Hillsong church founder heard urging wives to be better at sex for husbands

Teachings of Bobbie Houston telling women to ‘be good at sex’ unearthed in 2003 recording

Bobbie Houston and her husband, Brian Houston, both founders of the Australian megachurch Hillsong (Bobbie Houston/Instagram)

A recording of Hillsong Church co-founder Bobbie Houston telling married women they “need to be good at sex” for their husbands has emerged, drawing sharp criticism.

Mrs Houston, who co-founded the Christian megachurch with her husband Brian Houston in Australia, was heard telling women to do pelvic floor exercises so their orgasm will not suffer and used the word “retard” to describe how gaining weight made her feel.

She warned women against gaining weight because “how are you going to do anything to surprise your man when you need a hydraulic crane just to turn over in bed?”. Her language have drawn sharp criticism, with some calling it “demeaning” and “shameful”.

The sex advice was part of a 2003 book and CD set produced by the church called ‘Kingdom Women Love and Value Their Sexuality’, which is no longer available.

In the recordings, first reported by Australian newspaper The Daily Telegraph, Mrs Houston encouraged Christian women to strive for “amazing sex” strictly within the boundaries of marriage, adding: “We need to be good at sex ourselves so that if the world happens to come knocking, we can tell the story of God in our lives. We can say, ‘I have a great marriage and a great sex life’.”

She also opined that it was acceptable for Christian women to get plastic surgery “if it’s for the right reasons” - which included getting one’s teeth fixed because “a mouth is supposed to be very desirable”.

“Back pain. Plumbing bits. OK, get them fixed, get healed, or go to a doctor, I’m not joking,” she continued.

People expressed their anger at her offensive comments on social media and accused Mrs Houston of being ableist and fatphobic, as well as sexist.

One person wrote: “I’ve always known Hillsong was trash but the fact that Bobbi Houston is totally comfortable dropping R-words in her fat phobic sex advice tape is… there are no words. Stop sending your royalties to this organisation, stop singing their tunes. You know better, do better.”

Hillsong claims to have 150,000 members in 23 countries, with 43,000 in Australia alone. It is known for attracting celebrity members, including singers Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez, both of whom have since left the church separately.

Australian prime minister Scott Morrison is also a member of the church. Last year, Mr Morrison confirmed he sought a White House invitation for the church leader, raising concerns over the influence Hillsong has on the government. At the time, Mr Houston was under police investigation over allegations that his father had sexually assaulted his children.