Glocal Christianity

Hillsong conference ... and no fairy Godmother

I am feeling a bit like a Hillsong Cinderella at the moment. Christians all around me are dashing off to the Hillsong conference, and here I am, left behind, just doing the missional chores. I think I'd turn into a pumpkin if I kissed Osteen though, so maybe I best stick away. Apparently there is a simulcast on something called God TV. I had no idea God simulcasted via his own TV channel.

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Joel Osteen coming to Hillsong Conference

Where is Hillsong?

Where is Hillsong? If you have been reading this blog for any length of time you'd know that I occasionally cross over to the dark side (Stu, this is your opportunity to raz me) and visit Hillsong. After all, I like to write about Sydney and Hillsong is the most globally recognizable church in Sydney. So, ever wondered how close? This map gives you an idea. If you go directly south from Hillsong you'll see a little white man. That's me. It's probably about a 20 to 30 minute drive cross country. That's reasonably local in Sydney terms. We're all in the Hills area, in case you ever wondered where the Hillsong name came from.  And by the way, the above map is a map of Christian churches across Sydney. The red dots I mean. If you want to search for other churches in Sydney, see here and search for "churches".

Hillsong Queensland Merger

In the Sydney Morning Herald today:

Hillsong on a mission to spread the word north

SYDNEY, London, Kiev, Paris, Cape Town, Stockholm, Moscow … and now Brisbane.

The languid Queensland capital has become the latest stop in Brian and Bobbie Houston's odyssey to franchise their pentecostal Hillsong Church around the world.

Mr Houston has resigned as president of the Australian Christian Churches, a position he held for 12 years, to focus on the "multisite" expansion of Hillsong. And that, coupled with the controversial move interstate, has prompted speculation that Hillsong is ramping up its domestic network of churches, ready to pounce on churches struggling amid the global financial crisis.

Garden City Christian Church on Brisbane's southside will be renamed Hillsong Brisbane Campus and the Houstons installed as senior pastors there on May 24, after 79 per cent of Garden City members voted in favour of the takeover.

For more read here.

I can remember first visiting them when they were running out of a warehouse in Baulkham Hills. I wonder how this development is going to effect Assemblies of God in Australia. Could this one church (21,000 members in Sydney alone) one day dwarf the denomination (215,000 Australia wide)?

Related Articles:

Hillsong in trouble over Mercy Ministries
Hillsong Idol Hijack?
Christianity in Australia

Hillsong Spectacular

I have finally gotten around to downloading some of my Christmas photos off my blackberry. Here's some shots from the Hillsong Christmas Spectacular.

The backstory is that my sister in law, who attends Hillsong, bought my kids a couple of tickets for their version of a Christmas pageant. While we were waiting for the show to start (yes, i say show quite deliberately) we hung out in the grounds where a temporary fairground had been erected. This doesn't show even a fraction of it, the rides and stalls were sprawled out over the entire complex, but hopefully it conveys some of the scale.

Now, as you probably gather I was left with mixed feelings. The event was very professional, very entertaining and no doubt attracted many people who might not otherwise bother with Jesus over Christmas. So I want to give credit where it is due. But it was precisely the entertainment angle that left me somewhat uneasy. Are we trying to create audiences? Not that I'm about to cast the first stone, I know I've aimed to entertain at times myself. But what should we aspire too? Were popular expectations always entertained by Jesus?

Joel Osteen coming to Hillsong Conference

It has come to my attention that Hillsong Church has invited Word of Faith teachers Joel Osteen and Jentezen Franklin as keynote speakers for Hillsong Conference 09. I find this very interesting as it suggests that, increased commitments to charity aside, Hillsong are still very much captive to the 'name it and claim it' prosperity gospel.

Here are a few quotes from Osteen on prosperity and positive confession:

“I look at the great truths of Almighty God and with the sixth sense in my spirit man, I believe I have a consciousness that they are mine. I see and believe salvation is mine. Healing is mine. Prosperity is mine. All of God’s blessings are mine. On the basis of this information from the sixth sense of faith, I can confidently say, ‘I am healed! I am blessed! I am redeemed! I am prosperous!’” (Joel Osteen, The Quarterly Journal, October-December 2004, Vol. 24, No. 4, 15)

You can cancel out God’s plan by speaking negative words. God works by laws. (Joel Osteen, “Speaking Faith Filled Words,” Tape # 223. Daystar Television, May 2, 2004)

You’ve got to speak it out. Your words have creative power. One of the primary ways we release our faith is through our words. There is a divine connection between you declaring God’s favor and seeing God’s favor manifested in your life. And some of you are doing your best to please the Lord. You are living a holy consecrated life, but you’re not really experiencing God’s supernatural favor. And it’s simply because you’re not declaring it. You’ve got to give life to your faith by speaking it out. (Joel Osteen, audio clip from Bible Answer-Man Broadcast, April 26, 2004).

Start calling in divine health. Start calling in abundance. You can prophesize your future. (Joel Osteen, “Speaking Faith Filled Words,” Tape # 223. Daystar Television, May 2, 2004)

To me this all just seems like a baptized version of esoteric New Thought teaching. Consumerism in spiritual clothing. I wonder what Osteen makes of The Secret?

Related articles:

Joyce Meyer and Positive Confession

Hillsong: Illuminati?

I had to laugh at this. My tracking system informed me that someone had come across my blog today through searching for "Hillsong Illuminati". And what do you know, when I checked Google I came up first for Hillsong Illuminati. Google has identified me as the all seeing eye. Beware!

You Need More Money? Like Jesus Huh?

With the megachurch Hillsong being so evasive about its exorcistic history this month I thought it was only fair to remind the world of another little gem that seems to have been exorcised from the historical records, this spiritual tome by the lead pastor, Brian Heuston, entitled "You Need More Money".

Guys, I appreciate that the church has evolved considerably over the past decade, but evasion and spin tend to bring out my less gentle side.

Hillsong grabbing attention

The other day I was running some searches on Google Trends and thought it was worth noting that, while there has been a downward trend in search volumes for many religion related subjects, there have been a few notable exceptions. One of those exceptions was Hillsong. Make of that what you will but it seems Hillsong are grabbing more and more global attention with each passing year.

Hillsong In Trouble Over Mercy Ministries

Hillsong hit the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald this morning with an exposé of Mercy Ministries.

In an article entitled, "They sought help, but got exorcism and the Bible", it was said:

A SECRETIVE ministry with direct links to Gloria Jean's Coffees and the Hillsong Church has been deceiving troubled young women into signing over months of their lives to a program that offers scant medical or psychiatric care, instead using Bible studies and exorcisms to treat mental illness.

Government agencies such as Centrelink have also been drawn into the controversy, as residents are required to transfer their benefits to Mercy Ministries. There are also allegations that the group receives a carers payment to look after the young women.

Read the SMH article on Hillsong for more.

I then took a peek over at the Mercy Ministries website which said:

Mercy Ministries is a national non profit organisation dedicated to providing homes and care for young women suffering the effects of eating disorders, self harm, abuse, depression, unplanned pregnancies and other life controlling issues.

Mercy Ministries is a structured residential based program that provides professional support from psychologists, dieticians, general practitioners, social workers, career counsellors and daily education from program staff to support the young women in our care.

We provide a holistic program that addresses all aspects of a young woman’s well being; physical, spiritual and emotional. Mercy Ministries is a faith based organisation dedicated to the support of young women in crisis.

I am left wondering what to make of this. There has been a lot of scare mongering about Hillsong in the past which, in the fullness of time, turned out to be grounded in only the loosest of facts in a sea of innuendo.

In fact (and this is pure co-incidence) only last night I was having a laugh with my brother-in-law, a Hillsong member, about the Today Tonight's last exposé on Hillsong's alleged manipulation of Australian Idol votes. This exposé turned into a farce once it became apparent that no Hillsong members were actually in the competition - hence my mirth.

So, despite some misgivings that I do have about the way Hillsong operate (I am no apologist for them by any stretch of the imagination) I have learnt not to take these journalist outings at face value. For instance, how "secretive" is a ministry that has a flashy web page? And, would a "holistic" ministry pushing New Age style spirituality have coped the same flack as one pushing Pentecostal style spirituality? So I am left wondering what the real truth of this matter is.

Hillsong Conference Quote

From the Hillsong Conference in Europe, as quoted by Christianity Today earlier this week:

"The church is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ's body in which he speaks and acts and fills everything with his presence."

I don't know about you but I have real problems with squaring that with John 3:16:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

But I can understand how the world could come to seem peripheral to a church as huge as Hillsong. Surface area to volume ratio is significantly less there. It's a world unto itself. So, what are your thoughts:

• Is the world peripheral?
• How biblical is it to assert the centrality of the church?
• Shouldn't the church move to the periphery?

For more on the Hillsong Conference and the Hillsong church phenomenon in general see "Taking Revival to the World"

Hillsong may sue over Idol

HILLSONG church is not ruling out legal action against Today Tonight it was revealed today. My regular readers will recall I lambusted Today Tonight over their hatchet job of Hillsong last week, voicing "By the end of the show I still had no idea how many, if any, of the Australian Idol finalists were actually Hillsong members." Well it turns out it was even more of a hatchet job than I thought, for it has now come to light that none of the Australian Idol finalists were Hillsong members. Here's the what the Daily Telegraph had to say:

Australian Idol's production company Fremantle Media said it told Today Tonight producers there were no Hillsong contestants in the show before the story went to air.

Prompted by a TV promo about the first story, The Daily Telegraph questioned Today Tonight's executive producer Craig McPherson before it went to air.

He conceded the five in his story were not Hillsong contestants but were "at least all under that pentacostal (sic) banner".

So the Australian Idol finalists were targeted by the reporters simply for being Pentecostals, nothing more. Whatever criticisms people may have of Hillsong (and I'll say again, I think fair criticisms can be made) they were not guilt of the "branch stacking" and "vote rigging" claims made by Today Tonight. This was nothing more that a cynical exploitation of latent fears against Pentecostals to boost their ratings.

Hillsong Hits

Hillsong is a popular subject it seems. The hit count on my main page went from 185 one day to 420 the next after I made those comments on Australian Idol, Hillsong and the Today Tonight report. And interest is still going strong with 344 hits already today. Maybe I should do a podcast on Christian consumerism from the Gloria Jeans coffee stand in the foyer, that’d set the cat amongst the pidgeons.

Hillsong Idol Hijack?

Today Tonight, an Australian current affairs program, ran an exposé on Hillsong earlier this evening which left me shaking my head afterwards. Wish I had a video feed for you.

Why it left me shaking my head was that Today Tonight exposed more about journalistic bias against Christians, and ignorance about Christians, than anything meaningful about Hillsong itself. Why do I say that?

Well, they launched the story with the sensational claim that Hillsong, Australia's largest megachurch, was "hijacking" Australian Idol! Describing Hillsong as "new age evangelists" (now there's an oxymoron!), the Today Tonight team proceeded to reveal how "half the remaining finalists [of this round of Australian idol] are all members." Fascinating if true, I thought. So I listened on.

But if I was expecting enlightenment I was to be sorely disappointed, for the "facts" became increasingly murkier as the story progressed. And I didn't have to wait long, for after that initial bold statement about Hillsong, it was stated that the finalists were all members or "affiliated" with the church. Hmm, what do they mean by affiliated? Again, I didn't have to wait long as it was then revealed that one of the select few was a "born again Christian," as if the "affiliation" were obvious. Hmm, indeed. But it didn't stop there. It was soon revealed that some contestants from other years were also, shock, horror, "devout Christians." Hmm, last time I checked Hillsong had no monopoly on that. This Hillsong conspiracy was looking shakier by the minute.

You can see the pattern, the "affiliations" became more and more tenuous as the show progressed. By the end of it I was wondering if anyone who'd had a passing interest in the Acts of the Apostles was a Hillsong plant in their eyes.

It turned into a complete farce when Today Tonight revealed that former Idol winner  Guy Sebastian had declared himself a Hillsong member. How? By performing at a Hillsong Conference! This was just too much. Yes, Guy is a pentecostal, he has always been open about that, but when he won Idol he was a member of Paradise Church, not Hillsong. Hell, even I have gone to a Hillsong conference.

To add insult to injury they then flashed a pyramid diagram up on the screen that implied the entire Assemblies of God denomination was controlled by Hillsong church. Ahhh, at least that explained how general Pentecostals were being taken for Hillsong members. But I was still left scratching my head as to how any "devout" Christian was a Hillsong member. 

You can probably see where I am going with this. By the end of the show I still had no idea how many, if any, of the Idol finalists were actually Hillsong members. I gathered half of them were Christians of one description or another, but beyond that I could not tell from the report. It was just too confused.

Now the question was, what had roused their journalistic ire? Well it seems the real insult was that Hillsong had dared to purchase air time during Idol to screen adds for their charity works. The Hillsong marketing machine was behind everything, they said, they'd branch stacked the competition in order to target the young innocent audiences of Idol, they were invading secular air time. Words such as "insideous" and conspiracy laden phrases such as "nothing they do is accidental" were invoked. Though how the lure of charity work and church attendance was really more sinister than the customary sex, drugs and rock inclinations of teens was never quite explained.

Listening to the marketing gurus interviewed for this program suggested to me that they were just peeved that a religious organization was beating them at their own game. Possibly even embarrassed. That was just not kosher. 

In fact the only real person who seemed to have any down to earth commentary at all was the Christian radio presenter that was interviewed. Trying to diffuse the conspiratorial air he noted musical performance was just part of the Pentecostal culture. In other words, it shouldn't really surprise us that a music saturated subculture produces (a) a lot of talented contestants for the voting mill and (b) a loyal audience that votes for them. We don't have to imagine organized conspiracies, we just need to recognize that's part of who they are. It's more grass roots than is often realized.

Now, in case you think I am defending Hillsong unreservedly, think again. I am no fan and I actually agree that they engage in music market manipulation. Of a sort. For when they launch their new albums in concert with their nationally attended conferences and they go straight to number 1 in the charts the next week it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the causal link.

But what I am saying is, what marketing organization wouldn't take an opportunity like that? Hillsong are just market savvy. And if its a crime to be market savy (leaving theological issues to one side for a moment), then Idol needs to take the plank out of its own eye first. What this exposé really exposes is secular hypocrisy.

So in their defense (sort of), it is one thing to talk about how Hillsong carefully market their own album launches, it is another again to accuse them  of machiavellian plots to take over the album launches of reality TV shows. That's just plain paranoia. What I hope is a little clearer from the above is that the "devout" Christian culture that feeds into and feeds off Idol is a whole lot broader than Hillsong. There is no Christian Illuminati here.

The Chasers War On Hillsong

Well it had to happen sooner or later. The Chaser team recently did a take on Hillsong. Praise the Lord?

Hillsong: The Bulletin Report

On the way to work today I spotted that the Bulletin has done another article on Hillsong.

The article, Book of Revelations, is an expose of life in Hillsong from the perspective of a former member:

"Tanya Levin spent her formative years at Hillsong. Disillusioned, she began to question its gospel of wealth. We present her exclusive account of life inside Australia's most influential evangelical church."

Now, although I am no great fan of prosperity theology and have launched a few critiques myself over the years, a number of things concern me with this Bulletin article.

Firstly, there is no explanation (in the online version at least) as to who Tanya Levin actually is. What was her role within the church? What was her relationship to the Heuson's? Does she actually qualify as an informed commentator of its inner workings or was she just a disgruntled auditorium seat warmer?

I will seek further information from those I know who go to Hillsong but all I have found so far is an article about a canceled book, "People in Glass Houses: How Hillsong became an assembly of gods," but again no enlightenment on her qualifications to comment.

Secondly, it has been my impression that Hillsong has been toning down, or at least balancing out, its prosperity preaching a little better in recent years. I visit maybe one or two times a year to keep myself informed and over the last two visits I've been surprised and somewhat chastened by the amount of charity work they are now doing. There are still tithing calls that go longer than alter calls and Gloria Jeans coffee carts next to the auditorium. But despite all that they are doing more charity work than ever and make a point of saying Jesus is the greatest blessing you can ever have. In the article Tanya makes it sound like it's gone from bad to worse.

In summary, this sounds just a bit too sensationalist for me to buy into just yet.