Hillsong plans Brisbane housewarming before vote cast

Bobbie Houston, senior pastor and founder of the Hillsong Church.



The Hillsong juggernaut has planned a victory party on May 1 to celebrate its arrival in Brisbane despite its takeover of a Pentecostal church south of the city not yet receiving the green light from congregants.

Registered members of the Garden City Christian Church in Mount Gravatt will on Sunday vote on whether to officially appoint evangelists and Hillsong founders Brian and Bobbie Houston as senior pastors in a move that would see the church renamed the Hillsong Brisbane Campus.

Despite claiming their pending footprint into Queensland was merely a partnership with the existing church, an information document circulated at Garden City at a service on April 5 has left little doubt about the Houstons' intentions to change the face of the congregation.

"We intend, as indicated earlier, to operate as Hillsong Brisbane Campus," the document noted.

Anticipating the approval of the takeover by members will be a mere formality, Hillsong heavies have planned a large housewarming party at the church on May 1 - the day after the three-day Australian Christian Churches (ACC) national conference winds up at the Gold Coast Convention Centre.

ACC, of which Mr Houston is the head, is the Australian branch of the Assemblies of God denomination.

"They're going to have a gathering at the church to celebrate their win," said a Mt Gravatt church congregrant, who asked that her name not be published.

The congregant fears the nature of the Mt Gravatt church, which has more than 1000 members, will continue to go backwards under the stewardship of the Hillsong franchise.

"It used to be a really humble church and it's totally changed over the years," she said.

"They do really, really frivolous things. Once they did skydiving to raise money for missions.

"If people want to support the church they will - you don't have to have big names."

She said her family intended to end their long-time association with the church when Hillsong took over.

Hillsong has indicated it would allow the church's acting pastor Steve Dixon to remain for a transitional period and that members would not lose control over church assets under the so-called partnership.

But one former Hillsong congregant has warned that the "controlling cult" made fundraising and recruitment its highest priorities, with church members holding few rights.

"They're coming off all kind and pastoral when in fact it is simply a company takeover," said Tanya Levin, author of the 2007 book People in Glass Houses, about her experiences under Hillsong.

"It will be interesting to to see how much of their former church as they know it survives.

"Because the Assemblies of God have got a history of going in, taking over and pretty quickly throwing out everybody that the previous church actually thought were important."

Hillsong's headquarters, the "Hills" campus, is in the Sydney suburb of Baulkham Hills but it also has two other campuses in the city. It conducts services around Sydney and has established international extensions in the UK, the Ukraine, South Africa and Sweden.

Ms Levin said the move into Brisbane was the latest example of the Houstons' desire to spread their influence.

"They're really explicit about wanting other areas in the world," she said.

"They want Africa, particularly, as well as India."

The church has established a growing presence within political circles in recent years, with then-Prime Minister John Howard opening its Baulkham Hills complex in 2002 and the likes of Peter Costello, Alexander Downer, Helen Coonan and Bob Carr having attended Hillsong events and conventions.

Hillsong Men's Conference

MEN'S CONFERENCE
Hillsong Convention Centre
November 6-7 , 2009

A conference designed especially for men! With your host Brian Houston and special guests...

You never knew 24 hours could so radically impact your life!


Source:hillsong.com

COLOUR YOUR WORLD CONFERENCE

SYDNEY ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE
26-28 March & 30 March-1 April, 2009

Colour Your World women's conference exists to place value upon womanhood. For 12 years we have seen multiplied thousands of women impacted, but the journey has only just begun. As this conference comes of age and we enter a whole new era, IMAGINE what one company of women, united and devoted, could accomplish. IMAGINE Colour 2009 in the ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE!

Source: hillsong.com

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 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

Creation Festival Concludes First-Ever Tour

The first-ever Creation Festival tour came to a close this past weekend after hitting more than 30 cities across the Northeast, Midwest and South.

Patterned after the Creation Festival, the nation’s largest Christian music festival, the tour featured some of the top names in Christian music as well as local outreach.

“What an incredible opportunity to be a part of this tour,” exclaimed Joel Bruyere of Thousand Foot Krutch earlier this month.

“The sense of community, enjoying each and every set (that I get time to watch), Bob [Lenz]’s intense message, executed with prose and perfection, and the chance to meet and hang with new faces. I know a lot of the blogs have touch on these points,” he wrote on the special blog for Creation Fest. “I just can’t help but agree with them.”

Over the past three decades, the Creation Festival has grown to become the largest event of its kind, adding a second event on the west coast in 1998. In 2005, Creation branched out internationally, giving birth to the Friendship Fest in the Muslim country of Morocco and later to festivals in Canada, Iceland, Switzerland, and France.

In 2008, the plan for the 30+ city “Creation Festival: The Tour" was launched to allow fans across the country to experience a taste of the annual 4-day events held in June and July in one night of music, teaching and fun.

In addition to the music, national speaker Bob Lenz, founder and president of Life! Promotions, shared the gospel each night, with Pastor Harry Thomas, Creation Festival director and co-founder, and Teen Mania’s founder, Ron Luce, also joining the tour on select dates.

read more

EXCLUSIVE: Mercy Ministries exorcism books leaked

Handbooks allegedly used to perform exorcisms on sick girls at the controversial Mercy Ministries residences in Sydney and on the Sunshine Coast have been leaked to LIVENEWS.com.au.

Mercy Ministries, which is bankrolled by the Pentecostal Hillsong Church, has previously denied performing exorcisms on residents.

The documents, obtained clandestinely by a girl who “escaped” the group’s clutches, shows counsellors how to rid ‘demons’ from girls struggling with anorexia, depression and drug addiction.

Mercy Ministries’ activities hit the headlines in March this year when former residents claimed they were subjected to exorcisms, were cut off from friends and family and had to sign over their Centrelink payments to the group. read more

Hillsong: Exorcism in the suburbs

Mercy Ministries kept saying there were no exorcisms.

The Hillsong backed group seemed prepared to cop the charge that they forced sick girls in their Mercy Ministries residential program to sign over their Centrelink payments.

They seemed comfortable admitting that while they advertised girls would have access to psychiatrists and other health professionals, in fact, the only treatment they were really offered was housework and bible study.

But they didn’t want to own up to the medieval practice of exorcisms.

And you can’t blame them. Who would want to admit they had been trying to cure anorexia, drug addiction and other problems with such hocus-pocus?

They’d already lost high-profile sponsors like Rebel Sport, Bunnings and LG after news of their activities broke earlier this year. read more

The Michael Gungor Band's 'Ancient Skies' Is A Hit With Radio

The critically-acclaimed Michael Gungor Band's new single, "Ancients Sky," is an out-of-the-box hit with Christian radio, with 20 stations adding the song to their playlist in the first two weeks. The song is the title track of the band's Brash Music debut, which recently released to rAncient Skiesave reviews from fans and critics alike.

Stations adding the song include Minneapolis' KTIS, where program manager Jason Sharp enthusiastically commented, "Thank you for sending KTIS a GREAT song! After one listen, I knew." Also, Scott Valentine, program director for KCMS in Seattle, said, "I believe it's a winner."

In addition to strong support from radio, "Ancient Skies" has proven to be a favorite song with critics.
CM Central.com said, "The title track stuns with its �creation-puts-us-in-awe balladry' and is a sure-fire AC hit�think a stronger �God of Wonders'."

Although this is The Michael Gungor Band's first project for Brash Music, the group has already achieved a level of success more commonly associated with veteran artists. They have performed for more than a hundred thousand fans across the country, as well as those at this year's Hillsong Conference in Sydney, Australia. Additionally, the group's music has met with critical acclaim from national media outlets such as Christianity Today.com, which named the band's 2007 independent release as one of the year's top worship projects.

About The Michael Gungor Band
Led by frontman and Dove Award-winner Michael Gungor and his wife Lisa, the Denver, Colo.-based Michael Gungor Band has quickly become one of Christian music's most exciting new groups. As a songwriter, Gungor has penned several well-known worship songs including "Friend of God," a song co-written with Grammy Award-winner Israel Houghton that has become one of the Top 20 songs sung in churches around the world, according to CCLI. read more