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How Hillsong Church conquered the music industry

christiandailyjournal.com

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Re: How Hillsong Church conquered the music industry

#121

Post by Danielalonso91 »

nickelcitymario wrote: post #111

I just wanna say, I clicked through to the comments expecting this to be a diatribe against christians and christianity, and I am thoroughly pleased to see that's not the case. As a (struggling with faith) christian, I tend to think my fellow tech heads will mock me if it comes up. And yet this post has been really respectful, largely just debating the merits of the article rather than as an opportunity to attack. Ku…

Dude, I totally second your comment. That's the very first thing I thought as I initially scrolled through the comments. I tip my hat, both to Christians for not being scared to express their beliefs, and to non-Christians for showing respect.

Re: How Hillsong Church conquered the music industry

#122

Post by lgunsch »

FireBeyond wrote: post #102
lgunsch wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would they need to change their status just because they have a large revenue from being successful? Girl Scouts, a non-profit, bring in 700 million from selling their cookies. United Way Worldwide, another non-profit, has a revenue of 3.9 Billion.

That's not an apt comparison. Non-profits are still taxed, and only eligible for some sales tax exemptions (depending on the state - very few in some). Religious organizations are considered tax-exempt.

I suppose I was thinking of it from a Canadian perspective. AFAIK, non-profits are generally exempt income tax.

edit: In Canada, I meant to say.

Re: How Hillsong Church conquered the music industry

#124

Post by reaperducer »

explorigin wrote: post #19
wbl wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not a Christian, but I feel like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ffg4mU7FNE&t=2s is far more divine sounding then someone with a guitar as in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=io2WOQ-3aVs . Sadly my faith tradition is stuck with Debbie Freedman.

It's all about culture. If you were influenced by a high-church growing up, you're more likely appreciate hymns. People that converted without a high-church context gravitate toward a more modern style of worship. The downside of so much hillsong influence is that it dominates a culture and drowns out other modern styles. I feel like all hillsong songs sound the same.

If you were influenced by a high-church growing up, you're more likely appreciate hymns.

For those interested in this sort of thing, Minnesota Public Radio's app has an entire streaming channel of choral music.

Re: How Hillsong Church conquered the music industry

#125

Post by Twirrim »

armandososa wrote: post #99

I've been playing in worship groups for +20 years now and I'm currently leading the youth band in a very small church and here are two things that I've been noting recently: Hillsong's music and most "mainstream" music that come from white english-spoken megachurches have lyrics that talk about "grace","love" and "God accepting you as you are". While the themes on worship music coming from South America (and I think…

There's another interesting language difference to look at, both within the history of Western worship, and in various countries.

Western worship has become heavily "I/Me" based, where historically it was more "Us/We" based. To the point it's starting to drive me crazy. Worship is becoming almost entirely selfish. A group of individuals having an individual experience, instead of a group of people having a collective, binding, experience with God.

Re: How Hillsong Church conquered the music industry

#126

Post by hotcrossbunny »

giancarlostoro wrote: post #93
whatthesmack wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you mind elaborating? I personally enjoy the music Hillsong puts out, but am always curious about the inner workings of an organization such as theirs.

They share a bit of commonalities with IHOP. I think they might mean their "internship" program is a scam. Look into how IHOP is a cult / scams young people. Its a lot of fluff. My cousin too joined one of the internships but for her own reasons and thankfully she knew better so by the time she got out she just knew we were right about them, except she knew the whole enchilada. In the case of IHOP they have sexualize…

Took me quite a while to work out you weren't talking about pancakes

Re: How Hillsong Church conquered the music industry

#127

Post by reaperducer »

thrmsforbfast wrote: post #60
netcan wrote: post #45

I went to a few Hillsong events about 10 years ago, when the church was becoming very obvious cultural influence Australia-wide. There is a lot that's very entrepreneurial about this church. They also started Gloria Jean's, a big, international Starbucks competitor. Like the music stuff, this had to do with youth culture and creating social aspects to the movement. In Australia a lot of people called the denomination…

> just because they've been "making things happen". Actually, my biggest fear about Christianity in the USA today is that it's NOT "making things happen" Or, perhaps more accurately, the things that it's making happen are businesses. The mainline congregations and Catholics of the 19th and early-mid 20th centuries made serious contributions to: 1. Education. In addition to the obvious middle and high schools, they st…

Actually, my biggest fear about Christianity in the USA today is that it's NOT "making things happen" Or, perhaps more accurately, the things that it's making happen are businesses.

I think it depends on which branches of Christianity you care about.

I'm not Mormon, but I get Salt Lake City television where I live, and have some Mormon neighbors, and the things that the LDS does to change lives around the world are incredible. It is truly a world-changing organization. But unless you're in or adjacent to that sphere, most people don't know about it.

Similarly, the Roman Catholic church is almost exclusively known by the general public in recent years for scandal. But I saw a report a few years ago that the Church had already spent a trillion (yes, with a T) dollars fighting human trafficking and helping the victims of human trafficking around the world.

Again, if you're not tuned in to Catholic media, or only consume media from the usual North America and European sources, you wouldn't know about these sorts of things.

Re: How Hillsong Church conquered the music industry

#129

Post by zupzupper »

armandososa wrote: post #99

I've been playing in worship groups for +20 years now and I'm currently leading the youth band in a very small church and here are two things that I've been noting recently: Hillsong's music and most "mainstream" music that come from white english-spoken megachurches have lyrics that talk about "grace","love" and "God accepting you as you are". While the themes on worship music coming from South America (and I think…

Lost and Found (band) I think has some nice song books if you've never come across them. Two piece band, guitar and piano, simple music, large variety of subject matter, very different sound.

Re: How Hillsong Church conquered the music industry

#130

Post by rhizome »

hotcrossbunny wrote: post #126
giancarlostoro wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They share a bit of commonalities with IHOP. I think they might mean their "internship" program is a scam. Look into how IHOP is a cult / scams young people. Its a lot of fluff. My cousin too joined one of the internships but for her own reasons and thankfully she knew better so by the time she got out she just knew we were right about them, except she knew the whole enchilada. In the case of IHOP they have sexualize…

Took me quite a while to work out you weren't talking about pancakes

It is indeed an initialism for International House of Prayer.
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