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Home , Across the Earth, Bobbie Houston, Brian Houston (pastor), Darlene Zschech, Geoff Bullock, Hillsong

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Australia’s may be on the other side of the world, but its music and ministry style have affected every continent. We talked to about the global impact of Aussie faith.

b y N i c o l e P a r t r i d g e t was 11 o’clock on a Sunday morning when Elva knew the morning would have a profound impact on her. Hoene visited ’s for the first But on this day, it wasn’t the worship or preaching that stirred time. Clutching her daughter’s hand in anticipation, the her the most, it was the welcome from the volunteers and a beau- visitor from Germany stepped into the sunlit foyer. tiful detail at the entrance to the church—a long, red carpet and The place was abuzz with activity—children a glass sign that simply said, “Welcome Home.” The tears welled. squealing, coffee brewing and music drifting through For the longest time, Hoene hadn’t felt the warmth she was expe- Ithe sanctuary doors. She couldn’t believe it. After years of singing riencing that day. I finally feel like I am home, she thought. the renowned worship songs back home, she was finally here. She Hoene, like millions of others, had heard about Hillsong from integrity music / hillsong church January 2010 / Charisma 27 Global Troubadours her small church. She had sung the popular worship songs “” and have set the standard for contemporary worship. “Mighty to Save,” watched the YouTube preaching clips and attended with thou- It’s a typical Friday night at Inspired by bands such injustice they encountered sands of others a Hillsong United worship Hillsong United. The parking as Delirious, Hillsong United while touring and to channel event in Amsterdam. But it wasn’t until lot is filled with skateboards, were encouraged to write the passion of their global she took the 9,940-mile trip to Sydney loud music, longhaired boys their own music. “The pas- audience into social jus- that she experienced the heartbeat of the wearing ill-fitting jeans and sion for songwriting was not tice projects. In 2008 they ministry—to invite people into God’s girls huddled together in based on producing albums launched phase one of their presence. groups. Inside, thousands of or touring the globe, but for three-part project, The I Heart For two decades, Hillsong has cap- teens pack the auditorium, our youth to connect with Revolution, with the release of tured the attention and imagination of hungry for a touch from God. God,” Webb says. “[The band the CD/DVD worship project Christians worldwide with their inspiring “Youth was, and still is, all would ask], ‘What would our With Hearts As One. praise and worship. From the slums of about being ourselves and friends want to sing and wor- Last November, part two Rio de Janeiro to the bustling streets of connecting with Jesus,” says ship God to?’ So they would of the series, the documen- Stockholm, millions—more than 11 mil- JD, one of the frontmen for write those songs.” tary We Are All in This Together, lion in fact—have bought, downloaded the youth ministry’s band, A year later, at the church’s screened in more than 500 and listened to . also called Hillsong United. annual Jam United Confer- theatres across the U.S. and Since its first release in 1988, Hillsong has It is in this environment ence, the band recorded their Canada. Filmed over two recorded more than 60 albums, including that a new generation of first album, Everyday. Now years, the movie chronicles live worship, and kids and youth CDs. They the band’s journey through 42 have been distributed in 80 countries and nations, where they encoun- collected more than 30 gold and platinum tered Christians addressing awards in and the U.S. such issues as human traf- According to John Coleman, vice ficking and extreme poverty. president of Integrity Music, the demand The final part of the trilogy, for Hillsong music has exploded. “The i-heart.org, is an interactive congregational anthem ‘Mighty to Save,’ Web site designed to inspire with a recent Dove Award for Worship and mobilize users to be Song of the Year, is the second most pop- part of the solution to global ular song in American churches today,” problems. “If our worship is he says. “, the latest release about great youth meetings, from [the church’s youth ministry] Hill- nice songs, lots of jumping song United, debuted at No. 1 on the

hillsongaround church and a few CDs, then American Billboard gospel charts.” » Hillsong United want their worship music to spark a global we are missing it,” says Joel For senior Brian and Bobbie revolution of compassion and evangelism. Houston, creative director Houston, the praise and worship flowing of Hillsong Church and lead from Hillsong is an expression of the songwriters and worship after 10 albums, Hillsong singer of Hillsong United. church’s heart—to “connect people with leaders has emerged at Hill- United has become a global “Our vertical expres- the living God,” as its mission states. In song Church. Now one of the phenomenon, playing to sion must have a horizontal Sydney alone, Hillsong ministers to some world’s most popular wor- packed stadiums worldwide effect. So we’ll continue to 21,000 people in three main campuses and ship bands, Hillsong United and landing on worship, praise 14 extension services. Last year, a fourth began their journey in 1998 Christian and More Online and honor God campus opened in . Internation- at a summer camp. The youth secular music with heart, ally, Hillsong has churches in London; Kiev, encountered God, and the charts. Their See our slide show soul, mind Ukraine; Moscow; Paris; Stockholm; and worship just did not stop. most recent of popular worship and strength Cape Town, South Africa. Band leaders, including album, Across bands making the best we And while church planting all over , Marty the Earth, was strides on the know how, the world is not on the agenda for this Sampson and — No. 2 on the humanitarian front but the fruit of , its pastors have become son of Hillsong founders Brian iTunes Top at makingadifference that must be multimedia missionaries, beaming their and —were Albums chart .charismamag.com. a generation TV program to 180 countries. The also deeply impacted. “It was after it released who are totally Sydney-based International Leadership during this time they had a in May. committed to College trains more than 900 interna- revelation about worship for But for all their success, reaching the lost and helping tional students each year. Meanwhile, the youth ministry,” says tour Hillsong United have always those who need help, locally thousands flock to the church’s annual manager Luke Webb. had a yearning to redress and globally.” Colour Your World women’s events and

28 Charisma / January 2010 » Aussie style: Pastors Brian and Bobbie Houston say that despite its size, Hillsong is a local church at heart that seeks to help people flourish in life.

Hillsong Conference, which drew 20,000 be His hands and feet. My prayer is that sion of heaven on earth. “His church is attendees last July. people everywhere will fall in love with not a building,” she writes. “It is not a the potential of their local church.” program or an event, not a gospel televi- It’s this love for the local church that sion program for that matter. It is not A Local Church at Heart continues to drive senior pastors Brian even a Sunday or weekend service that Yet leaders say the scope of the ministry and Bobbie Houston, who have woven gathers believers. His house is the tangible is a sign of what God wants to do through community action and social justice into framework that embraces and cherishes His church, not just one congregation. the fabric of the ministry. Recently the His people and causes them to flourish “The church across the earth is incredibly church launched One for Another, an in life.” valuable,” says , a Hill- umbrella organization for its compassion Although initially struck by the song worship leader whose music helped ministries. church’s worship ministry, author John bring the church international attention. In her book Heaven Is in This House, Bevere says the Houstons’ passion to “And God is using it to be His felt pres- Bobbie Houston writes that God wants reach a hurting world has made the stron- ence to the broken and suffering ... to to turn His church into a tangible expres- gest impact on him. “Each time I come integrity music | hillsong church January 2010 / Charisma 29 away from Brian, Bobbie, their team and Sydney, known at the time for only two the church with a greater desire to reach things—market gardens and the largest hurting humanity and represent Jesus Holden car dealership in Australia. It was with excellence,” says Bevere, who has a good place to build a church, the Hous- spoken at several Hillsong conferences. tons thought. U.S. congregations have grown “in So they did what they knew to do: amazing ways” as a result of Hillsong’s They set up chairs and an antiquated worship and “the excellence [the Hous- sound system. “Even though we were tons] exude in representing Jesus and small and had a piano with missing keys reaching the lost,” Bevere adds. “I don’t and a piano accordion, I remember the believe the American church would be worship being so anointed and feeling where it is today had it not been for the like God was in that school hall,” recalls influence of Hillsong.” Donna Crouch, executive pastor for Hill- In Australia, that influence can be felt song CityCare. across all denominations—most notably in “The music back then was quite raw,” the (AOG), a denomi- Zschech adds. “It was rough, like any new nation independent of the U.S. church church. We had this funny array of lovely that has grown from 10,000 people to people who sang—we could never get a 215,000 in the last 30 years. choir together. The agenda was to wor- Keith Ainge, national ministries ship. Come as you are and do your best. director for what is now known as the That hasn’t changed.” Australian Christian Churches, suggests Phil and Lucinda Dooley, pastors of Brian Houston’s leadership and the influ- Hillsong Cape Town, remember a great ence of Hillsong has made a significant sense of fun and adventure. “As a young contribution to this growth. “When Brian person, I thought our senior pastor was so became national AOG president in 1997, cool,” Phil Dooley says. “He had a very he brought a fresh vision and leadership hip mullet and a long handlebar mous- to the movement,” Ainge says. tache. In fact, I think Brian and Bobbie “His example and that of Hillsong both had mullets.” “My heart burned as I read raised people to a new level of commit- “The church was full of life and ment, which has impacted the worship, passion, vision and strong leadership,” these pages. It is impossible the way the church is run and the cul- Lucinda Dooley adds. “And you never to read this book and not ture of Australian churches. Despite the knew what was going to happen next.” pick up heaven’s cry that decrease in the established church in the last decade, churches like Hillsong have the glory of the Lord will increased.” The Song Heard fi ll the earth.” But for all its influence in Australia Around the World —Bill Johnson and across the world, Hillsong is, and always will be, a local church, Houston What did happen next was extraordi- says. “I have always been passionate about nary. It was the late 1980s, and the church When Heaven Comes Down ‘the church’—not just our church, but had been growing exponentially—moving by Ché Ahn the global church and the potential of from the school to a warehouse and even- the church to help people—to make a tually to an entertainment complex. difference and shout God’s fame,” says It was during this season of growth Houston, who grew up as a pastor’s son that the was estab- in Wellington, New Zealand. lished, and Brian Houston encouraged He met Bobbie when he was 20 and , the church’s worship she was 17. They married in 1978 and leader at the time, to start writing songs. left New Zealand a year later to join “I always believed God had given me a the ministry team of Sydney Christian passion for a church that would influence Life Centre, run by Brian’s father, Frank people through music that reflected the Houston. After planting two churches, heart of the church,” Houston says. they pioneered Hills Christian Life With the vision in place, Bullock and Centre in 1983. Houston began writing songs: “Geoff’s Young and full of vision, the Hous- were great; mine were forgettable,” tons rented a public school hall in the Houston says. a division of Baker Publishingn Groupoup sparsely populated suburbs of Northwest Soon after, in 1988, Hillsong released its www.chosenbooks.com 30 Charisma / January 2010 What began as a cry from Zschech’s heart, written on the keys of her mother’s old piano and presented to the worship team apologetically, has now been sung by more than 35 million people world- wide and translated into 80 languages. Nominated for Song of the Year at the 1998 Dove Awards, the worship anthem has been performed at the White House, the Vatican and in 2008 by finalists in the popular reality show American Idol. In 2009, the compilation album by the same name was certified gold, selling 500,000 units. Although Shout to the Lord was clearly a turning point for the church, there were other highlights—the growth of their two conferences; the launch of Hillsong Sisterhood, a global women’s movement; a partnership with Compassion Interna- tional and Watoto Child Care Ministries in Uganda; the opening of a 21-acre facility in northwest Sydney by the prime minister of Australia; and the planting of Hillsong churches worldwide. And while some have viewed this growth as the result of a well-crafted marketing strategy, Brian Houston simply says, “It’s been the grace of God.” “Honestly,” Houston adds, “we have never gone out there and tried to pro- duce clever music or build crowds. We have just done what’s come naturally. In fact, even in our wildest dreams, I would never have thought for a second that this would happen.” Nor could he have predicted what was to follow. In the late 1990s, a new gen- eration of songwriters from the youth ministry began emerging—a generational transition that Houston says has been » Longtime leader Darlene Zschech (top) and Hillsong United frontman Joel critical to the church’s longevity. Today, Houston (bottom) have taken the church’s music ministry to audiences around the world. Hillsong United is one of the most influ- ential worship bands in the world. first album,Spirit and Truth, followed closely I told him I couldn’t. His only reply was, “One of Hillsong’s greatest strengths by Show Your Glory in 1990. But it wasn’t ‘Yes, you can.’” is the way they train and raise up each until 1996 when the church released Shout That week, Zschech apprehensively generation for leadership and give them to the Lord, that global recognition came. led the team in the studio and recorded opportunity,” Coleman says. “Churches “It was a great, yet difficult time,” reflects the album, which was produced in part- are now looking to Hillsong as a model Zschech, who wrote the album’s title song. nership with Integrity Music. Soon after and wanting to see that kind of thing “Just prior to recording the album, our its release, the album hit the Christian happen in their own church.” worship pastor stepped down. music charts in the U.S. “I remember Coleman is also quick to point out “I just remember sitting on my getting a call from [Willow Creek that churches need to have their own dis- driveway on a very hot Sydney day eating pastor] Bill Hybels at the time who said, tinctive. “When the worship leaders and lemonade ice blocks with Brian and [my ‘This song [“Shout to the Lord”] is stun- songwriters encounter the truth of God husband] Mark saying, ‘What are we ning,’” Zschech recalls. “It just went and His presence in a church environ- going to do?’ Brian just turned to me crazy. Letters began pouring in from all ment, the songs are born out of that— and said, ‘You’ll have to lead the album.’ over the world.” out of the house,” Coleman says. “I think

32 Charisma / January 2010 integrity music | hillsong church [Hillsong’s music] is testament to what’s impressed her. It was the love of the vol- newspapers and relief organizations. Her going on inside spiritually and under unteers that made her feel at home. November cover story for Charisma featured Brian and Bobbie’s leadership.” “I felt so honored and so appreciated as Australian missionary Irene Gleeson. She lives Bible teacher Joyce Meyer says the a person,” she said, as her eyes welled with in Sydney with her husband and two children. Houstons are humble, authentic leaders. tears. “It was fantastic. Although it’s such a “They are not only who they say they are, huge congregation, the church has made WIN A FREE DVD they are the real deal,” she says. “Without such an impact. They noticed me. That’s Experience Hillsong church’s praise and question, they have changed the music the church I’ve been looking for.” 3 worship in your own home. Visit hillsong landscape in churches throughout the U.S. .charismamag.com to be entered to win a and around the world as both their sound Nicole Partridge is a freelance journalist live recording of Hillsong’s latest project, and songs have become synonymous with based in Australia who writes for magazines, Faith + Hope + Love. praise and worship. Their anointed min- istry helps to bring people into the pres- ence of God in a powerful way.” But not everybody is celebrating Hill- song’s success. For years, the church has CREATIONHOUSE.COM been a magnet for criticism from main- stream Australian media and some church leaders. News reports and academic dis- sertations have taken aim at teaching that critics say is too focused on health and DO YOU NEED A wealth. The AOG’s Ainge believes the nation’s secularism fuels the condemna- tion. “Australia has never seen a mega- church like Hillsong before,” he points out. “And what they don’t understand, PUBLISHER they criticize.” Unmoved by the detractors, Houston ? remains committed to seeing people empowered. “We are always full of hope OFFERS: for the future,” he says. “We never dreamed CREATION HOUSE that Christians the world over would sing Q Successful book publishing since 1970 y songs penned by our worship teams, or on for excellence and integrity that our conferences would have mul- Q A reputati th the highest qualit tiplied thousands, or that Bobbie would Q Books crafted wi lead a global sisterhood of women that Q Award-winning editors and artists are radically making a difference across Q Effective marketing and distribution the earth.” itive author royalties Q Compet time Has the vision changed? “It’s the same Q Quick turn-around as it’s always been,” Houston says. “It’s about a healthy house and what that represents.” “Brian and Bobbie love God’s house, God’s people and a broken world—it’s as simple as that,” says Christine Caine, who became a member of Hillsong 21 years ago and has since founded Equip and Empower ministries. “I am secure in the fact that even though God has ele- vated the profile of Hillsong, they have remained true to their core of loving God and loving people,” she says. And on the day Elva Hoene visited from Germany, it wasn’t the success of Hillsong United’s music, the church’s global recognition or the thousands who follow Brian Houston on Twitter that January 2010 / Charisma 33 FOR INFORMATION CALL: 800-599-5750