This Hillsong higher-up is switching things up, as she downsizes to a downtown NYC apartment.
Amid the ongoing controversy and scandal surrounding Australia-based megachurch Hillsong, its chief operating officer is no longer renting her swanky Manhattan pad and has purchased a cheaper, smaller unit.
The Post can report that, according to property records, Hillsong COO and executive pastor Tolu Badders has listed her Upper West Side one-bedroom — which she rented for the past 12 years — to buy a simple studio in the West Village.
According to Reps for Badders, the Upper West Side home was rent stabilized and Mrs. Badders and her family have been searching for a new home since 2016. The home’s owner has now listed it for sale at $925,000.
While her prior split-floor apartment boasted one-and-a-half baths in a full-service doorman building, her new unit features a single bathroom and a bedroom alcove tucked next to the kitchen sink. The married church leader — who rose in the ranks at Hillsong after volunteering for the New York branch in its fledgling years — purchased her new unit in late May for $800,000, property records show.
In an online bio, Badders describes her daily responsibilities as consisting of overseeing “the day-to-day running of church life” at Hillsong’s NYC branch, which was sent into turmoil along with the Christian institution’s reputation when former celebrity pastor Carl Lentz was fired for cheating on his wife in November.
Before news broke of Lentz’s scandal, the father of three and former friend of Justin Bieber sold his Montclair, New Jersey, home for $1.5 million. The sale closed just 11 days before Hillsong’s founding pastor, Brian Houston, told the church’s global congregation that the star-loving churchman had been let go as a result of “moral failures” and “breaches of trust,” The Post reported.
Although her new NYC pad may not be as spacious as her last, Badders is far from the only Hillsong pastor with a news-worthy crib.
Hillsong pastor, and CEO of its eponymous TV network, Darren Kitto calls an over 7,000-square-foot, $3.4 million Newport Beach, California, property his home.
Benjamin Houston, the son of Hillsong founder Brian Houston, — who was this week charged with concealing his father’s pedophilia and faces five years behind bars if found guilty — and wife Lucille have enjoyed a variety of luxurious California addresses, from a gated Newport Beach property with panoramic views of Disneyland’s fireworks to a 7,700-square-foot pad boasting landscaped outdoor areas, a fireplace and vaulted ceilings.
Other members of the Hillsong hierarchy varyingly enjoy multimillion-dollar mansions with spas, pools and sun decks galore.
As a church, Hillsong does not pay taxes on its revenue.
