Update #2: HILLSONG NEW YORK CITY

Well, on Tuesday night we gathered with the heart and soul of Hillsong Church in Sydney and Brisbane at Leadership Vision Night.  The House was packed with some of the finest volunteers, leaders and pastors that a Senior Pastor could ever ask for.  Bobbie and I are so blessed by the caliber of people who consistently embody the spirit of this House, and carry the vision of this church each week with painstaking excellence.  The greatest resource the church will ever have is people, and we, at Hillsong Church are so very blessed.

With all of our leaders gathered, I had the opportunity to unfold a bit more about the vision for Hillsong New York; and I am excited to announce that Joel Houston, (Bobbie’s and my eldest son), will be a key part of the team alongside Carl and Laura Lentz in New York City.  Since we announced our plans in New York City, I’ve learned that in bible college days, Joel and Carl spoke about a dream to one day work together and build a church in New York. With their unique skill sets and capacity for the ever changing, busy, transient and widespread demographic of New York, I could not be more excited for the future of this team, and our newest global campus.

Joel’s role in Hillsong Music, UNITED, and creatively across Hillsong Church will not change, and his presence in Sydney and input into key events will only increase as he takes on new responsibilities.  Joel has been the Creative Director of Hillsong Church for a number of years now, and his creative input and solid leadership to Hillsong Church globally is vital.   We are not losing anything; we are actually just enlarging our reach and capacity. Joel will still contribute everything he does now to the team and we will keep building stronger and moving forward.  These are exciting days.

Since announcing Hillsong New York City, we have received hundreds of emails and letters of correspondence from people who are showing an interest in our plans for New York City.  Though we are grateful and humbled by the response, I truly believe the Body of Christ needs people who are willing to use what is in their hand to build the vision of the church that is local to them.  Hillsong New York will never begin with strength if it is built on shaky foundations, or unsettled people.  Whether for people from Hillsong Church, Wave Church (Carl’s home church) or other churches across the globe, commitment to your local church and the vision of your leaders is of infinite value.

We are so grateful for your enthusiasm and ask that you continue to pray for Hillsong New York, for open doors and God’s perfect timing.  I am so full of vision for the future and excited to see what God is going to do.  We are now only 11 weeks from Hillsong Conference Sydney and I want to remind you again that ‘Where we’re going, is not where we’ve been before…’

The Best is Yet to Come,

Brian.

To read the blog in Spanish, please click here.