Hillsong Conference
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Hillsong Conference is a mid-year week-long annual Christian conference hosted in
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
, Australia, with a smaller three-day event held in London later each year. It is the largest annual conference in Australia of any kind. The event is hosted by
Hillsong Church Hillsong Church, commonly known as Hillsong, is a charismatic Christian megachurch and a Christian association of churches based in Australia. The original church was established in Baulkham Hills, New South Wales, as Hills Christian Life Centr ...
at their convention center in Norwest. Hillsong Conference grew from 150 people at the first conference in 1986 to upwards of 30,000 people each year in Sydney. It brings in over $28 million to the New South Wales tourism sector, annually. From 2020 to 2021, the Hillsong Conference was postponed for the first time in its history, due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.


History


1986–1994: Early Years

The first Hillsong Conference was held in 1986 in Baulkham Hills with only 150 attendees. In the early 1990s, night rallies were held in the
Hills Centre The Hills Centre was a Brutalist architecture, modern brutalist complex of civic buildings in Castle Hill, New South Wales opened in stages between 1982 and 1988, and demolished in 2013. The complex included a 1,678-seat auditorium known as the ...
where Hillsong Church was holding meetings, with attendees growing to as large as 750 by 1992.


1995–2000: Growth

From 1995, night rallies were held at the
State Sports Centre The State Sports Centre (known commercially as the Quaycentre) is a multi-use indoor arena in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and was opened in November 1984. With a total of 3,854 fixed and retractable seats the main arena is a focal point ...
in
Sydney Olympic Park Sydney Olympic Park is a suburb of Greater Western Sydney, located 13 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local government area of the City of Parramatta, City of Parramatta Council. It i ...
. Two similar conferences were held in 1999 and 2000 across two weeks.


2001–2017: Move to Sydney Olympic Park

Hillsong Conference was first held in the
Qudos Bank Arena The Sydney SuperDome (currently known as the Qudos Bank Arena for sponsorship reasons) is a multipurpose arena located in Sydney Olympic Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was completed in 1999 as part of the facilities for th ...
(formerly
Sydney SuperDome The Sydney SuperDome (currently known as the Qudos Bank Arena for sponsorship reasons) is a multipurpose arena located in Sydney Olympic Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was completed in 1999 as part of the facilities for th ...
and named Acer Arena at the time) and various venues throughout Sydney Olympic Park from 2001. In 2011 Hillsong Conference was not held in Sydney Olympic Park but instead in the Sydney Entertainment Centre for logistical reasons relating to the availability of Sydney Olympic Park. The 2015 conference was marred with controversy when American pastor
Mark Driscoll Mark A. Driscoll (born 1970) is an American evangelical pastor and author. He is the founder and primary contributor of RealFaith ministries. He is also the senior and founding pastor of Trinity Church in Scottsdale, Arizona, which was founded ...
was invited to speak. A Melbourne based activist Benjamin Ady and his Wife Megan initiated a number of peaceful protests at Hillsong's Sydney and Melbourne campuses and from conversations with their church leaders was confident Mark would be disinvited. Prominent journalist
Julia Baird Julia Baird may refer to: * Julia Baird (teacher) (born 1947), British retired teacher and half-sister of John Lennon * Julia Baird (journalist) (born 1970), Australian journalist {{hndis, Baird, Julia ...
covered the story that also noted a number of Christian leaders alarmed that Mark Driscoll's invitation was still offered. Though Mark Driscoll was not physically in attendance at the conference, a pre-recorded video was aired instead. At the same 2015 conference Tanya Levin was arrested by Police Officers contracted to patrol the conference site for trespass. She was later charged however the case was dismissed in court. Also in 2015, UK gender church abuse activist Natalie Collins stage a peaceful protest at the London Hillsong conference in response to Mark Driscoll's invitation to speak.


2018–present

In 2018, the Hillsong Conference completely sold out the
Qudos Bank Arena The Sydney SuperDome (currently known as the Qudos Bank Arena for sponsorship reasons) is a multipurpose arena located in Sydney Olympic Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was completed in 1999 as part of the facilities for th ...
venue. Future growth is expected to continue to overflow into the wider
Sydney Olympic Park Sydney Olympic Park is a suburb of Greater Western Sydney, located 13 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local government area of the City of Parramatta, City of Parramatta Council. It i ...
precinct where currently the Kidsong and
Hillsong Young & Free Hillsong Young & Free (also known as Hillsong Y&F or simply Young & Free or Y&F) is an Australian contemporary worship music and Christian EDM group from Sydney, Australia, where they started making Christian music in 2012 at Hillsong Church. T ...
Conference is held simultaneously. The 2020 and 2021 Hillsong Conferences were postponed for the first time in its history due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.


Conferences


Hillsong Conference Sydney

Hillsong Conference was first held in the
Qudos Bank Arena The Sydney SuperDome (currently known as the Qudos Bank Arena for sponsorship reasons) is a multipurpose arena located in Sydney Olympic Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was completed in 1999 as part of the facilities for th ...
(formerly
Sydney SuperDome The Sydney SuperDome (currently known as the Qudos Bank Arena for sponsorship reasons) is a multipurpose arena located in Sydney Olympic Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was completed in 1999 as part of the facilities for th ...
and named Acer Arena and Allphones Arena at the time) and various venues throughout Sydney Olympic Park from 2001.


Hillsong Conference London

In 2006, an offshoot of Hillsong Conference began in London with 3,000 people at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre known as Hillsong Conference Europe. Since its inception in 2007 it has become an annual 3-day conference held in London attracting people from across Europe. Hillsong Conference London is now held at
The O2 Arena The O2 Arena, commonly known as The O2, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of The O2 entertainment district on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London, England. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the third-highest seat ...
, which is the second largest indoor venue in the UK of 21,000 seats.


Hillsong Conference New York

In July 2012,
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 o ...
announced they will be bringing the Hillsong Conference for the first time ever to the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. Hillsong Conference was held in New York in 2013 for the first time, and annually since. Hillsong Conference New York was held in the
Barclays Center Barclays Center ( ) is a multi-purpose list of indoor arenas, indoor arena in the New York City Boroughs of New York City, borough of Brooklyn. The arena is home to the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association and the New York Liber ...
in Brooklyn, with a seating capacity of 17,000.


Sessions

The sessions that make up Hillsong Conference are diverse and vary from a typical church service, from presentations from leaders in their space, traditional preaching and worship sessions, through to Design and Production masterclasses. * Opening Ceremony * Morning/Night Meetings - Hillsong Church Service with special guest preachers * Masterclasses - One hour presentations in more intimate settings with experts across a wide breadth of topics. * Closing Ceremony


Kidsong

Kidsong is the Children's portion of the Hillsong Conference, and is hosted simultaneously to Hillsong Conference in the surrounding Olympic Park Precinct. Kidsong also runs a special programme named Treasure Chest for children living with disabilities.


Charitable contributions

Various charities are present at Hillsong Conference, including
Compassion Compassion is a social feeling that motivates people to go out of their way to relieve the physical, mental, or emotional pains of others and themselves. Compassion is sensitivity to the emotional aspects of the suffering of others. When based ...
and
Open Doors Open Doors is a non-denominational mission supporting persecuted Christians around the world. They work with local partners to distribute Bibles and Christian literature, give discipleship training and provide practical support, such as emer ...
. In 2019, over a 20-year partnership with Hillsong,
Compassion Compassion is a social feeling that motivates people to go out of their way to relieve the physical, mental, or emotional pains of others and themselves. Compassion is sensitivity to the emotional aspects of the suffering of others. When based ...
announced that over 100,000 children had been sponsored through their programs.


Accessibility

The conference, including worship, is translated live into 11 different languages, plus Auslan, for those attending. The venue and surrounding precinct is wheelchair accessible and Hillsong Conference makes specific provisions for those who require additional assistance.


Notable appearances

In 2005, Leader of the Australian Labor Party
Kim Beazley Kim Christian Beazley (born 14 December 1948) is an Australian former politician and diplomat. Since 2022 he has served as chairman of the Australian War Memorial. Previously, he was leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and Leader of the ...
sent a video message and NSW Premier
Bob Carr Robert John Carr (born 28 September 1947) is an Australian retired politician and journalist who served as the 39th Premier of New South Wales from 1995 to 2005, as the leader of the New South Wales Labor Party, New South Wales branch of the A ...
spoke briefly at the conference. In 2015 singer
Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...
attended the Sydney conference. In 2016, singer
Dami Im Dami Im ( ; ; ; born 17 October 1988) is an Australian singer and songwriter. She represented Australia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 held in Stockholm, Sweden with the song " Sound of Silence", placing second and achieving the highes ...
performed her
Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster submits an origina ...
hit
Sound of Silence "The Sound of Silence" (originally "The Sounds of Silence") is a song by the American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, written by Paul Simon. The duo's studio audition of the song led to a record deal with Columbia Records, and the original a ...
at the conference. In 2019,
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
of Australia
Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (born 13 May 1968) is an Australian former politician who served as the 30th prime minister of Australia from 2018 to 2022. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party and was ...
opened the Hillsong Conference with a prayer for veterans, young people and more rain to tackle the now lifted drought facing Australia.


See also

*
Hillsong Church Hillsong Church, commonly known as Hillsong, is a charismatic Christian megachurch and a Christian association of churches based in Australia. The original church was established in Baulkham Hills, New South Wales, as Hills Christian Life Centr ...
*
Hillsong Channel TBN Inspire is an American Christian broadcast television network owned by the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). It is carried on the digital subchannels of TBN's stations. The network originally launched as The Church Channel, which focuse ...
*
Charismatic movement The charismatic movement in Christianity is a movement within established or mainstream denominations to adopt beliefs and practices of Charismatic Christianity, with an emphasis on baptism with the Holy Spirit, and the use of spiritual gift ...
*
Pentecostalism Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...


References


External links


Hillsong Conference webpage
{{Christianity in Australia Charismatic and Pentecostal Christianity Hillsong Church Evangelical Christian conferences Annual events in Australia Recurring events established in 1986