A megachurch in Florida has ended it's affliation with Hillsong Church after a number of scandals, including the resignation Brian Houston, the denomination's founding pastor.

Co Pastor of Grace City Church in Lakeland Andrew Gard, told the Ledger that the mulitiple of scandals have been "devastating" for everyone and and that the last straw had been "the news that came out about Pastor Brian."

The Church was not a Hillsong church but had an association with the denomination that meant its assistance could be sought in certain instances. 

Gard told The Ledger: "If I had a moral failure, our local church council could have gone to Hillsong to see if this is restorative or does Andrew need to be fired.

"Or number two if my wife and I were killed in a car accident and they had to find new senior pastors, our council could have worked with Hillsong to help us in that."

After invesitgations into complaints by two women concluded that he had broken the Hillsong Pastor's Code of Conduct, Brian Houston stepped down in March.

Gard also spoke over the firing of Hillsong New York City pastor, Carl Lentz, in 2020 for moral failures and leadership issues. 

"It impacted us in that these are people I love. Carl Lentz was and is a friend. So it's devastating, it's heartbreaking," he said.