Horizon Church, founded as Sutherland AOG, and formerly more recently Shirelive, is a

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

Australian Christian Churches The Australian Christian Churches (ACC), formerly Assemblies of God in Australia, is a network of Pentecostal churches in Australia affiliated with the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, which is the largest Pentecostal denomination in the w ...

, the Australian branch of the Assemblies of God denomination. The church's main campus is in the commercial district of Sutherland, a southern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales. The church's senior pastors are Brad and Alison Bonhomme, and the former Prime Minister of Australia,

Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (; born 13 May 1968) is an Australian politician. He served as the 30th prime minister of Australia and as Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2018 to 2022, and is currently the member of parliament (MP) for th ...

, is a member of the congregation. Apart from the original church in Sutherland, Horizon also has satellite churches in St Andrews, a south-western suburb of Sydney;

Dunsborough, Western Australia Dunsborough is a coastal town in the South West of Western Australia, south of Perth, on the shores of Geographe Bay. Dunsborough is a popular tourist destination for Western Australians; in 1999 it was voted the state's best tourist destinatio ...

; and

Rote Island Rote Island ( id, Pulau Rote, also spelled ''Roti'') is an island of Indonesia, part of the East Nusa Tenggara province of the Lesser Sunda Islands. According to legend, this island got its name accidentally when a lost Portuguese sailor arrive ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, and is planning another campus in

Western Sydney Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

History

Horizon Church was created by the Assemblies of God in Australia in 1949, under Pastor Norm Armstrong. The first meeting was in the Sutherland School of Arts Hall. In the early 1950s the church was built at its current location at 7-9 Stapleton Avenue, Sutherland. The church was founded as Sutherland AOG, being renamed the Christian Growth Centre. In 2000 it became a company

limited by guarantee In British, Australian, Bermudian, Hong Kong and Irish company law (and previously New Zealand), a company limited by guarantee (CLG) is a type of corporation used primarily (but not exclusively) for non-profit organisations that require legal pe ...

, changing its name to Shire Christian Centre. In May 2006 the church was again rebranded, this time as Shirelive. In 2007, the church undertook a building project which consisted of stage one, major demolition of existing auditorium, youth centre with the construction of a new 1090-seat convention centre. On 20 October 2013, pastors Brad and Alison Bonhomme were appointed as the senior pastors of Shirelive, and in 2018 the church changed its name to Horizon Church.

Governance

The church, as a limited company, provides reports to ASIC and the

ACNC The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) is the regulatory authority for charities and not-for-profit organisations within Australia. The Commission was established in December 2012 as part of the ''Australian Charities ...

, and is governed by a board of directors.

Beliefs and practices

As a Pentecostal and evangelical church, Horizon is not a mainstream church in Australia. Some members believe in divine healing, and practise "

speaking in tongues Speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, is a practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker. One definition used by linguists is the fluid vocalizing of sp ...

", which is seen as a miraculous gift from God.

Locations

Apart from the "mother church" in Sutherland, Horizon also has churches in

and St Andrews, New South Wales, with a new campus launched on

, Indonesia, in 2022, and a new one planned for

in 2022. Services are also held online.

People

The former Prime Minister of Australia,

, and his family are members of the Horizon congregation.

References

External links

* {{AOG Australia Australian Christian Churches Evangelical megachurches in Australia Pentecostal churches in Sydney Christian organizations established in 1957