Hillsong Church – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coordinates: 334404S 1505739E / 33.734503S 150.960935E / -33.734503; 150.960935

Hillsong Church is a Pentecostal megachurch affiliated with Australian Christian Churches (the Australian branch of the Assemblies of God) and located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The church was founded in 1983 when the Sydney Christian Life Centre at Waterloo, which was established by Frank Houston, merged with the Hills Christian Life Centre in Baulkham Hills, established by his son, Brian Houston.[1]

While headquartered at its "Hills" location in Baulkham Hills' Norwest Business Park in the Hills District of Sydney, Hillsong is a multi-site church with campuses in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Newcastle, Gold Coast and Noosa. Its second campus, designated as the "City" campus, is located in Waterloo, near Sydney's central business district. In 2009, a third Sydney campus, "South West", located in Campbelltown and a fourth interstate location, the "Brisbane" campus in Mount Gravatt, Queensland were added. In 2012 it was announced that a fifth campus, also interstate, was to be opened in late 2012 or early 2013 in Melbourne, Victoria.[2] Additionally, Hillsong Church currently has 12 extension services across Sydney.[3]

Hillsong Church's international offshoots include Hillsong Church London in the United Kingdom, Hillsong Church Kiev in Ukraine, Hillsong Church Cape Town and Hillsong Church Pretoria in South Africa, Hillsong Church Stockholm in Sweden and Hillsong NYC in New York, United States. Hillsong services are also held in Hillsong Church Paris in Paris, France, Hillsong Connect Group Lyon in Lyon, Hillsong Church Germany in Konstanz and Dsseldorf, Hillsong Church Amsterdam in Amsterdam, Hillsong Barcelona in Barcelona, Hillsong Church Copenhagen in Copenhagen and Hillsong Church Moscow in Moscow.

On 10 August 2013 Pastor Brian Houston announced that Hillsong would be setting up a church in Los Angeles, California.[4]

Hillsong Music has topped Australian charts, with albums having achieved gold and platinum sales status. Hillsong is well-known through its teaching, album sales and annual Hillsong Conference. According to the church, over 30,000 people attend services each week.[5]

Brian and Bobbie Houston moved from New Zealand in 1978 and joined the Sydney Christian Life Centre in Darlinghurst, pastored by Brian Houston's father, Frank Houston.[6] They started Hillsong Church, which was then known as Hills Christian Life Centre, in August 1983 with services held at the Baulkham Hills Public School hall[7] and with an initial congregation of 45.[8] In 1990, the church moved from "the warehouse", which they had occupied since 1984,[7] to hold services at the Hills Centre. In 1986, an annual conference was developed, now called Hillsong Conference.[9]

In the early 1990s, praise and worship recordings from the Hills Christian Life Centre were released in Australia and internationally under the name Hillsong. The name is also used for a television show featuring clips from the videos of the recordings and a message from Brian Houston. In 1997 the church moved into its new building at Baulkham Hills' Norwest Business Park.

In the late 1990s the church realised that the name Hillsong was more well-known than Hills Christian Life Centre due to the branding of its recordings. The church was renamed Hillsong Church in 1999, about the same time its mother church, Sydney Christian Life Centre, was merged into Hillsong Church.[10]

A new convention centre at the church's "Hills" location, was opened on 19 October 2002 by John Howard, the then Prime Minister of Australia. Due to the growth of the "City" location, in 2007 the church announced its intentions to develop a significant area of land on Rothschild Avenue, Rosebery into the new "City" location.[11] In August 2008, Hillsong withdrew the development application they had lodged with the Sydney City Council after an independent report recommended against the council approving the development. In August 2009 it was announced that the site was for sale.[12][13] Since then, Hillsong has opened up another City location in Alexandria.[14]

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Hillsong Church - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia