fall of 2018, however, Crenshaw found the strength to share her story with church leadership.
Pastor Brian Houston appears on stage during Hillsong s 2014 conference in New York City at The Theater at Madison Square Garden. | (Photo: Hillsong Church)
Hillsong Pastor Brian Houston said the Australian health service in the state of New South Wales was being “over cautious” after it issued a health alert for people who visited the megachurch s car park at a time when the campus was closed.
“The NSW (New South Wales) govt issued a health alert for people who visited our Hills campus between 8-8.45pm on 29 December. At that time the church was completely shut and the Christmas lights were switched off after Christmas night. The NSW govt had been made aware of that,” Houston, the church’s founder, wrote on Twitter.