#2 Blog Post: Hillsong’s Paradox
The influx of Protestant, specifically Pentecostal (spirit-led) Christian megachurches is emblematic of a societal “willingness to draw upon aspects of popular culture and modern consumerism,” by way of “charismatic pastors, innovation, and savvy pragmatism with regard to evangelism today,” distinctly mediating between faith and culture (Wade 664). Megachurches are strikingly and visibly anti-traditional, going against the grain of conventional worship service in favor of subverting the structures of establishment. Fundamental to Pentecostalism is a direct, spiritual and personal experience with God followed by a belief that the Bible is without error. These total, Pentecostal, institutions often consider themselves non-denominational in their commitment to welcoming, inclusive environments (each chapter reads “Welcome Home” at the entrance), but paradoxically fail in the fact that they espouse distinctly conservative values entrenched in oppressive religious tradition. The paradox is further fortified in the proclamation that evangelical Christianity — an explicit religion — is distinctly anti-modernity, yet megachurches practice at an intersection of culture (see #1 Circuit of Culture for an examination of Hillsong through Stuart Hall’s theory)(Connell 316). Hillsong is an exemplar of this movement in its infiltration of global networks, the Hillsongization of Christianity, wherein devotees “become avatars of unshakeable enchantment” within the encompassing capitalist structure of the megachurch system (Wade 671). Sociologist Matthew Wade describes Hillsong as “an arena of enchantment” that provides the notion of an immediate connection to God and demands an “affective resonance imbued with a sense of meaning and lifelong purpose,” seeking to replace the void of community gatherings and conventional faith-based collectives that have lost their allure (666–68). Hillsong is a critical artifact to examine considering their remarkable, immense following “against the backdrop of secularization and de‐churching in the Western world” (Klaver).
Hillsong’s services echo that of a rock concert or a club-like environment with a distinct performative element, fostering a profound sense of community and facilitating avid youth engagement. However, the seemingly virtuous motivations behind Hillsong are effectively derailed by their exploitive distributions of non-compensated labour — framed as the tithings and sacrifices of many — in exchange for the promise of reinvention. Ultimately, the mechanisms behind Hillsong’s pervasive success and commitment to personal salvation can be attributed to “sprawling suburbia of late capitalism” that enlists the “careful management of purposeful pleasure” in attempts to evangelize the undecided seeker (670–73).
The predecessor to Hillsong materialized in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, known as the Sydney Christian Life Centre as a division of the Assemblies of God (AOG) and Australian Christian Churches founded by Bobbie and Brian Houston in 1978 (Connell 319). The Houston’s noticed and capitalized on the burgeoning sector of impressionable youth communities and suburban enclaves through a dedication to media and technology fundamental to their practice. The Hills Christian Life Centre was established in 1983 with the intention to “impact every sphere of life,” morphing into a 21 acre site in north-western Sydney and a $25 million auditorium, growing to over 18,000 worshippers weekly (319–20). They focused on rapidly expanding suburban areas and unpaid volunteers to do the majority of the work, signaling the criticism of unbalanced labour disparity raised regarding megachurches amidst the contradiction of inclusivity (both in praxis and belief).
This degree of dispersal was likened to a corporatized strategy with implicit global intentions. They initially established centers in London and Kiev, and then to Moscow, South Africa, Sweden and beyond, after expanding throughout Australia, under the abridged designation Hillsong, growing from a church with only 45 members to over 100,000 weekly attendants worldwide to date. Hillsong now has metropolitan centers in Australia, Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, Latin America as well as Africa and the Middle East with 30 locations and over 80 branches at the heart of entertainment and culture (see 2018 Annual Report). There are an amalgam of creative and youth endeavors across the various centers as well as an offshoot branded by Bobbie Houston honoring women called Sisterhood, and a social engagement program CityCare. The Hillsong strategy is equipped with a huge range of extracurriculars including Hillsong College (to produce the next generation of pastors — it had 1700 students by 2004), as well as an extensive website, app, television channel with 10 million weekly viewers, and social media presence (Connell 320; Wade 667–68). The blog “Hillsong Collected” posts lifestyle content and uplifting advice, implementing a high level of interactivity only further serviced by their merchandised products available both in-person and online (driven by music-based output), illustrating their particular brand of consumer religion (668). All of these elements evidence how Hillsong is inextricably intertwined to elements of progressive popular culture, while espousing a conservative, evangelical message.
Multiple musical groups were set up — Hillsong Worship (who have won a Grammy), Hillsong Young & Free, and Hillsong United (as well as a Kids variety) — each with highly successful sales and tour circuits, garnering tens to hundreds of millions of streams on Spotify. Music became key to the delivery of Hillsong services which often include video playback from the Sydney center (housing forty centrally controlled television screens and a $4 million digital audio system) with live performance elements that require extensive lighting and sound crews (Klaver). The music of Hillsong preaches salvation and is “a catalog of Selena Gomez-grade ballads… that are tunefully and tunefully like a Jonas Brothers song… and are lyrically hymns, yet the singing is hot-breathed and sexy close into microphones” (Brodesser-Akner). Journalist Taffy Brodesser-Akner exclaimed how it made her body feel confused. Miranda Klaver reported in the CrossCurrents journal that the inclusion of music and media technology central to the evangelical industrial complex has paved the way for creating sermonic spectacle and new forms of liturgical practice (with little room for improvisation or surprise). Hillsong’s services are a highly structured, intricate and complex production outfitted with videos, lights, smoke effects, and hip pastors with a distinct performative style (Klaver). Klaver reported that:
“Pentecostal churches like the Hillsong megachurch network eagerly embrace media technology with the conviction that media is a neutral force which not only can be used, but must be used, motivated by the strong evangelistic zeal and understanding of growth of and expansion of the church is a sign of the blessing of God and the fulfillment of a God mission to the church.”
They have become a leading producer and influencer of contemporary worship music since the 1990s, and the standard to which other megachurches strive to reach, to the extent that Pentecostal Christianity has become Hillsongized (Klaver).
This musical element has been fostered by the perpetuation of celebrity — both pastors and followers — central to Hillsong’s image today. The Houstons’ son Joel brought Hillsong to the United States enlisting the help of Carl Lentz to establish Hillsong NYC. Joel had met Carl and Carl’s future wife Laura while attending Hillsong International Leadership College in Sydney, and during a trip to Manhattan, he realized the potential Hillsong had state-side, contacting the Lentz’s to begin the journey. Together they created a practice that now houses 8,000 weekly attendants spearheaded by the model celebrity himself, lead pastor Lentz. The men behind Hillsong — megachurches are distinct in their male leadership — hipster, flannel-wearing, swearing heartthrobs that continue to shatter stereotypes (with services that look like rock concerts and lines enviable to nightclubs (Johnson 161; Brodesser-Akner). Carl is a values-based man of seemingly ostentatious displays of wealth — head-to-toe Saint Laurent, gold chains, tailored skinny jeans, Chelsea boots, a personal Suburban with a driver at his beck-and-call — yet has become the face of the institution and the go-to of the likes of Justin and Hailey Bieber, Selena Gomez, Chris Pratt, Kendall Jenner, Kevin Durant and even Bono (Brodesser-Akner). This degree of affluence has raised questions about Hillsong’s possible adherence to the prosperity gospel suggesting that God’s will is intertwined with financial and physical well-being, but Hillsong appears to incongruously reject all insinuations that it is as such. The Kardashians were once regular attendants and one wonders how Hillsong’s captivating format influenced the creation of Kanye West’s in vogue Sunday Service.
Lentz is open about how Hillsong caters to celebrities, “Celebrities deserve a relationship with God and a place to pray,” and with mounting success has become quite the celebrity himself (Brodesser-Akner). He personally oversaw Justin Bieber’s transition, after his pastor friend Judah Smith asked for his help in the matter, and invited Bieber to live at his home (with his wife and children) for two months when he was at his lowest point. During this period, Bieber felt the overwhelming call to salvation and need to be re-baptised, so Carl headed to a swanky Manhattan hotel where Hillsong rents the pool for baptisms, and through a series of security difficulties, ended up being baptised in the extended bathtub of New York Knicks player Tyson Chandler, a close friend of Lentz’s (Brodesser-Akner). He provides personal counseling for countless actors, athletes, coaches and pop stars with an immensely in tune perspective on what people need and want to hear for their soul on the path to salvation.
The principled Lentz has a genuine love for humanity and believes in the path of Jesus above all else, wanting to share that message with anyone that will listen. The sheer power and conviction in his sermons has captured the attention of many, but not without controversy. While Carl is careful and adamant in persisting that his church is a place where everyone is welcome, he harbors traditional evangelist views of abortion and homosexuality as sins, “If I could show just one person how to walk with Jesus, really walk with him everyday, it would be easy to resist the temptation of loving someone your own gender” (Brodesser-Akner). He despises being referred to as a bigot, grappling daily with issues over inclusivity, and will not discredit anyone for their sins no matter how big or small, but remains unwavering in his views. The church has faced recent controversy in 2015 when it was revealed that the male leader of the NYC choir was in a relationship with a fellow male singer — and Hillsong had to stand by the fact that they do not condone the relation, especially while holding a leadership position with contrasting views (Brodesser-Akner). Lentz asserts that the two men are “amazing human beings going through the journey of life” and is evidently morally torn over the issue but knows that his fundamental belief structure forbids it (Brodesser-Akner). Ultimately, he thinks that it is imperative to talk about issues bigger than sexuality, like the soul, and that labeling your sins is only a headline in your life, but not your story (Brodesser-Akner). His views are emblematic of the paradoxical, shifting notion of what it means to be a Christian in a world where popular culture retains staggering influence over its subjects.
Hillsong has faced numerous controversies spanning sexual abuse claims from Brian Houston’s father Frank assaulting a young boy, to ties to the staunch evangelical organizational Mercy Ministries, to claims of resistance of free thought and authoritarian governance, but has continued to maintain its cultural capital nonetheless. Accountability of vast donations and dissemination of funding amongst complaints of free labour continue to be an issue faced by the industrial megachurch complex, and Hillsong is no different. This paradoxical notion that progressive ideals of popular culture are so seamlessly intertwined in the traditional value structure of Pentecostalism is at the root of Hillsong’s earnest search for authoritative authenticity. Christianity’s established anti-modern claims are thwarted by Hillsong’s oppositional intentions. Despite all of this, Hillsong has remained at the forefront of the Christian megachurch movement, and has made religion cool again (“the world’s first genuinely cool church”) (Brodesser-Akner). Promising sermons of salvation and deep soul-searching, imbued with emotional ballads and arm swaying, Hillsong speaks to an incredible variety of individuals from a wide array of denominations. Their universal and diverse musical offerings mask their message to even the atheist-discerning listener. Hillsong is a place for boomers, millennials, and Gen X/Z’s to all feel as if they have something to gain. It serves as a void to those yearning for a sense of belonging, somewhere they feel understood despite all obstacles, and amidst the decline of traditional religious structures and the toxic landscape of loneliness online. As evidenced, it is clear that Hillsong has done something right toeing the careful line between popular culture and religion, in amassing such great success.
Update: November 24th, 2019, 5pm Hillsong Toronto
After conducting all of this research, I knew I had to attend to see for myself. Hillsong Canada — Toronto and Ottawa — were opened in 2018. The Downtown Toronto service runs out of a space at 888 Yonge Street. I went to the 5pm Sunday Service and was met with a concert-like environment, flashing lights, and a largely multicultural audience that sang along to every word. I found it unsettling, immersive, and captivating. Each seat had a pamphlet entitled “Welcome Home,” with the phrase splashed everywhere you looked. Thirty minutes into it, the head of the Toronto foundation came on stage (see photo above) to ask for donations via buckets, e-Transfer, and even text — touting that the more empty one was, the more God had to give them (they encouraged the audience to forget about their bills and just pray). Then there was a segment entitled Hillsong News that played on the screen, stylishly edited to electronic music. Lead Pastor Damien and up-and-coming Pastor Jordan gave sermons about Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” I had not heard the verse before and it was stimulating to listen to an intellectual approach to scripture. I left the service feeling disoriented as if I had just witnessed that of a cult. As I walked out, they passed around Hillsong-branded Bibles next to a merchandise shop and coffee stand, only further cementing their particular brand of commodified religion aiming to appeal to a cultured populace. Safe to say I cannot see myself returning, but confirmed by Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s reporting, I would likely be drawn to the charms of Carl Lentz if I ever found myself in New York City.
Links & Photos
Brodessor-Akner -
Connell, John. “Hillsong: A Megachurch in the Sydney Suburbs.” Australian Geographer, vol. 36., no. 3, 2005, pg. 315–332.
Johnson, Jessica. “Megachurches, Celebrity Pastors, and the Evangelical Industrial Complex.” Religion and Popular Culture in America, 3rd Edition, U Of California Press, 2017, pp. 159–176.
Klaver, Miranda. “Media Technology Creating “Sermonic Events.” The Hillsong Megachurch Network.” CrossCurrents, vol. 65, no. 4, 2015, pg. 422–433. Project MUSE.
Wade, Matthew. “Seeker-Friendly: The Hillsong Megachurch as an Enchanting Total Institution.” Journal of Sociology, vol. 52, no. 4, Dec. 2016, pg. 661–676. ProQuest.
