And why did Hillsong cut its ties to the Assemblies, other than a yearning for independence from denominational authorities and perhaps to erase a some bad memories? Truth is, Hillsong grew out of the Assemblies of God, an important Pentecostal and charismatic Christian flock with about 70 million members around the world. The words “Assemblies of God” do not appear anywhere in this lengthy Times feature. However, there is another angle of this story that is totally missing. Thus, I wrote:Īll of the glamour and celebrity details are important and valid. My point, in a post earlier this week, was that this was not the only angle that mattered - especially since an earlier scandal in Hillsong history, back in Australia, pointed to familiar issues about independent megachurches struggling with issues of accountability. Carl Lentz, play a significant part of a story about Hillsong NYC and the scandal that took down its leader?Ĭlearly, Hillsong’s hipper-than-thou image and the celebrities linked to Lentz was a key element of the story. The journalism question is this: To what degree should the faith content at Hillsong, and even the DNA of sermons by the Rev. It was clear to me that this Hillsong operation - in the world’s Alpha City - was a big story. Yes, they talked about the excitement of being in that crowd and feeling like they were part of all that. During the five years that I did some part-time teaching in New York City (on the ground there eight weeks or so, each year), I had lots of students who went to Hillsong. A short version of the ending made it into print. This wasn’t just a story about politics, real estate and zoning laws.
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I stood my ground and - here’s the point - argued that what this church was proclaiming, in terms of doctrine and faith, was a crucial element in its success. One newsroom wit once said that this particular journalist “grew up Unitarian, but then he backslid.” He wanted that ending removed. That works, when you’re in Billy Graham’s hometown. This led into an altar call and more people streaming forward to join the church. So I ended my long feature story with a big chunk of a sermon, built on images of heaven and the end of all things. This was a mainline-esque church where they were still talking about salvation, sin, heaven and hell - all in a dramatic, but intelligent way. It was clear, at least to me, that the preaching was the key to this story. It was offering conservative Reformed-Calvinist thought with a style that a bit more suburban than your ordinary Presbyterian congregation. This was not a rock-band-and-lasers church. Hang in there with me, because I’m working my way to the topic at the heart of this week’s “Crossroads” podcast ( click here to tune that in), which focuses on the New York Times coverage of the fall of that hip Hillsong preacher in New York City.Īnyway, this Charlotte church was fascinating because it had strong Presbyterian roots and its creation was linked to splits that were already taking place in the world of mainline Protestantism.
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In fact, there were already academics studying the factors that turned ordinary churches into megachurches. Nearly 40 years ago, I wrote a story for The Charlotte Observer about a rapidly growing megachurch on the south side of town.