Hillsong Church
Hillsong Church, commonly known as Hillsong, is a charismatic Christian megachurch and a Christian association of churches based in Australia. The original church was established in Baulkham Hills, New South Wales, as Hills Christian Life Centre by Brian Houston and his wife, Bobbie Houston, in 1983. Hillsong was a member of the Australian Christian Churches - the Australian branch of the US-based Assemblies of God - until 2018, when it separated to form a new denomination. The church is known for its contemporary worship music, with groups such as Hillsong Worship, Hillsong United and Hillsong Young & Free with many musical credits and hits charting all over the world.
Hillsong and its music have been highly successful globally, with its presence described as a global corporate brand. However, a [|series of scandals and criticisms] have negatively affected its image in recent years. In March 2022, Houston stepped down as global senior pastor after an internal investigation found that he had breached the church's moral code of conduct for pastors by engaging in inappropriate behaviour with women on two occasions in the 2010s. In February 2023, Phil and Lucinda Dooley, who had been acting in the position since January 2022, took over as global senior pastors.
History
Beginnings: 1977–1999
In 1977, six years before the establishment of what would become Hillsong Church, Brian Houston's father Frank founded the Sydney Christian Life Centre in Waterloo, New South Wales, in inner-city Sydney, in what was described by scholar Sam Hey as "a neo-Pentecostal megachurch". Brian Houston and his wife, Bobbie, started holding services at a school hall in Baulkham Hills, establishing Hills Christian Life Centre in 1983. Both Sydney CLC and Hills CLC were affiliated with the Australian Christian Churches, the Australian branch of the US-based Assemblies of God.Hills CLC's growth into a megachurch through the 1980s and 1990s was largely driven by young people attracted by its contemporary worship music, and by its practice of planting churches internationally. In 1992, Hills CLC planted London Christian Life Centre as an independent church, with Gerard and Sue Keehan as pastors; it was renamed Hillsong London in 2000 and gradually grew to twelve locations across the United Kingdom. Kyiv Christian Life Centre, now Hillsong Kyiv, was also planted in newly independent Ukraine in 1992.
In 1997, Hills CLC moved into a new building at Baulkham Hills' Norwest Business Park. The church merged with Sydney CLC in May 1999, after Frank Houston had been exposed as a paedophile. Brian Houston became senior pastor of both churches for eighteen months. The multi-campus church was renamed Hillsong Church in 2001.
21st century
Between 2008 and 2018, Hillsong Church planted more churches in Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Israel, Canada and Mexico. Hillsong also branched out into the United States, establishing sixteen locations by 2022.In September 2018, Hillsong left the Australian Christian Churches—of which Brian Houston had been national superintendent/president from 1997 to 2009—to become an autonomous denomination, identifying itself more as a global and charismatic church. According to both Hillsong and ACC, the parting was amicable. Of the decision to spin itself off into its own denomination, Houston wrote, "We do not intend to function as a denomination in the traditional sense of the word... We are a denomination purely for practical reasons related to having the ability to ordain our pastors in Australia to legally conduct weddings as marriage celebrants operating under the rites of Hillsong Church". Houston added that they had not shifted doctrinally and that the ACC was still their "tribe". In 2018, it had 80 churches.
In October 2020, Hillsong purchased the Festival Hall venue in Melbourne to become the home of Hillsong Church Melbourne City's weekly church services after undergoing renovations to better suit the new uses.
In October 2021, Hillsong bought the Golders Green Hippodrome in London, England, with the intention of holding Sunday services there.
Houston resigned his chairmanship of the Hillsong board in September 2021, owing to the pressures of a court case relating to his [|alleged failure to report sexual abuse of a child by his father], of which he became aware in the 1990s. In January 2022, Houston announced that he was temporarily stepping down from church leadership for this reason and introduced new leaders Phil and Lucinda Dooley. Then in March 2022, following revelations of misconduct complaints by two women, he permanently stepped down from church leadership. Two weeks after this scandal, 9 of the 16 Hillsong Churches in the United States announced their decisions to leave the Hillsong global network.
In August 2022, Hillsong was sued by an Australian whistleblower in federal court there, alleging that the megachurch had moved millions of dollars overseas to avoid the charities regulator, the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission. The whistleblower alleged that Hillsong made "large cash gifts" to Houston and his family using tax-free money.
In August 2023, Brian Houston was acquitted of covering up his father's crimes.
Statistics
According to a census published by the association in 2024, it would have 28 churches in Australia and in 27 countries.Hillsong had 100,000 people in 14 countries in September 2015,increasing to 130,000 people in 21 countries in 2019. and
Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the church started measuring online attendees instead of regular attendees, which they stated average 444,000 per weekend.
Branding
Hillsong has been described as a "global corporate brand", and "Australia's most powerful brand", with its fast global growth assisted by the spectacle of its huge conferences, the popularity of its music releases, young people's attraction to the charismatic leaders, Hillsong Television, its messaging and language, customer service, targeting of children, presence on social media, and merchandising.Governance
The church is governed by the Hillsong Global Board and a group of elders known as the Hillsong Eldership, headed by Pastors Phil and Lucinda Dooley since 2022. The elders lead the church spiritually, whereas the board of directors manages the corporate administration appointed for one year, with renewable terms.The founders, Brian and Bobbie Houston, had been the global senior pastors of Hillsong Church. On 31 January 2022, it was announced that Phil and Lucinda Dooley, pastors of the South African church, would be acting global senior pastors in Houston's absence until the end of 2022, after Brian Houston stepped down owing to the pressures of a court case relating to his alleged failure to report sexual abuse by his father, of which he was later acquitted.
Brian Houston was also chairman of the board, until his resignation from this position in January 2022. Since 2021, the chairman of the Hillsong Global board is Steve Crouch. He is the husband of long-term pastor Donna Crouch and former accountant to the church. George Aghajanian is general manager as well as a director of Hillsong Church Australia and its international entities.
In March 2022, Brian Houston resigned from the board of Hillsong Church and from his role as global senior pastor as a result of breaching the moral code of the church in his behaviour with two women.
Locations and ministries
Hillsong has a global presence, with churches and ministries in Australia, Indonesia, Philippines and Japan, many European countries, Canada, US, South Africa, and, in Latin America, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Uruguay as of 2022.Hillsong's various ministries include Hillsong Music, Hillsong Kids, Hillsong Youth, Hillsong Sisterhood, Hillsong Men, Hillsong Conference, Hillsong CityCare, Hillsong International Leadership College, TBN Inspire, TV & Film, Hillsong Performing Arts Academy and Hillsong Health Centre. Their total facilities are estimated to be worth around A$100 million.
Hillsong College
Two campuses of the Hillsong International Leadership College arose from the two churches that are now Hillsong Church, the Sydney Christian Life Centre and Hills Christian Life Centre. Both original colleges had similar goals of creating courses in ministry and leadership development based in a local church setting. With an emphasis on the creative arts, theological education was based on the ministry model.The Sydney college was originally founded in 1983 by David Johnston and located at Arncliffe as the "International Institute for Creative Ministries", but in 1989 Johnston parted ways with IICM, bringing the college under the auspices of Wesley Mission. That college moved to the Wesley Centre in Pitt Street, Sydney, and after a few name changes became Wesley Institute.
In 1988, Hills Christian Life Centre developed a training arm of IICM, under Ian Fuller. It was first known as Power Ministry School, then in 1992 Power Ministry College, under Steve Kelly. In 1993 the Hillsong School and a School of Music was established to train young musicians. In 1996, after Mark Hopkins took over as director, the Hillsong School and the School of Music were merged to form the Hills Leadership College.
In 1990, Robert Fergusson became principal at the Sydney location and switched the focus to practical ministry training. Classes, at this time accommodating around 50-70 students, were moved back to the church site and the name changed to Aquila College of Ministries in 1993. After Hills CLC merged with Sydney CLC in 1999, in early 2000 the Sydney college merged with the Hills Leadership College to become Hillsong International Leadership College, with Duncan Corby appointed principal of its "City campus". It was approved as a registered training organisation in December 2002, and by 2007 there were around 900 full-time students enrolled across the two campuses, the majority from overseas.
In February 2016, Duncan Corby was dean of the college, while Catrina Henderson was principal. and it was still trading as Hillsong International Leadership College. In late 2016 it shortened its name to simply Hillsong College, and as of 2022 has campuses in Sydney and Phoenix, Arizona, and has an online curriculum. The official trading name of the city campus is Sydney Christian Life Centre Pty Ltd, and one of its tax-deductible charitable funds is called the International Institute for Creative Ministries Library Trust Fund.