Hillsong Church UK
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Hillsong Church UK is a
charismatic Christian Charismatic Christianity (also known as Spirit-filled Christianity by its supporters) is a form of Christianity that emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts, and modern-day miracles as an everyday part of a believer's life. Practi ...
Non-denominational
megachurch A megachurch is a church with an unusually large membership that also offers a variety of educational and social activities, usually Protestant or Evangelical. The Hartford Institute for Religion Research defines a megachurch as any Protestant C ...
in the United Kingdom which is a part of
Hillsong Church Hillsong Church, commonly known as Hillsong, is a global Evangelical charismatic movement, charismatic Christian megachurch based in Australia. The original church was established in 1983 as Hills Christian Life Centre, in Baulkham Hills, New ...
global. Hillsong London, founded as London Christian Life Centre, was the first church planted in the UK by the
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
-based church, in 1992.


History

The church was planted out of the
Hills Christian Life Centre Hillsong Church, commonly known as Hillsong, is a global charismatic Christian megachurch based in Australia. The original church was established in 1983 as Hills Christian Life Centre, in Baulkham Hills, New South Wales, by Brian Houston and ...
(in
Greater Western Sydney Greater Western Sydney (GWS) is a large region of the metropolitan area of Greater Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia that generally embraces the north-west, south-west, central-west, and far western sub-regions within Sydney's metropoli ...
, Australia) by Gerard and Sue Keehan in 1992 as the London Christian Life Centre, becoming Hillsong Church London in 2000. From 2000 to 2002 Hillsong London met in various West End theatres and university halls around London. Towards the end of 2004, it ended a two-year residency in the Mermaid Conference and Events Centre, holding seven services a weekend. It then moved to four services on a Sunday at the
Dominion Theatre The Dominion Theatre is a West End theatre and former cinema on Tottenham Court Road, close to St Giles Circus and Centre Point, in the London Borough of Camden. Planned as primarily a musical theatre, it opened in 1929, but the following year ...
, which seats around 2,200 people. In August 2005, Hillsong London began holding services in
Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley District of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxon period, Leath ...
,
Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
(southwest of London), and in 2011 services commenced in
Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated population ...
,
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
(southeast of London). In 2006 Hillsong London drew 3,000 people to the
Excel Centre ExCeL London (an abbreviation for Exhibition Centre London) is an exhibition centre, international convention centre and former hospital in the Custom House area of Newham, East London. It is situated on a site on the northern quay of the ...
in East London, for the first Hillsong Conference Europe. On 13 September 2009 Hillsong London held a service at
The O2 Arena The O2 Arena, commonly known as the O2 (stylised as The O2 arena), is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of the O2 entertainment complex on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the s ...
, to celebrate ten years of the church in London. In 2013, Hillsong London formed the Warehouse Project just outside
Millwall FC Millwall Football Club () is a professional football club in Bermondsey, South East London, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name ...
's stadium,
The Den The Den (previously The New Den) is a football stadium in New Cross, south-east London, and the home of Millwall Football Club. The Den is adjacent to the South London railway originating at , and a quarter of a mile from the Old Den, which i ...
. Hillsong London has hosted their special Christmas event called "Carols at Wembley Arena" at the
SSE Arena, Wembley Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-sea ...
, with the event sold out in 2015. In 2019, a new congregation started in
Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...
, attracting around 600 attendees.


Today

In February 2021 the
pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...
s of Hillsong London are Tim and Nicola Douglass, formerly of the Melbourne Hillsong church, were appointed as pastors to Hillsong London. They took over from Gary and Cathy Clarke, who were being moved into an international leadership role after the Australian senior pastors
Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word me ...
and
Bobbie Houston Roberta Lee Houston (born 16 January 1957), better known as Bobbie Houston, is a New Zealand-born Australian of Tongan descent and a Pentecostalism, Pentecostal pastor in the Assemblies of God in Australia, Australian Christian Churches. Hous ...
were stepping down from their international responsibilities. In 2017, it had an annual gross income of over £18 million, and is registered as a
charitable institution A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ch ...
with the
Charity Commission , type = Non-ministerial government department , seal = , seal_caption = , logo = Charity Commission for England and Wales logo.svg , logo_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , ...
. The Church has 12 locations in the UK,Joshua Statter
600 worshippers flock to megachurch Hillsong's new weekly service in Croydon
eastlondonlines.co.uk, UK, 7 October 2019
all in England apart from
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
in Scotland. The services are held in rented accommodation. In 2016, the attendance at the Dominion Theatre was 2,000 people.


Controversies

In June 2020, pastor Gary Clarke was criticised for refusing to comment on the
murder of George Floyd On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's n ...
in the US, saying "For me, I don’t live in the United States. For me to be railing as a pastor about something that's going on in another country, I’m not really sure that’s going to help anyone". Both Clarke and global founding pastor
Brian Houston Brian Charles Houston ( ; born 17 February 1954) is a New Zealand-Australian former pastor and evangelist. He was the founder and senior pastor at Hillsong Church, based in Sydney with locations around the world. He was the national president ...
subsequently apologised for the comments. The global church has been embroiled in a number of other controversies and has been subjected to various criticisms, for example its position on
LGBTQI ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...
issues. In December 2022, Hillsong London was criticised for charging £10 per ticket for its Christmas carol service. Carl Beech, writing in
Premier Christianity ''Premier Christianity'' is a monthly Evangelical Christian magazine published in the United Kingdom. The magazine was started in 1965 as a newsletter with name ''Buzz''. It was sponsored by the organization Music Gospel Outreach (MGO) and share ...
, remarked that "The gospel is supposed to be good news to the poor. Therefore, it would seem abhorrent to exclude anyone who can’t afford to attend. The incarnation and sacrifice of Christ is mind-blowingly generous and undeserved. Christmas is our chance to communicate this in word and deed. If ever there was a time to throw the doors open and welcome everyone in, this is it."


Discography

Shout God's Fame (2004) Jesus is (Live) (2006) Jesus is (Remix) (2008) Hail to the King (2008)


See also

*
Christian Life Centre Christian Life Centre (commonly abbreviated to CLC) is or was a name given to a number of Pentecostal churches in Australia, many of them affiliated with the Australian Christian Churches (formerly Assemblies of God, or AOG) network. ''Hills Chris ...
* Hillsong (disambiguation)


References


External links

* {{Authority control Hillsong Church Pentecostal churches in London Contemporary worship music Churches in the London Borough of Camden Christian organizations established in 1992 Evangelical megachurches in the United Kingdom Churches in Surrey Churches in Kent