Hillsong Church rocks with G-LEC at the Dominion

Every Sunday, the Dominion Theatre in London's Tottenham Court Road, home to We Will Rock You, becomes the setting for the London services of Hillsong Church. A vibrant church, Hillsong in London has grown in ten years to a congregation of some 10,000 people, holding three services each week.

With a relatively young congregation of mainly 20-35 year olds, the senior pastor of Hillsong London was looking to add dynamics to the services and so provide more engagement with the congregation. "We had been using a large back projection screen on the stage at the Dominion," explains the Church's technical director, Frankie du Toit, "and we needed something that would work in conjunction with that."

He saw the G-LEC Phantom 30 frames at the PLASA show last year and was impressed with the system's ease of use and light weight. He continues: "The system is not only used at the Sunday services, but also at the various events, such as conferences, which the Church organises around the country. I needed a system that was going to be easy to manoeuvre, easy to rig and, above all, reliable."

With its own graphics department, Hillsong Church designs images specifically for the G LEC Phantom 30 system, which are distributed via a grandMA Video server.

12 G-LEC Phantom 30 frames are now installed at the Dominion Theatre where, thanks to the crew of We Will Rock You, they are stored on fly bars during the week, ready for use on Sundays.

Bryan Norton, managing director of G-LEC UK, said: "This is one of the first installations for G LEC UK and it's extremely satisfying to have such a delighted customer."

Source

WorshipSource.com and Word Records Team Up To Create 30 All Time Favorite Series

WorshipSource.com, the leading community networking site for church worship leaders, worship writers and artists as well as the passionate worshiper, and Word Records have joined forces to create the quintessential audio series for the Church. With the tag line �The Songs The Church Is Singing,� the 30 All Time Favorite Series features 30 songs on two CD�s at a fan-friendly price.

The first in the series, 30 All Time Favorite Worship Songs, releases March 17th and features �all time favorite� songs made popular by Chris Tomlin, Israel Houghton, Matt Redmon, Paul Baloche, Lincoln Brewster, Passion, and Hillsong. (See track listing below.)

The 30 All Time Favorite Series continues on April 21st with the release of 30 All Time Favorite Hymns and a special seasonal release, 30 All Time Favorite Christmas Songs, in late September.

Track listing
Disc 1
Your Grace Is Enough
Trading My Sorrows
Friend Of God
Everlasting God
Made To Worship
Come Now Is The Time To Worship
Enough
Blessed Be Your Name
Jesus Messiah
Mighty To Save
Holy Is The Lord
We Fall Down (At The Feet Of Jesus)
In Christ Alone (My Hope Is Found)
Wonderful, Merciful Savior
Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)

Disc 2
You Are Good
Because Of Your Love
How Can I Keep From Singing
You Never Let Go
Sing, Sing, Sing
Beautiful One
I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever
Open The Eyes of My Heart
Better Is One Day
At The Cross
My Savior My God
How Great Is Our God
You Are My King (Amazing Love)
Here I Am To Worship
How Deep The Father's Love For Us

JAAL Women’s Luncheon a Huge Success

More than 200 women gathered at Sydney’s Hilton Hotel this week to learn more about the Bible Society’s ‘Jesus. All about life’ campaign.

The non-denominational, state-wide campaign hinges on mass-media advertising, however Christians are being called upon to act at grass-roots level to truly take the concept ‘to the people’.

The women were addressed by international songwriter, worship leader and author Darlene Zschech, (whose song ‘Shout to the Lord’ is sung by an amazing 30 million Christians every week).

They also heard from the dynamic Pastor Chris Pringle from Christian City Church and Hillsong’s Sue and Peter Irvine, who started the enormous Gloria Jeans franchise.

The attendees told all about the campaign, then were urged to do what women do best- that is, talk to others about Jesus and what he said ‘about life’, as well as the importance of being loving and supportive role models as people are made increasingly aware of Jesus.

Attendees were also urged to ensure their churches are registered for Jesus. All about life.

All Christian denominations have registered their support for the campaign, which officially kicks off in September.

New South Wales Bible Society

The Bible Society of New South Wales campaign "Jesus. All about life" will now cover all of New South Wales (NSW). It has already run successfully in Adelaide, Canberra and Tasmania.

"Jesus. All about life" is a non-denominational, advertising-based, mass-media campaign which aims to increase the general public’s awareness of the person of Jesus, and what he said ‘about life’.

So far, it has the support of all the major denominations including the Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Church, Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Australian Christian Churches including Hillsong and the Baptist Church of NSW. This campaign is supported by local churches, who will run community, cultural, and arts events that connect with the message of the campaign.

The crusade is to run during September and October this year and was to include Sydney and surrounds, however it’s now been decided to take it to the whole of the state.

More than 330 churches across Sydney have already committed their support to the Bible Society’s ‘Jesus. All about life’ campaign. In an amazing show of denominational unity, 83 Seventh Day Adventist churches have registered, alongside all of the other major denominations.

“We are very enthusiastic about the Jesus All About Life Campaign and have signed up all our congregations and schools,” says President of the Greater Sydney Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Pr David Blanch.

“We love the message this campaign promotes in the community and are keen to do what we can as a denomination to promote the relevance of Jesus to everyday life.

“We have a high regard for the work of the Bible Society and know that working with them will be a positive experience for our congregations while delivering an important message to the people of Sydney.

“As a denomination this campaign gives us a concerted focus on Jesus and promotes synergy within our congregations and schools as we work together to lift Jesus up in our city.”

All of Sydney’s Christian churches are being urged to register their interest now for the Bible Society’s non-denominational multi-media campaign.

Bible Society NSW CEO Daniel Willis says it will be a better use of resources to have the campaign cover a wider area. "We have been working on plans for the Sydney campaign for over two years," Daniel said.

"Jesus. All about life" committees are already in place in the Hunter, Wollongong and Central Coast regions, and we have spoken with churches in both the north west and central west of NSW, so it makes sense to all work together.

"The Sydney campaign is progressing well and has the support of the major churches and denominations," said Daniel. "Whilst expanding the campaign will be a challenge, we’re confident "Jesus. All about life" will receive the support of regional leaders and churches."

"I have seen how country churches sometimes struggle to make an impact in their community. Being a part of the "Jesus. All about life" campaign, means they will join with hundreds of other churches and thousands of Christians as together we present the person of Jesus and what he said into our society," said Daniel.

One of the most visible elements of the campaign so far has been the "Jesus. All about life" V8 Ute and V8 Supercar driven by Andrew Fisher. "Andrew and the Jesus Racing team are a major part of the Bible campaign," Daniel says. "Jesus Racing has already made a major impact at cultural and community programs across Australia."

Bible Society NSW, founded in 1817, is part of the worldwide fellowship of the United Bible Societies (UBS). There are currently 135 Bible Societies working in over 200 countries in the world.

David Ostby, Norway's local boy

David Ostby is obsessed, but in a good way. His mind, his music and his main passion for all he does revolve around the local church. Ask him about how the world gets fixed, and just two words will come back: local church. Listen to his latest album ‘Because Of You’ and you’ll end up convinced that he’s absolutely right.

"I believe," David explains, "that everything with a global impact starts locally. And that’s where I started as well; by being committed to serving my church, a church that gave me the room to develop my skills – and lead worship at the age of 16."

These days his emergence onto the worship scene means that he now has a whole load more of local churches to cheer on, inspire and connect with. Writing in English – which, let’s face it is probably a whole lot easier for David to do than for us to sing in Norwegian – allows for a wider take-up, which is precisely what has been happening.

"A few years back, when this century was just beginning, worship in Norway was completely redefined. Worship leaders and churches all over the country picked up the torch and it was clear that it was the beginning of a new worship movement, uniting Christians from all churches and ages. My youth group – Ungfila - was privileged to be a part of this wave.

"When our first album ‘Today’ was released in 2002, we didn’t imagine anything big was going to happen; we were just a group of young people with a passion to worship God," he says. "It was only after our second album was released ‘Highest of the High’ that things really started to happen. Our live worship DVD was broadcast on national television several times, as far as I know the first time a worship concert
of this kind has ever been shown on national television."

‘Because Of You’ comes via the talents of Julian Kindred (Delirious?, Sonic Flood) and Sam Gibson (Hillsong United, Delirious?, Neil Finn). The songs are strong, production crisp and there’s no denying that the man’s got a talent for writing the kind of melody that has an unusually decent shelf-life.

UK tours will take place throughout 2009, and the future’s clearly full of opportunities for David, just as his music is for us.

Youth rally could draw 300-plus teenagers

Proving churches can unite — regardless of denomination or the racial makeup of the congregation — is the goal of a three day youth rally this weekend in Georgetown.
The Impact Weekend, as it’s being called, will bring youth groups together from many different churches for energized services, a community work day and a block party.
The Georgetown Youth Association is partnering with the city police in organizing the first-of-its-kind event for middle and high schoolers.
“We knew we wanted to do something to connect the churches,” said Steve Mueller, youth pastor of Georgetown’s First Assembly of God. “These kids live in the same community and go to school together but they do not always know who the other Christians are. This will bring an openness.”
He said the goal is for at least 300 teenagers at the rally.
Benji Wham, leader of the Georgetown Community Church youth, said the pastors wanted an event that “focusses on a deeper relationship with God.
“We really want to take things up a level with the students.”
Georgetown Police Chief Paul Gardner said the Impact Weekend is something he has wanted to see for a long time.
“This is important to show churches can unite for common good and it’s also important for an evangelical weekend to have a positive impact on the lives of the young people,” Gardner said.

Friday night kickoff

The first of several events will take place at 7 p.m. Friday in the Georgetown Middle School gym with music from Rendered One Eighty of Florence.
The contemporary Christian group released their first CD in 2008 and lists groups such as Hillsong, 3 Doors Down and artist Jeremy Camp as influences.
The evening’s message will be delivered by Roosevelt Hunter of Sarasota, Fla.
After the rally, there will be smaller events held at different churches.
In some cases the youth will spend the night.

Saturday work and rally

On Saturday morning, the youth will get back together to spend the day performing community service work.
Some youth groups will clean trash from the streets while others will hold a free “no-strings-attached” car wash or help local charities for the day.
On Saturday night at 6 p.m., there will be another service at Georgetown Middle School with a message from Wayne Northup of Answering the Cries ministry.
He currently travels throughout the country holding youth rallies.
Northup said he “has a strong desire to train upcoming evangelists.”
The two services will be high-energy events with the main focus on unity and discipleship, Wham said.

Sunday block party

On Sunday afternoon, there will be a block party at Francis Marion Park on Front Street with free pizza and drinks and ministry from local youth bands and drama teams.
There will also be a final message delivered by Northup.
“We felt it was important to close with a block party to show the community we have a lot of young people who are faith filled,” Gardner said.
Because of the event, the intersection of Front and Broad streets will be blocked to traffic from 2 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, Gardner said.


Source