Fun Facts About Phil and Lucinda Dooley from Hillsong
Published: February 7, 2023
Last updated: July 12, 2023
By Joshua Smith 🇦🇺
I Help Beginners Build Profitable Websites
Welcome to the ultimate analysis of Hillsong pastor Phil Dooley for 2023.
I truly admire the success of many pastors who have insights that we can learn from.
The goal of these profiles is to show you the different ways people have built faith-based 6 and 7-figure careers. I hope to inspire you to create your own success online, starting today.
Note: The following is based on my best estimations. Actual numbers may differ.
Phil Dooley Facts
💡Full Name and Age
Phil Dooley (age 53)
He grew up in the Lower Blue Mountains and attended Blaxland High School between 1982 and 1987, while also attending Glenbrooke Baptist Church.
Lucinda Dooley (age 45)
🤑 Net Worth
Pastors are typically wealthier than they admit, often downplaying their net worth to appear more relatable.
As of 2023, Phil Dooley (and his wife Lucinda) have a net worth of $2,700,000 Australian dollars.
This is based on the value of their luxury home, cars and investment properties.
So yes, they are multi-millionaires!
🤩 Income Streams
An impressive pastor’s salary + passive income from property investing.
🌍 Location
Phil presumably lives in Sydney in a luxury home complete with high fences and security cameras. Given his wealth and important role within the church, he is understandably slightly concerned about his safety as anyone would be.
✌️Common Praise
A beautiful Pastor that’s worked up through the ranks over the years.
❌ Notable Complaints
Unlike Brian Houston who has earned some controversy, Phil and Lucinda have clean records.
🚀 The X-Factor
Phil has positively impacted so many lives.
When he isn’t speaking on stages around the world, he can be found surfing on the Gold Coast.
📈 Pastor Trends
Since the 6th of February, Phil and Lucinda are now the global senior pastors for Hillsong, a position that many within the church agree with. They really were the perfect fit in my eyes. 😃
🕵🏻♂️ Private Life
The Dooleys have three children – Abbey, Bella and Zac, and two dogs, Spencer and Stanley. Phil often talks about them during his speeches.
👨🏻💻 My Verdict
Phil is on a mission to repair Hillsong’s tarnished reputation, and this is no easy task. I think he’s got what it takes, but it’ll be a long and enduring journey that few others could handle.
About Me
I’m Joshua Smith from Australia. I have been building profitable content sites since 2011.
Today, in addition to managing my own portfolio, I actively help others in Australia.
How much does Phil Dooley make and how?
Unfortunately, Hillsong Global has not yet revealed how much Phil and Lucinda Dooley are paid. It appears that they prefer to keep this a secret from their donors. Maybe there will be a media leak on the horizon?
However…
It’s fair to estimate that Phil and Lucinda Dooley’s annual salary would be around $700,000 Australian dollars combined. These amounts are pre-tax, however, Hillsong Churches themselves do NOT pay taxes.
This is similar to what Pastor Brian, but is significantly less than what many other international megachurch Pastors would make in any given year.
Still, using $700k as a rough estimate equals $58k per month, so Phil may be making more in a month than many of his donors make in a year. 😲
Although I would assume that the ATO would be taking out more than 50%…
| Taxable income 2022-2023 | Tax on this income |
| $180,001 and over | $51,667 plus 45 cents for each $1 over $180,000 |
Source: https://www.ato.gov.au/Rates/Individual-income-tax-rates/
Now, a high income as a Pastor can be justified. Phil as a ton of responsibility and works 50+ hour weeks for the church. Meanwhile, he still makes time to raise 3 kids with Lucinda!
So when individuals make donations to the church, a portion will go towards ‘staff expenses’ and some believe that it’s potentially funding a nice lifestyle for the Dooleys and their children. This may include business-class flights, luxury resorts, high-end furniture and European cars.
Although they typically don’t talk about this side of their lives, so it’s more than likely they just fly ‘normal class’. 👍
Unlike the Dooleys, other megachurch Pastors have openly discussed their private jets and supercars. If you’d like more insights into these wealthy churches, then influential YouTuber Spencer Cornelia talks about numerous wealthy Pastors here:
However, thankfully, Phil is less about preaching wealth and extravagant lifestyles.
Yet a typical Hillsong regional pastor would only make around $68,000 per year, earned mainly from donations, so Phil and Lucinda may make more than 10 times that number. Not a bad career choice. 😎
The Dooley’s children may never need to work a day in their life.
Pastor Praise
Phil has always been a man of conviction, and many appreciate him for:
➜ Being humble and committed to his personal journey
➜ Having a relatable story that others truly connect with
➜ Possessing incredible communication skills on stage
➜ Sharing his family values and life lessons with the world
He is truly being called by God for a higher purpose, and many of us are with him all the way.
Pastor Red Flags
With his fame and the trust of his followers, Phil hasn’t ever faced any controversy himself.
Many of us hope it always stays this way, unlike the experiences of the man he replaced at the helm.
Phil certainly has a huge task at hand to repair Hillsong’s reputation that’s in decline. 😩
This is due to the numerous scandals over the years, and Scott Morrison and his involvement didn’t help their cause. Some rumors have spread about cover-ups and high staff salaries.
This video was leaked to Crikey:
Reading through the YouTube comments, the response was certainly interesting.
To quote one of the commenters: “Phil Dooley has a mountain to climb to set things right, and I feel his pain and integrity – but allowing excuses to perpetuate to soften the impact, will not help. It’s the very foundations of the church that need to be repaired / rebuilt – adding onto a structure built on sand will rectify nothing. Rapid growth and popularity altered the focus. So I pray the leadership involved will be willing to let go of excuses, willing to be transparent, willing to put the protection of the flock above the ‘brand’, willing to prioritise what they have been called to do: “feed My sheep”. I sensed that is Phil Dooley’s heart … sadly, I did not get the same assurance from the other participant. If we welcome God’s love we must also welcome His discipline.“
And I definitely agree with this response. 👍 We always need to keep those accountable to a high standard, especially if they are those whom we look up to.
We’ll wait and see how this evolves over the coming months.
Quotes by Phil Dooley
Over the past 20 years, Phil’s said some incredible words of wisdom via his sermons.
My favourite quotes include:
➜ “I was at the first one guys, back then we weren’t making global news, but you guys have taken it to a whole other level”
➜ “If I get stronger, I’ve got to go deeper. We live in a world quite distracted. We live on the surface. Because we don’t go deep, we don’t get stronger.”
➜ “Time is not a negative. Time is what God created us to work in.”
➜ “God has a way of dealing with our issues and reminding us He is in charge.”
This list could easily be 25x bigger! Phil is iconic for his leadership, storytelling and teaching through experiences. Some things he says are compelling, while others earn him a standing ovation!
However, this quote I don’t like at all:
➜ “We’re not about exposing people” – in response to Brian Houston’s allegations and his significant mistakes 🤔
We should expose those who have done things that have negatively impacted lives. As a blogger, I’ve exposed scams and shady characters across Australia and the world. This is no different.
My Verdict
I’m so inspired by his success as a pastor, and through his sermons, he has positively impacted so many lives. First-time Hillsong attendees typically respond well to his sermons.
Additionally, Phil’s journey with Lucinda highlights many lessons that can propel our lives forward, both on a business and personal level.
And I wish had enough space for what I’d love to share with you! 😃
But for now, my key takeaways include:
➜ Always be working on unlocking your potential
➜ Begin building strength through consistency
➜ Surround yourself with the people who believe in your vision
➜ Stay humble, focused and committed to the journey
And remember – it’s OK to become wealthy on your journey. Phil and Lucinda Dooley have certainly become wealthy, but nowhere near the wealth of Brian Houston. Not yet at least.
Now let me ask you – what does their wealth bring them?
Freedom…
Choices…
And a true love for life. 🙂
If you’re ready to build something remarkable, then I’d love to work with you.