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Apart from the two main campuses, Hillsong Church currently has 14 extension services across Sydney. These extension services are based on either location or culture and rely on Hillsong Church for support and leadership. Hillsong Church's international offshoots include Hillsong London , in the United Kingdom and Hillsong Kiev in Ukraine . These churches also have services in Paris , Berlin and Moscow . Hillsong Church has grown in both size and influence over the years. Hillsong Music has become well-known in Australia, topping charts and achieving gold and platinum sales status. Hillsong has made its mark internationally with many travelling to Sydney for the annual Hillsong Conference , which attracts over 26,000 people, as well as the sales of albums and teaching and the international reputation of its leadership. The Hillsong Television program is seen in over 160 countries and Hillsong International Leadership College is attended by over 900 students from many different countries. Hillsong Church is currently attended by over 20,000 people each week. 1 HISTORY Brian and Bobbie Houston moved from New Zealand in 1978 and joined Sydney Christian Life Centre at Darlinghurst , pastored by Frank Houston , Brian's father. They started Hillsong Church, which was then known as "Hills Christian Life Centre", in August 1983 with an initial congregation of 45. Within four years it had grown to 900 people. In 1990, the church moved from "the warehouse" to hold services at the Hills Entertainment Centre. In 1986, an annual conference was developed and called Hillsong Conference , which was created to teach and train Christians from all over the world and Australia-wide. Up to 29,000 believers gather together to celebrate unity and passion for God, the church and his people. In the early 1990s , praise and worship recordings from Hills Christian Life Centre were released in Australia and internationally under the name "Hillsong". This raised the profile of the church. This name is also used for a television show featuring clips from the videos of the recordings and a message from Brian Houston. In 1997, the church moved into its new building at Baulkham Hills' Norwest Business Park. In the late 1990s the church realised that the name "Hillsong" was more well-known than "Hills Christian Life Centre" due to the branding of its recordings. The church was renamed "Hillsong Church" in 1999, about the time its mother church, Sydney CLC, was merged into Hillsong Church. 2 After further consistent growth, a new 3,500 seat convention centre at the church's "Hills" campus was opened on October 19 , 2002 , by John Howard , Prime Minister Of Australia . Due to the rapid growth of the "City" campus, the church recently announced its intentions to develop a significant area of land on Rothschild Avenue, Rosebery into the new "City" campus. OFFSHOOTS AND EXTENSION SERVICES In the 1990s, Kiev Christian Life Centre (now Hillsong Kiev ) and London Christian Life Centre (now Hillsong London ) were planted from Hillsong Church as independent churches. When Hills Christian Life Centre changed it name to Hillsong Church, the international churches did, too. While these churches are a part of Hillsong Church, they are fully independent unlike extension services. Hillsong Paris was planted out of Hillsong London as an extension service. There is also a "connect group" meeting in Berlin every Thursday. In March 2007 , Hillsong Kiev planted an offshoot church in Moscow, which started regular services in July 2007. 3 Currently, a church plant in South Africa is being considered. As Hillsong Church has grown, other churches have joined the church as extension services. Extension services are also held for cultural groups in other languages. These extension services are run by a team of people but look to Hillsong Church for leadership and support and join the vision of the church. There are currently 14 extension services across Sydney, many of which join with the "Hills" and "City" congregations for Sunday night services. In early 2007, Macarthur Christian Life Centre in Campbelltown became the 14th extension service. As the church is large and geographically more distant from the main campuses, it is planned to become the third main campus. .]] MINISTRIES Hillsong Church has many ministries operating that support the vision and the heartbeat of the church. Hillsong Church, like other churches, conducts baptisms, weddings, funerals and courses for new Christians. In order to connect people into church life, there are welcome lounges at the two main campuses and welcome to church parties are held. Pastoral care is available through the Pastors, who offer prayer, support, home visits and emergency home care. Healing services are held monthly, where people who need healing in mind, body and soul can be prayed for. The main ministries of Hillsong Church are: Connect Groups Connect groups are seen as the "heartbeat of the church". Essentially as the church grows larger, connect groups allow people to have intimate fellowship and relationship. Connect groups are found for each youth age group, single men, single women and families. Hillsong United See Also: Hillsong United Hillsong United is the Youth Ministry of Hillsong Church, which is all about raising up the next generation. Hillsong United is made up of four different age groups that combine regularly for "United nights" at both the Hills and City campuses. The four age groups are:
Hillsongwomen Hillsong Church runs a ladies meeting entitled Hillsongwomen. The service, hosted by Bobbie Houston , is for ladies of all ages and aims to empower women. Hillsongwomen is run on Thursdays at the Hills campus and Fridays at the City campus. Hillsongwomen initiated the annual Colour Your World Women's Conference, which has become the national Assemblies Of God womens conference and brings together women from all denominations across the world. Hillsong Kids Hillsong Kids is the childrens ministry of Hillsong Church. Hillsong Church provide a childrens program for all weekend servies and for Hillsongwomen. Hillsong Kids is divided into four age groups for each weekend service, they are:
Hillsong Kids run Childrens programs during major conferences and events. During Hillsong Conference there is "Kidsong" and during Colour Your World Women's Conference there is "Colour Kids". Hillsong Kids have adopted two mascots, Max and Melody. The popularity of Hillsong Music has allowed Hillsong Kids to release three albums to date; '' Jesus Is My Superhero '' (2004), '' Super Strong God '' (2005) and '' Supernatural '' (2006). HILLSONG CITY CARE Hillsong City Care (formerly '''Hillsong Emerge''') is a non-profit organisation that aims to bring social justice to the people of Sydney . Overseeing Hillsong City Care is Hillsong Church executive pastor Donna Crouch. Hillsong City Care was established in 1989, and reaches people centres, courses and visits. Around Sydney there are many Hillsong City Care Centres and Hillsong Health Centres. These centres are places that people can go to for help, support and also counselling. Hillsong Youth Services and Hillsong Children's Services conduct a range of community based programs and services to encourage and empower young people and children. Hillsong City Care run several courses through the LIFE (Living in Freedom and Excellence) and SAFE (Sexual Abuse, Freedom and Education) programs that aim to help and educate people. CONFERENCES Hillsong Church holds three conferences annually, these are: Hillsong Conference See Also: Hillsong Conference Hillsong Conference is an annual conference designed to strengthen the local church and is attended by many from various countries and denominations. The first conference was held in 1986 and has grown from 150 to 30,000 delegates in its two decade history. The conference features the Hillsong Church team as well as prominent international guests. Colour Your World Women's Conference See Also: Colour Your World Women's Conference Colour Your World Women's Conference (also known as Colour Conference) is an annual women's conference aimed to empower women. The conference was started in 1997 by Bobbie Houston, who hosts each conference, including the one in London. Hillsong Men's Conference Hillsong Men's Conference was first held in 2002 and is hosted by Brian Houston at the Hillsong Convention Centre in Baulkham Hills . HILLSONG INTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP COLLEGE See Also: Hillsong International Leadership College Hillsong International Leadership College trains aspiring Assembly of God ministers and lay leaders from around the world. The college offers training in worship and creative arts, pastoral leadership, TV and media, youth ministry, children's ministry and pastoral counselling. Since January 2006, HILC in association with Southern Cross College has offered a Bachelor of Theology degree program. POLITICAL INFLUENCE Hillsong Church has attracted support from high profile politicians, especially from the conservative Liberal Party Of Australia . The Prime Minister, John Howard, opened its Baulkham Hills campus and the Federal Treasurer, Peter Costello , spoke at its annual conferences in July 2004 and 2005. Mark Latham , the former Leader Of The Opposition , declined Hillsong's invitation to the 2004 conference,4 although Bob Carr , the then Premier Of New South Wales , (from the Australian Labor Party ), did attend the 2005 conference. The former New South Wales Liberal Party state director, Scott Morrison (to November 2004), is a prominent member of Hillsong Church. The church also attracts a large number of Aspirational Voter s from seats in the west of Sydney such as Mitchell (where the church is located), Lindsay , Macquarie and Greenway . Louise Markus who ran the Hillsong Emerge Ltd, the church's drug and alcohol outreach service in Blacktown , was preselected as the Liberal Party candidate for Greenway in the 2004 Federal Election and was elected to the House Of Representatives . Labor had held the seat since it was proclaimed in 1984 until she beat the ALP candidate Ed Husic , as well as twelve other candidates, with a two party preferred swing of 3.7%. Since the election, accusations have been made in the NSW State Parliament that Mrs Markus's campaign had exploited the Muslim background of her chief opponent,the Hon. Eric Roozendaal, Extract from Transcript of Hansard: Religious Freedom (Article No.43) , page 12087, NSW Legislative Council Hansard, 27th October 2004The Hon. David Clarke, Extract from Transcript of Hansard: Religious Freedom (Article No.38) , NSW Legislative Council Hansard, 10:28pm, 10th November 2004 Liberal MP for Mitchell, Alan Cadman , and two Family First Party Senate candidates, Joan Woods and Ivan Herald, who failed to win Senate seats, were featured in a Hillsong circular during the election, with members being asked to pray for them. Publicly, however, the church has distanced itself from advocating certain political groups and parties, including the fledgling Family First party: One thing we are not is a political movement ... 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. MUSIC '']] '']] See Also: Hillsong Music Hillsong musicians List of Hillsong albums List of Hillsong songs Hillsong's music has become internationally well-known 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 in churches worldwide. Hillsong have released over 40 albums since 1992, many of them achieving gold status in Australia. The Hillsong United band has also been present to Hillsong's music. The group led by Marty Sampson and Joel Houston has been active since 1999. Their 2004 live praise and worship album, '' For All You've Done '', reached #1 in the mainstream Australian album charts ( ARIA ) when many copies were sold during Hillsong's Annual Conference .6 CONTROVERSIES Some journalists and religious leaders have expressed concerns about the church's political stance and use of donated funds for its ministries.7 The church's prosperity teachings have also been criticised by prominent Baptist minister Tim Costello 8 and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell 9. It was revealed in 2000 that Pastor Brian Houston's father, Frank Houston, had previously engaged in homosexual and paedophilic acts. Brian Houston expelled his father from the church, despite Frank's early help in setting it up.10 As Hillsong is a Pentecostal church, it has also come under some fire from Evangelical leaders; most notably from the conservative Anglican Diocese Of Sydney , regarding its prosperity teachings The Briefing , issue 338, Matthias Media , November 2006 as well as other aspects of Pentecostal theology such as Faith Healing and Baptism In The Holy Spirit . A critical article about Hillsong came from The January 2007 issue of '' The Briefing '' (published by Matthias Media , an evangelical publication) contained a lengthy article which criticised Hillsong on several fronts, claiming that "core aspects of evangelical theology" such as "the cross, the blood, the judgment of God... the systematic exposition of the Scriptures" were "virtually absent" from Hillsong's teaching.11 ''The Briefing'' went so far as to suggest that conservative evangelicals should consider placing "a blanket ban on Hillsong music in {Link without Title} churches" so as not to endorse or financially support Hillsong.12 In 2006 Hillsong's plans to build a 3000-seat auditorium and a 900-space car park ran into community opposition with more than 300 signatures collected in a few days. The site was a former Roads And Traffic Authority depot and had been rezoned to allow 66 townhouses, but Hillsong Church bought it for $28 million and propose to build a new auditorium in Rosebery to replace their Waterloo site.13 An article in the Sydney Morning Herald, Saturday 4 August 2007, describes how Tanya Levin , two years into writing ''People in Glass Houses'', was walked off the Church's property by a security guard under the direction of Hillsong management. "There is no debate within Hillsong," she says. "That's fundamentalism. It's not open to free thought and question, not at all."14 SEE ALSO
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