“Here I am to Worship”- Hillsong and Televangelism
Hillsong.
Some of you may recognize this name, but others may not. Hillsong “is a church that believes in Jesus, a church that loves God and people” (http://hillsong.com/). Created in Australia, Hillsong is a Pentecostal megachurch. Their songs are recognized all over the world. At dinner I brought up “Hillsongs” to my friends and at least half of the group knew exactly what I was talking about just by their name.
Hillsong Church is reflected in popular culture through the Church’s use of music, film, conferences, tours, books, ministries and sisterhoods. These outlets reflect the mainstream values and forms of communications R. de Graaf describes in his definition of popular culture. While Youtubing the word Hillsong’s, hundreds of videos and sermons appear online instantly connecting people with Hillsong’s message.
The question I want to look at is, is Hillsong’s a form of televangelism?
Thomas Ninan describes televangelism as “commercialization of broadcasting and the waning influence of Christianity” (Ninan). Televangelism allows global movements and the spread of religion around the world, and this mass consumption needs to be understood in the circuits of production, distribution and consumption. Staurt Hall describes the Circuit of Culture where culture shapes identity and identity shapes culture. In this fashion, Hillsong needs to be looked at through its representation, identity, production, consumption and regulation as to how Hillsong’s reaches and influences people all around the world.
How does Hillsong’s fit this definition?
In a very basic sense Hillsong Church’s message, beliefs and understanding of faith are shared all around the world through multiple forms of media.
Hillsong’s mission statement is “To reach and influence the world by building a large Christ-centered, Bible-based church, changing mindsets and empowering people to lead and impact in every sphere of life.”
With a goal as large as “reaching and influencing the world” I think Hillsong’s is on it’s way to becoming more popular while spreading their views and beliefs of Pentecostalism. The Hillsong Church already has multiple Church centers around Australia, as well as Europe and two locations in the United States. http://hillsong.com/
Hillsong’s music is available to everyone, tours all across the world take place, 9 books are available by the current Pastor Brian Houston and more educational opportunities are available on their online store https://hillsong.com/store
Joel Osteen.
Another massive Pentecostal televangelist. Osteen, similarly to Hillsong’s also has his daily website, blogs, events, YouTube, Facebook, I-tunes podcasts and books (Sinitiere, 97–98). Another large commonality Hillsong’s and Joel Osteen share is their performance.
Richard Schechner looks at performance theory. Schechner examines how Osteen’s and Hillsong’s actions and words create meaning and symbolism. Osteen and Hillsong’s performance carries a significance where the audience feels a personal connection and feels moved by what the pastor’s are preaching. Sinitiere (2010) examines how Joel Osteen would re-watch his father’s sermons with no volume and would still be able to feel the words from the sermon. Sinitiere describes a personal affect one feels while watching the performance; people are not just listening they are feeling and performing the words being professed.
At the beginning of this post I posed the question,” is Hillsong’s a form of televangelism”. I have briefly described two ways in which I think Hillsong’s and Joel Osteen are similar. Can you find anymore similarities? Or do you think Hillsong’s is not a form of televangelism?
I look forward to hearing about your responses.
