On Sunday the 6th of June I attended Hillsong church at 10:30 am. The Hillsong church was first founded in Sydney in 1983 by Brian Houston's father and he later set up the Hillsong church here in Brisbane (http://www.christiantoday.com/). The service began with praise and worship which continued for twenty minutes. There was a full worship band and they had a few guitar solos on the electric guitars, meaning they use contemporary worship music. Contemporary worship music was not always used in the church until 1970 when there was the great Christian movement (John, M. 1997. p.2). Contemporary worship music became such a hit that it had become indutrialised and very popular (John, M. 1997. p.3). One of the pioneers at the time was Larry Norman nicknamed the "father of rock" (John, M. 1997. p.5). Larry Norman's music is still being used in the Hillsong church, songs such as, "One way" (http://www.emusic.com/). The music was well played as a result of having a full church band which shows the congregation's devotion to the church.
There are several pastors that attend the church in the morning and one of them would open up in prayer and ask for the new people that attend the church to stand. He then gave them a brochure and asked them to come to the welcome lounge. Despite the pastor being the leading pastor of the church each entity within the Hillsong church operates under the board of directors (http://myhillsong.com/). The board of directors is responsible for the leadership of the respective entity (http://myhillsong.com/). They are also responsible for a financial and spiritual oversight for the church (http://myhillsong.com/). Therefore the church is not goverened by one individual but rather a board of directors chosen by the congregation.
The tithe buckets come around and the pastors prays over the tithes before they are handed down the rows. Tithes are a very important core belief of the church since God asked his church to give ten percent of what they earn to him, this in itself is an act of obedience and a giving of thanks (http://www.aog.org.au/). This Core belief is based on the scripture Leviticus 27:30. Therefore tithing is an important core fundamental belief of the Hillsong church.
After the buckets are handed around the worship band then sits down and another pastor begins his sermon. Brian Huston is the leading pastor of the Hillsong church. The hillsong church is a part of the Assemblies of God, which is AOG, and they together believe the same theological understandings (http://www.aog.org.au/). The pastor of Hillsong church applies his sermon to their theological beliefs such as the trinity (Olsen, R. 2002 p.1). The trinity is Father, Son and the Holy Spirit and they believe they are totally loving and completely holy (http://www.aog.org.au/). They believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and he is the only one who can reconcile everyone and he rose again to prove his victory and empower his believers with life (http://www.aog.org.au/). To receive forgiveness and new birth one must repent for their sins, believe in Christ that he died for our sins and rose again and to submit his will to our lives. Hillsong church has a well structured theological basis of which many other churches in the congregation of the AOG follow.
If there are any baptisms or if there is communion it can happen during or before the sermon starts. They pray over the baptisms and the communions before they begin. Baptism is a very important practice and core belief in the church. Baptism is a time where someone would be baptised in the Holy spirit and ,in return for being filled with the holy spirit, be given the gift of speaking in tongues (http://ucg.org.au/). Communion is also a very important practice and belief in the church. The whole congregation in the church partakes in communion together which is a time where you take a biscuit and some kind of red juice, red juice symbolizing Jesus' blood and the bread representing his broken body when he got sacrificed on the cross (http://www.aog.org.au/). However, non believer of the faith visiting the church do not have to partake with the rest of the believers. As the congregation partakes in communion together they thank God before eating and drinking. Baptism and communion do not happen in every church service on a Sunday however, they are very important core beliefs of the Hillsong Church.
The pastor closes his sermon in prayer and asks for those who want to accept God to tell him by raising their hands, coming down the front or meet him afterwards. The church believes in making disciples, as was commanded by Jesus (http://www.aog.org.au/). The pastor is not very boring and often has a bit of fun while on the stage, telling a joke or two and often a story to go with his sermon for people to remember his message he is trying to get across to the audience. This shows that they are truly trying to save the people by getting them interested in the church. Therefore Brian Huston is a very good pastor who sticks to his theological understandings and core beliefs.
Many people are saved and become Pentecostal Christians. Pentecostalism is known as a renewal movement within Christianity with a direct personal experience with God (http://myhillsong.com/). Many people accepted the Lord as their Christ and saviour. Brian Huston prayed over them and blessed them achieving one of their goals, to make disciples of all nations. Pentecostalism started at 33 AD the day of Pentecost. However there are some sources that argue that there was not a real Pentecostal movement until the beginning of the 20th century.
The full band joins the stage again and as the service comes to a close they play one last song. There is a bookstore, welcome lounge and food joints to hang out and greet other people. If you are new they ask you to come to the welcome lounge and if you are not you can help out in the lounge or become a devoted church member. Hillsong was a very interesting church with a dedicated congregation.
I acquired this pamphlet from Hillsong that shows an event, the Hillsong Conference in 2010 and some of their goals and beliefs that were discussed of the church are on the pamphlet which is very useful to those new to the church that know nothing about the church.
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