Hillsong United to 'Encounter' U.S. in 2009

Hillsong United will "encounter" the United States next year during what will be their most extensive visit to America to date.

The world renowned worship band announced recently its plans to kick off the 2009 Hillsong United Encounter event with a two-day opener in Miami that will start April 17 and feature speaker presentations, teaching and concerts.

The Miami Encounter conference, which is designed for pastors, youth leaders, worship leaders, musicians and students, will focus on the subjects of worship and justice and equipping young people to bring both to their local communities. Seminars will demonstrate how young people can transform churches and communities. Some of the breakout sessions will teach the art of worship songwriting; building great worship teams and youth ministry programs; and building the next generation of worshippers.

“Learn that true heartfelt worship and justice are inseparable,” the event’s promoters say.

“Soak up teaching from Phil Dooley, Joel Houston and Hillsong Church Senior Pastor Brian,” they add.

Aside from the Miami Encounter conference, what is known is that a final Encounter event is expected to take place in Los Angeles in August. Details related to Hillsong United's additional U.S. appearances will reportedly be announced in the coming months.

Tickets, meanwhile, are available for purchase through IntegrityLive.com. Those who register before Dec. 31 qualify for a 50 percent discount.

Source

Hillsong United to 'Encounter' U.S. in 2009

Hillsong United will "encounter" the United States next year during what will be their most extensive visit to America to date.

The world renowned worship band announced recently its plans to kick off the 2009 Hillsong United Encounter event with a two-day opener in Miami that will start April 17 and feature speaker presentations, teaching and concerts.

The Miami Encounter conference, which is designed for pastors, youth leaders, worship leaders, musicians and students, will focus on the subjects of worship and justice and equipping young people to bring both to their local communities. Seminars will demonstrate how young people can transform churches and communities. Some of the breakout sessions will teach the art of worship songwriting; building great worship teams and youth ministry programs; and building the next generation of worshippers.

“Learn that true heartfelt worship and justice are inseparable,” the event’s promoters say.

“Soak up teaching from Phil Dooley, Joel Houston and Hillsong Church Senior Pastor Brian,” they add.

Aside from the Miami Encounter conference, what is known is that a final Encounter event is expected to take place in Los Angeles in August. Details related to Hillsong United's additional U.S. appearances will reportedly be announced in the coming months.

Tickets, meanwhile, are available for purchase through IntegrityLive.com. Those who register before Dec. 31 qualify for a 50 percent discount.

Source

Integrity To Release New Hillsong Kids Follow You CD, DVD & Digital Songbook

Integrity Music announces the January 27, 2009 release of Follow You, a new CD, DVD and digital songbook from the critically-acclaimed Hillsong Kids product line created by the children's ministry of Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia.

The Follow You live worship CD and DVD were created specifically for children with fun, kid-friendly versions of popular praise and worship songs that encourage children to be devoted to Jesus. The 13-track CD includes the title track, "Take It All" and "Trust and Obey" plus other songs popularized by Hillsong's Live and United worship albums.

The Follow You DVD takes the viewer right into the action as thousands of children enthusiastically worship Jesus. The DVD features the same song list as the CD but is divided into three episodes, each with live songs, music videos, memory verses and interactive teaching. Special features include accompaniment tracks, dance instruction and a behind-the-scenes interview.

In addition, the Follow You digital songbook is the perfect companion resource for children's ministers and teachers.

Source

Hillsong rocks Zambia

Lusaka. — Watching Australia's rock and worship band, Hillsong United, perform live-in concert last week, it was evident from the start that Zambians have been getting a raw deal from some local and international artistes who have performed in front of them.

Despite being a mid-week ministry concert held in the capital, Lusaka, on a showery Tuesday evening, hundreds of youths filled the open spaces of the showgrounds to attend what can now be easily described as among the best concerts ever held on the Zambian soil in recent years.
As advertised, the one-off show began a few minutes after 18:00 hours, with impressive performances from local gospel artistes, Stan Chipuma and Ephraim Mutalange, the recent winner of the Inaugural Christian Gospel Arts promotions (Chapro) 2008 awards.
However, it was Hillsongs, an 18-member band that sent the crowd screaming when they stepped onto the stage. For any fan of live-performances, judging by the massive stage and equipment, it was easy to tell, that the sound was going to be like nothing ever heard in Zambia before.

And finally, when the stage was lit into bright reds, blues and greens, the drums struck, and the guitars started strumming, blended by soulful voices, the atmosphere was simply mesmerising.
For an audience, whose only experience with rock gospel music has been on radio and television, it was interesting to see the locals bouncing around to the music.

Unlike past performances by any other international artiste, the lyrics, especially to the popular songs 'All I need is you", 'Look to you', 'Hosanna' and 'what the Lord has done in me', provided on the projectors, ensured that the spectators were completely engaged in the music, singing to every song.

It was no wonder that even when Hillsongs Youth Pastor Chrishan Jeyaratman, gave a sermon, every one seemed attentive. His message on 'Love' and a call for people to 'engage' in helping those that are unfortunate was timely. read more

Hillsong united concert “rocked” !

WORLD acclaimed award-winning music group, Hillsong United, this week put up a larger than life performance at the Lusaka Showgrounds where thousands of Christian faithfuls braved the showering evening for four hours of praise and worship.

The K20,000-per-head show, initially scheduled to run from 18:00 hours to 20:00 hours, started around 19:00 hours and went on and on until a few minutes before mid-night, as fans kept shouting for more from the band that has distinguished itself as an all-encompassing gospel group.

The venue was filled to capacity with only small portions remaining at the far end of the field, where it was darker.

Literally, every available space was taken up, and just a few minutes after the start of the show, the VIP gate was closed and patrons that had initially bought the tickets in advance had to end up using the main arena gate.

During the show, the group belted several popular tunes such as Everyday, We look to You, Hosanna, and Amazing Grace.

The audience danced their lungs out, raised hands in adoration and bowed knees in worship as the song leaders churned out one tune after the other.

It was an all-inspiring night that did not need one to know the lyrics of the song in order to sing along. read more

They of the Jesus Belt

THEY may be used to performing at church services but that didn't stop Glenwood-based band 11:59 from winning the Macarthur Clash band competition last month.

The band, whose members met during their studies at religious college Hillsong, play outside Villawood Detention Centre every Sunday morning.

Their electro pop beats proved popular at the Clash final, held at Ingleburn RSL, but keyboard player and singer Stu Hawkins said the win was unexpected.

``It took us completely by surprise,'' he said.

Hawkins, like two others from 11:59, is from Britain and has lived in Australia for the past three years. One band member also moved here from Canada.

``We like to think we're a Brit pop band that lives in Australia,'' he said. ``We seem a little different certainly to the bands we see in pubs.''

But 11:59 are no stranger to the Sydney pub circuit. They have played around Manly and at the Annandale Hotel.

The prize included having their songs recorded, a filmed music video clip and marketing and promotional material. read more