Hillsong Church has announced the appointment of new national leaders in the United Kingdom. Tim and Nicola Douglass, who currently pastor a Hillsong church in Melbourne, Australia, will be moving to London to take over from Gary and Cathy Clarke.
"Join us as we welcome back Tim, Nicola and their family from Australia as they take on the role of being our Lead Pastors of Hillsong UK!" read a post on Hillsong London's Instagram Page.
It added: "We love and are so grateful for Gary & Cathy Clarke and are celebrating them as they step into a new season of supporting our Church globally!
"We are excited and faith-filled for all that is ahead - We believe that God has much more for us as a church this year, and we can't wait to step into it together!"
According to his bio, Tim Douglass has been part of HIllsong for 30 years, and has spent time in London helping plant churches and develop Hillsong's youth ministry. In 2021, Tim and Nicola then moved to Melbourne to plant a church, which has "experienced incredible growth and has increased from one location to currently 7 thriving campuses across Victoria and Tasmania", according to the Hillsong website.
In an announcement last weekend, Hillsong's founder Brian Houston said that Gary and Cathy Clarke would be taking on a new role helping to lead the global movement as it tackles a number of challenges in the wake of prominent New York pastor Carl Lentz being terminated for moral failure. Following this very public scandal, Houston said it was time to put in new central structures to help the growing Hillsong movement ensure accountability and health.
He also suggested that a change might be afoot for him and his wife, Bobbi. The couple have led the church since its inception in 1983.
"This year is our 38th year, since Bobbi and I started out," Houston explained. "I've been doing a lot of soul-searching and praying about the future and the way ahead."
"Globally, we've grown so rapidly. We need to put a whole lot more structure into what we're doing globally. It's unsustainable for us to be able to lead everything that we're leading right now," he added. "I want to be looking at ways we can share that load. Over the next couple of years, I would like to put in place younger leaders here in Australia and around the globe."