Hillsongs

    Hillsong Music Australia is the resource arm of Hills Christian Life Centre, a rapidly growing Church in Sydney, Australia pastored by Brian and Bobbie Houston.  Hills Christian Life Centre had its first service on 14 August 1983 with a congregation of 45 people meeting in a High School hall. 

    From its humble beginnings as a single desk operation, Hillsong Music Australia has grown to the dynamic Music label it is today.  Operating with one casual staff member in its beginnings, now in 1999 HMA employs ten full time staff members to keep up with the ever-increasing demand for music products all over the globe.

     “Hillsongs” as it was originally called recorded its first album in 1988.  ‘Spirit And Truth’ was a studio recording featuring eleven songs.  The sphere of influence of this album was the church and a few friends of the church.  From there, came ‘Show Your Glory’ in 1990.  Also a studio recording, this was the first album to be marketed and distributed outside Australia, edging its way into the European market. (Both of these albums are no longer available.) 

    Then in 1992 came the first live recording ‘The Power Of Your Love’.  In 1993 ‘Stone's Been Rolled Away’ was recorded, the first live album to be captured on video tape.  This paved the way for a new live praise and worship album each year since, including ‘People Just Like Us’, ‘Friends In High Places’, ‘God Is In The House’, ‘All Things Are Possible’, ‘Touching Heaven Changing Earth’, and the latest release, 2000's ‘For this Cause’, the 11th live Praise and Worship album.

     HMA have also released a number of compilation albums including ‘Hills Praise’ and the ‘Simply Worship’ series.  Integrity Music USA have recorded two live albums at Hills Christian Life Centre entitled ‘Shout To The Lord’, which has currently overshot the 500 000 in worldwide sales mark, and ‘Shout To The Lord 2000’.  The latter attained number two status on the US Christian charts and made it to the Billboard charts.

    HMA has celebrated the achievement of six albums attaining Gold Status in Australia and nine in New Zealand. ‘People Just Like Us’ was the first ever Christian album to go Gold in Australia. Senior Pastor Brian Houston says of the success of the music “All we’ve ever done is just have church. This is what God has anointed us to do. It’s about reaching and influencing people. The worship is what it is because of the spirit of the church. The songs reflect the heart of the church.”

    Hillsongs operated from a one room office at Hills Christian Life Centre for some years.  As it began to grow, the marketing and distribution of the product was taken on by Christian Marketing Australia.

    Hillsongs was originally given the name ‘Power Ministries International’ – the incorporation of the word ‘International’ was ridiculed in some circles with many not believing that this little local church from ‘Down Under’ could amount to anything of international proportion. However as the music began to become more established and the annual Hillsong Conference rapidly grew, ‘Power Ministries International’ in 1994 became Hillsongs Australia and in 1998 Hillsong Music Australia. As the popularity of the music spread throughout Australia and beyond, various distribution companies around the world began to seek after the distribution rights to the music in their territories.  Today, Hillsong Music is distributed throughout over thirty different countries worldwide.  The music has been translated into multiple languages the world over.

    A large percentage of Hillsong music sales come through direct marketing.  Every day people from every nation send emails and faxes, make phone calls and access the HMA website to order online.

    HMA is headed by General Manager Jonathan de Jong, and employs seven full time administration staff, three full time warehouse and stock personnel.  These staff manage the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of Hillsong product to the direct market, the Australian retail market and right around the world. 

     The worship team at ‘Hills’ is led by Worship Pastor Darlene Zschech, writer of Shout To The Lord.  Darlene works with a dedicated group of singers and musicians who week in and week out give of their time and energy to lead their church into an atmosphere of worship. It is this dedication that is reflected on the albums.  God is continually raising up new talent within the team with the result that new songs are being taught to the church almost every weekend.

     Bill Hybels, Senior Pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in the United States said “The worship music from Hillsong has not only had a powerful effect on my life, but it has touched our whole congregation at Willow Creek.  There is a rare blend of fresh lyrics with an infectious musicality that inspires all of us to sing the songs again and again.  What a gift to the Christian community worldwide!”

   Every week letters with comments such as this are received through the Hillsong office.  From the Middle East, to Africa, throughout the depths of China and into small tribal villages in the Philippines the music coming out of this ‘local church from Down Under’ is impacting people in ways that only God can be glorified for.  What a privilege to work in partnership with Him.

No Current Tours for Hillsongs Team Scheduled.