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Hillsong is a thoroughly modern free church
that started in NZ and has since spread to Australia, London and
Ukraine. They perfectly blend music, The Bible and showmanship
to create what can only be described as the Hillsong experience.
It's an experience on the whole that is pretty good. There are
lots of sermons that contain self help stuff - lots of positive
motivational stuff for teenage kids that need direction. That's
all good in my view. It does focus quite a bit on self - ie what
can god do for me. And I havn't yet heard a great deal of the
hard to swallow stuff that Jesus taught though I've no doubt I
just missed it as Im not a regular goer.
There
is a lot of negative stuff flying round about Hillsong Church
recently. Ususally focused on money as you'd expect the media
to do with any rich religious organisation. The old saying goes
- "If you wanna get rich...
build a church"! But is that the real Motive behind churches
like Hillsong or are their motives to really serve and help the
needy? It's very hard to tell without an open book which would
instantly dispell any negatives and only increase their popularity
- come on Brian - put those people to shame!:)
In any case - normally those people and
organisations with bad intentions evade and avoid and say "it's
not your buisness" - "we'll do things the way we want
- right church - yea!!!" Afterall - The Bible says "it
is is not for man to judge other men".
Brian
Houston says "you can arrange a meeting and see the Hillsong
books if you so wish - there's absolutely nothing to hide".
I read
one article entitled "we collect money and spend it on video
screens". I found this statement about Hillsong Church an
unfair thing to print which is not here to defend itself, but
after 2 years of attending Hillsongs Church and seeing the good
but also hearing and to some degree - experiencing some reservations,
I felt compelled to explore my own feelings and try to work out
why people and occasionally I had these negative thoughts. Are
they the spirit of truth pervading my thoughts or are they the
inevitable doubts of a jadded beliver that has encountered the
works of God in a strong way? Mabe it's bitterness at seeing such
a 'successful' church or, mabe I'm not right when I react to seeing
young kids putting money into enveolopes three times in one meeting
- after all - the church need to pay bills like everyone else
and have frankly huge expenses. And God also doesnt intend any
of us to be poor. The question is - was he talking about life
on earth, or the afterlife - or perhaps were expected to be happy
with our lot - live from day to day and some will be poor and
some will be rich - ie we are not to be in the pursuit of money
and must accept that some will be given riches and some not. Imagine
if all belivers became rich on earth. It would be the opposite
of Christ himself's lifestyle whom we are asked to follow by picking
up our cross. Being poor does not mean you are not blessed. Some
of the poorest people on earth are the most blessed and vice versa.
God can't be confined to anything. I belive God doesn want to
bless - but that we must be happy if we are not financially rich
- and strive to make ourselves better - more skilled, more giving
- yes - but not strive to be financially secure as in reality
there is no such thing!:)
Perhaps
I should I just shut up and get on with giving myself - afterall
I do belive 100% that the only way to receive true fulfillment
in life is to give of yourself. But God only requires the minimum
donation of our love does he not according to the Bible - or is
he happier when we give up our money too? I think he may well
be - but it's what happens to it afterwards that concerns me.
All I needed was a little reasurance that the money was going
to be used in ways that Christ would have endorsed. How one would
find out exactly how the money was being used I have no clue -
hey Hillsong people... can u tell me where it goes - do you have
an open accounts policy?
More About Hillsong Church
Hillsong was founded in the Sydney CBD in the late seventies by
Frank Houston. This next bit is what I picked up from the web
and various other sources and I have no idea if it's true. If
it is - it doesn't necessarily make Brian Houston responsibe or
in any way mean he has done something wrong. Here's what they
say - true or false - "Frank confessed to being a paedophile
and was pushed out of the Church by his son Brian, who then took
the church to the Hills district and built it up to what it is
today".
Hillsong is a slight variant on the Assemblies
of God Pentecostal doctrine. They read from the standard Bible,
believe in faith healing (Benny Hinn style), water submersion
baptisms and more in a non-canon ethos called the 'prosperity
doctrine'.
You
do see a lot of good when you go to a Hillsong Church... but It's
difficult for even those that are behind Hillsong to ignor 3 money
collections for which they need for "to pay bills and launch
a new TV station in the UK". This kind of thing is bound
to arouse suspicion - but at the same time - has to be done as
you need money to do things. As far as I am concerned if Hillsong
are accountable with their money - they can have as much as they
like. All money is Gods and if Christians are going to use it
for the good then great.
Most churches offer up their accounts freely
for all to see - and so they should... anything else would be
to arouse suspicion. Brian Houston says you can see their books
any time you want - good for him. Some say "There is nothing
really Biblical about the prosperity Gospel that he preaches -
that it is a materialistic system whereby adherents are encouraged
to give in order to receive greater rewards from God.
Music really is the most useful tool that
man has either for good or bad and Hillsong realised straight
away that if they wanted to get kids into chuch - or anyone for
that matter. They needed to taylor the music for the specific
audience they wanted. Music is hugely poweful - sometimes I worry
that the church is church is copying the rubbish secular muisc
that and gets them used to mundaness and sameness of pop culture.
Hillsong invests a lot of money into its
music program, this has paid off big time recently with a national
number one album. Wealthy, successful, happy and beautiful is
the way Christians can be according to Hillsong - theyre probably
right.
Hillsong sponsor a village in Uganda, they’re
opening up an outreach centre in Blacktown to help poor people
with their problems. Where does the money come from? Donations
and contributions from Hillsong’s congregation of 15000
- who are encouraged to contribute millions of dollars a year
via collections and fundraising. I’ve looked for more of
their charity work but haven’t found anything as of yet.
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Hillsong For the Girls!
If you're a girl, you probably love fashion, shopping, having
fun, & living life in your own special way, well guess what?
We think you're amazing & we're giving you an place on the
day totally devoted to chix! You can get your hair done, nails
painted, make-up done, talk amongst your friends, all whilst hangin'
in a fun & relaxing environment, away from loud Motox Bikes
& flying Skateboards! If you're an exo chick, you'll love
EXO CHIX at BIGEXODAY '04.
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More Information on Hillsong Church
Hillsong Church is a Pentecostal Evangelical Christian church.
The first Church was in Australia north-west of Sydney - Baulkham
Hills Norwest Business Park with a smaller site in the central
business district. Newer Hillsong projects are Hillsong Church
London (United Kingdom) and Hillsong Kiev Ukraine. Started by
Pastors Brian Houston and Bobbie Houston it's a member of Assemblies
of God congregation. Hillsongs new 3500 seat convention centre
was opened in 2002 by John Howard Australian Prime Minister.
Hillsong History
Brian Houston and Bobbie Houston got married in 1977 and moved
from New Zealand in 1978 and joined the Sydney Christian Life
Centre. In Aug 83, they formed the Hills Christian Life Centre
with an initial congregation of 45.
As the Hillsong music ministry of the church
developed with an annual conference called The Hillsong Conference
was created to teach and train Christian musicians. In the early
1990s, Praise and Worship CDs from Hills Christian Life Centre
were released in Australia and internationally. This raised the
profile of the church. Eventually the church realised that the
name "Hillsong" was more well-known than Hills Christian
Life Centre. The church was then renamed Hillsong Church in the
late 1990s.
Current operations
The Hillsong Church has spearheaded the growth of the Pentecostal
Church in Australia, which is the fastest growing Christian denomination
in Australia. The Hillsong Church has a number of associated operations
including:
the annual Hillsong Conference, which 25000 people attended at
the Sydney Superdome in 2005
the Colour Your World Women's Conference;
the Hillsong Men's Conference;
the Hillsong International Leadership College which trains aspiring
Assembly of God ministers and lay leaders from around the world.
Hillsong Church provides many other services, descriptions of
which are available in an A-Z list.
The Hillsong Church has congregations in London UK, Kiev and in
many locations in Africa.
Hillsong Church Political Life
The Hillsong Church has attracted support from high profile politicians
especially in the Liberal Party of Australia. Prime Minister John
Howard opened its Baulkman Hills campus and Treasurer Peter Costello
spoke at its annual conference in July 04 and 05. Opposition Leader
Mark Latham declined Hillsong's invitation to the annual 04 conference,[1]
although Bob Carr, the Premier of New South Wales, (from the Australian
Labor Party) did attend the 05 conference.
This access to high level Federal politicians
may be, in part, due to the fact that the former New South Wales
Liberal Party state director Scott Morrison (to November 04) and
now chief executive of Tourism Australia is a prominent member
of Hillsong Church.
The Church also attracts a large number
of aspirational voters from marginal seats in the west of Sydney
such as Lindsay, Macquarie and Greenway. Louise Markus who ran
the Hillsong Church's drug and alcohol outreach service in Blacktown
was preselected as the Liberal Party candidate for Greenway in
the 04 federal election and was elected to the House of Representatives.
Labor had held the seat since it was proclaimed in 84 until she
beat the ALP candidate Ed Husic, as well as twelve other candidates,
with a two party preferred swing of 3.7%.
Subsequent to the election accusations
were made in the New South Wales State Parliament that Mrs Markus's
campaign had inappropriately placed undue emphasis on the Muslim
background of her chief opponent. Liberal MP for Mitchell, Alan
Cadman and two Family First Senate candidates, Joan Woods and
Ivan Herald, who failed to win Senate seats were featured in a
Hillsong circular during election with members being asked to
pray for them.
The candidates for both the Christian Democrat
and Family First parties in Greenway recorded lower percentages
of votes than their parties' candidates in comparable seats. Publicly
the church has distanced itself from advocating certain political
groups and parties. The Assemblies of God in Australia does not
have a political vision and we don't have a political agenda.
I think people need to understand the difference between the church
being very involved in politics and individual Christians being
involved in politics. There is a big difference. (Brian Houston)
Hillsong Church Music
Hillsong's music has become well-known internationally amongst
Christian groups. Songs such as "Power of Your Love"
by Geoff Bullock and "Shout to the Lord" by Darlene
Zschech have become popular and are sung throughout churches world-wide.
Hillsong have released over 40 albums since 92, many of them achieving
gold status in Australia. Their 04 live praise and worship album
For All You've Done reached no.1 in the secular Christian Australian
album charts.
Hillsong Curch Controversies
Since Hillsong is one of Australia's largest and most successful
churches, it naturally has come under scrutiny over the years
and a number of controversies have arisen. Some specific concerns,
namely the church's political stance, use of donated funds for
its ministries, and Prosperity Teaching are addressed on their
website.
Prosperity Teaching
Also known as Word-faith theology is one of the hallmarks of Hillsong
church's teaching as in Houston's book 'You Need More Money'.
Essentially the theology teaches that God wants his people wealthy
and prosperous, and has given them the ability to "unleash"
this power from within. Many Christians, including Tim Costello
(the brother of Hillsong conference addressee and Federal Treasurer
Peter Costello) as well as those from the Assemblies of God in
Australia, oppose this teaching as being unbiblical and heterodox.
Downs & Criticisms
Firstly remember no-ones perfect and jesus came to save the bad
people - and that's me and you - everyone in fact is a sinner
and in need of saving - not just our church leaders who work all
hours to help us! They need our prayers to stay on the straight
and narrow and it would be foolish to think they would be 'sinless'
since that state doesnt exist according to the Bible.
OK that out of the way - of some of the church's high profile
staff over its twenty five year history have led many to question
the inner motives of those in charge.
"Pat Mesiti - a pastor and Youth Alive
creator. Admitted to adultery in 2002 and was stood down temporarily
by Houston until he could be "restored". At the time
he was also the National Director of Australian Christian Churches
(a loose grouping of Australian Pentecostal and Charismatic churches)
but was stood down.
Geoff Bullock - The church's former "Worship
Pastor" who was the "poster boy" of the church's
influential worship music. After leaving the church his marriage
fell apart and he married an "old friend" soon after.
Allegations of adultery were made but Bullock has explicitly denied
these. Some of Bullock's comments about his time at the church
also seem to indicate that he may not have even been a Christian
while he was ministering there.
Frank Houston
Brian Houston's father who stood down from ministry after sexual
misconduct was revealed dating back to the 70s in New Zealand.
This includes allegations of sexual abuse against a teenage boy.
Frank Houston died on November 8, 2004, aged 82.
Style of Worship of Hillsong, featuring young "happy clappy"
worshippers singing to loud contemporary music in a pop concert-like
environment, has also drawn criticisms. Some feel the impersonality
of the Hillsong services as going contrary to the notion of a
Christian fellowship or community; this, coupled with the "Prosperity
Teachings", are leading to a highly self-centred form of
Christianity. While others have hailed the Hillsong style of worship
as the way to attract a younger generation of worshippers, pointing
out Hillsong's spectacular growth amidst the decline in other
traditionalist churches' memberships.
Some cult church style behaviour allegations
have been raised in relation to the use of music as a method of
recruiting, allegations of love bombing and social cliques spreading
into mainstream social life have also been raised over the past
few years by mainstream media sources (SMH/DT). The perceived
ulterior motives behind assisting drug affected youth, alcoholics
and people in poor financial circumstances has also been criticised.
On 3 August 05 The Australian reported
that both Brian Houston and Bobbie Houston were under investigation
by the Office of Fair Trading for not filing financial statements.
Others have claimed that the reported investigation was really
a request for the financial statements documents to be filed and
that the request has been satisified. LMI is claimed to be a Christian
ministry separate to Hillsong Church. LMI is a not-for-profit
organisation and is governed by a board of directors.
Related Christian topics
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Discernment
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About Hillsong Church @ christianadvice.net
2005
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