Postcards: Australian church celebrates reopening after flood devastation
SAMANTHA ELLEY speaks with pastor Rebekka Battista as Centre Church in Lismore, Australia, celebrates its reopening, two-and-half years after it was devastated by floods…
Collaborative approach: Want to write a hit worship song? Invite a few friends to church.
When the CCLI Top 100 chart first appeared in 1988, most of the songs had one writer. Today, the average hit worship song has at least two writers. BOB SMIETANA, of Religion News Service, reports…
Musical ecumenism: Why Catholic bishops rocked out to megachurch worship hits
The rise in popularity of music from churches like Elevation, Hillsong and Bethel has helped launch a new kind of ecumenical movement. BOB SMIETANA, of Religion News Service, reports…
Hillsong Church founder Brian Houston found not guilty of concealing his father’s child sex crimes
Updated: 3pm (AEST) Canberra, Australia AP Hillsong Church founder Brian Houston was ruled not guilty Thursday of an Australian charge of concealing his father’s child sex crimes. Houston, 69, was the Sydney-based church’s senior global pastor when police charged him two years ago with concealing a serious indictable offense. He resigned from his church roles […]
Few worship leaders avoid Hillsong, Bethel songs – despite controversies and scandal
RNS United States For the past decade, a handful of megachurches have dominated worship music, churning out hits such as Goodness of God, What a Beautiful Name, King of Kings and Graves Into Gardens. And though churches like Australia-based Hillsong and Bethel Church in California have met with scandal and controversy, worship leaders still keep […]
“A handful of songwriters from a handful of churches”: There’s a reason every hit worship song sounds the same
BOB SMIETANA, of Religion News Service, reports on a new study that found that the most popular worship songs come from a handful of megachurches with a knack for writing pop songs about what God will do for you…
Soundbite – The TCM Update: 2022 in review, part I
Australia-born Mitch Wong won a Grammy Award this year. Listen to this week’s TCM Update…
“Sing the World God Imagines”: Marking its centennial, North American Hymn Society continues push for more diverse music
ADELLE M BANKS, of Religion News Service, reports on how members danced and sang to a global selection of hymns as they grappled with the power of song to change the world…
Soundbite – The TCM Update: Hillsong United’s ‘Are We There Yet?’ about the journey
Listen to this week’s TCM Update…
Hillsong founder quits over inappropriate behaviour with women
Sydney, Australia Reuters Australia’s biggest evangelical church said on Wednesday its founder had resigned after acting inappropriately towards two women, another blow to an influential organisation already reeling from charges the leader had covered up sex abuse. Hillsong Church said an internal investigation into complaints from two women had found that its global senior pastor, […]