Hillsong Conference 2006 was a Christian conference hosted by Hillsong church from 3-7 July 2006 in Sydney, Australia. The year marked the 20th anniversary of the annual Hillsong Conference, which began in 1986. It is the largest annual conference in Australia.^[1] It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Christianity. ... Hillsong Church, with a congregation of over 15,000 on an average weekend, is likely the largest Christian church in Australia. ... The Sydney Opera House on Sydney Harbour Sydney (pronounced ) is the most populous city in Australia with a metropolitan area population of over 4. ... Hillsong Conference is an annual Christian conference held mid-yearly in Sydney, Australia, and hosted by Hillsong Church. ...

The conference featured internationally prominent speakers and music worship leaders from the U.S., Canada, England, Australia and other countries, and featured a contemporary worship style. The venue was Sydney Olympic Park in Homebush Bay, originally built for the 2000 Olympics. Main meetings were held in the Acer Arena, formerly known as the Sydney SuperDome, with smaller meetings being held in nearby buildings. Youth meetings were held at the Hillsong Baulkham Hills Convention Centre. For other uses, see United States (disambiguation) and US (disambiguation). ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2005 est. ... Sydney Olympic Park map Sydney Olympic Park is a 640-hectare site located at Homebush Bay, New South Wales, Australia. ... (Redirected from 2000 Olympics) Categories: 2000 Summer Olympics ... Acer Arena, originially known as the Sydney SuperDome, is an indoor sporting arena located in Sydney, Australia. ...

According to Hillsong senior pastor Brian Houston, the "Conference exists to 'champion the cause of the local church' and make God's name known around the earth".^[1] Brian and Bobbie Houston Brian Houston is a Senior Pastor of Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia, an Assemblies of God in Australia megachurch. ...

Sydney Olympic Park map Sydney Olympic Park is a 640-hectare site located at Homebush Bay, New South Wales, Australia. ... Au. ... Au. ...

Key Speakers and Musicians

Speakers

In order of the night programs:

• Rick Warren, senior pastor of Saddleback Church.
• Matthew Barnett, pastor of the Dream Center.
• Frank Damazio, senior pastor of City Bible Church.
• Rick Godwin, pastor of Eagle's Nest Christian Fellowship.
• Bill Hybels, senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church.
• Jentezen Franklin, senior pastor of Free Chapel.
• Charlotte Scanlon, senior associate pastor of Abundant Life Church.
• Reinhard Bonnke, evangelist and leader of CfaN Christ for all Nations.

Also Brian Houston, senior pastor of Hillsong church. There were also a considerable number of other speakers for specific strands/electives. Richard D. Rick Warren (born January 28, 1954) is the founding and senior pastor of Saddleback Church. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... The Dream Center began as a home missions project of the Southern California District of the Assemblies of God. ... William Hybels is the founding and Senior Pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois. ... Willow Creek Community Church is a large American nondenominational church in the suburb of South Barrington, Illinois near Chicago, Illinois. ... Reinhard Bonnke (born 1940 in Königsberg, Germany) is a German charismatic Christian evangelist. ... Brian and Bobbie Houston Brian Houston is a Senior Pastor of Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia, an Assemblies of God in Australia megachurch. ... Hillsong Church, with a congregation of over 15,000 on an average weekend, is likely the largest Christian church in Australia. ...

Worship Leaders and Christian Bands

• Hillsong team
• Alvin Slaughter
• Delirious?
• Israel Houghton and New Breed
• Cindy Cruse-Ratcliff

There were also a number of other Christian musicians and worship leaders for specific strands. Hillsong Church Australia worship leader Darlene Zschech Hillsong Music collectively refers to the Christian music produced by the Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia as well as offshoot churches, Hillsong London and Hillsong Kiev. ... Delirious? are an English Christian rock and worship band, featuring Martin Smith on vocals and guitar, Stuart Garrard (also known as Stu G) on guitar and backing vocals, Jon Thatcher on bass guitar, Tim Jupp on keys and piano, and Stew Smith on drums and percussion. ... Israel Houghton is a Christian worship leader mostly known for his cross-cultural style of worship music that fuses elements from Gospel music, Jazz and Rock. ...

Children's and Youth Programs

• Kidsong World Playgroup (12 months to 3 years old)
• Kidsong World (3 years old to Grade 5)
• Jam 68 (Grade 6-8)
• Jam Wildlife (Grade 9-12)

Over 4,000 young people attended the Jam program (Jam 68 and Jam Wildlife)^[3], which contained the following electives:

• Evangelism
• Leadership
• Dance
• Programming
• Multimedia
• Worship
• Girlife
• The Brotherhood

Adult Strands/Electives

There were three main strands, each containing a number of electives:

• Pastors & Church Leadership:
  

  

  2006 United worship album, United We Stand
  • Pastors & Leaders
  • Moving in the Spirit
  • Biblical studies
  • Key Business
  • Children's Pastors & Leaders
  • Youth Pastors & Leaders
• Worship & Creative Arts:
  • Worship Leadership
  • The Musician
  • The Vocalist
  • Production Team
  • Media
  • The Dance
  • Dramatic Arts
  • Creative Design
• Evangelism & Community Action:
  • Evangelism
  • Community Impact
  • Transformation

Adult delegates nominated one of the three main strands on their application form. In practice the system was very flexible, as any delegate could attend any elective. Image File history File links United_We_Stand. ... Image File history File links United_We_Stand. ... United We Stand is the seventh live praise and worship album in the United series by the Hillsong Church. ...

Registration and Finance

Registration was required to attend the day program, with a single adult registration costing either $AUD149^(?), $189^(?), or $259^(?) depending on the date registered. Group booking were cheaper. Delegates wore a plastic wristband as proof of purchase, and automatically received a weekly ticket to one of the night programs. Separate tickets could be bought by anyone for $AUD5 per night program. After a time, seating was opened up to the general public for free entrance. 2006 was the first year that ticketed seating was implemented, with the intent to guarantee seats and reduce queue lengths. Au. ... Au. ...

Offerings were also received during the conference. Pastor Brian Houston declared that the registration money did not cover the costs of the conference, and that it was a big burden for a single church to bear. Some offerings were taken up for independent causes, such as for the evangelistic work of Reinhard Bonnke and his team. Also, over 1200^(?) children were sponsored through Compassion.

Daily Program

The main rallies consisted of the morning rallies together with the two night programs. There were also other informal meetings held outside the above listed times, such as lunchtime interviews of key speakers. Also, there was no day program on Monday.

Over 100 different talks from the conference are available for purchase on DVD, CD, or as an online MP3 download. DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) is an optical disc storage media format that can be used for data storage, including movies with high video and sound quality. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a popular digital audio encoding and lossy compression format, designed to greatly reduce the amount of data required to represent audio, yet still sound like a faithful reproduction of the original uncompressed audio to most listeners. ...

Another Pentecostal speaker in this elective also mentioned that he had dialogued with evangelical Christians about tongues and grown in his understanding^{[citation needed]}. The word evangelicalism usually refers to religious practices and traditions which are found in conservative, almost always Protestant, Christianity. ...

Criticism of Hillsong Conference

1. Many believe that the large sums of money spent on Hillsong Conference, the facilities, marketing, Christian resources, etc. could be put to better use. There has also been criticism of the offerings collected on top of the registration fee.
2. Many Christians outside of the charismatic/Pentecostal movement view speaking in tongues, which was common amongst the attendees and was practised by some of the speakers, feel uncomfortable with this expression and doubt its biblical basis.

Response to Criticism

1. Pastor Rick Warren says in his book The Purpose Driven Church that many business people in Western society are used to a highly professional workplace and conferences, so they expect a highly professional church worship service^{[citation needed]}. Many Christian leaders believe that it is important for a church to fit in with (neutral or positive aspects of) the local culture, while rejecting negative aspects^{[citation needed]}. They point to the healthy variety of styles exhibited throughout the worldwide Christian church.
2. Pentecostals see speaking in tongues as biblical. See above discussion.

See also

• Hillsong Church
• Hillsong Conference
• Charismatic movement
• Pentecostalism

Hillsong Church (formerly Hills Christian Life Centre) is a Pentecostal Christian church. ... Hillsong Conference is an annual Christian conference held mid-yearly in Sydney, Australia, and hosted by Hillsong Church. ... The charismatic movement began with the adoption of certain beliefs typical of those held by Pentecostal Christians —specifically what are known as the biblical charisms of Christianity: speaking in tongues, prophesying, etc. ... The Pentecostal movement within Evangelical Christianity places special emphasis on the direct personal experience of God through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, as shown in the Biblical account of the Day of Pentecost. ...

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Hillsong Church (2006-07-04). Hillsong Conference: A call to action. Press release. Retrieved on 2006-07-28.
2. ^ ^{a b} Hillsong Church (2006-07-07). Volunteers: The heartbeat of Hillsong conference. Press release. Retrieved on 2006-07-28.
3. ^ Hillsong Church (2006-07-06). Jam united impacting the generations. Press release. Retrieved on 2006-07-28.

Hillsong Church (formerly Hills Christian Life Centre) is a Pentecostal Christian church. ... A news release, press release or press statement is a written or recorded communication directed at members of the news media for the purpose of announcing something claimed as having news value. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 28 is the 209th day (210th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 156 days remaining. ... Hillsong Church (formerly Hills Christian Life Centre) is a Pentecostal Christian church. ... A news release, press release or press statement is a written or recorded communication directed at members of the news media for the purpose of announcing something claimed as having news value. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 28 is the 209th day (210th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 156 days remaining. ... Hillsong Church (formerly Hills Christian Life Centre) is a Pentecostal Christian church. ... A news release, press release or press statement is a written or recorded communication directed at members of the news media for the purpose of announcing something claimed as having news value. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 28 is the 209th day (210th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 156 days remaining. ...

External links

• Hillsong Church website
• Hillsong Conference webpage