The Church Building Philosophy Hillsong Implemented That Few Have Been Able To Replicate
And Why The Church Needs This Philosophical Shift
The Hillsong-Shaped Hole No One Has Been Able to Fill
There’s a Hillsong-shaped hole in the church world, and—dare I say it?—a Brian Houston-shaped hole in the Pentecostal world.
It’s not that there aren’t other powerhouse churches or that other leaders aren’t doing incredible things for God—there are. But nobody has been able to replicate what Hillsong did, because nobody has been able to cultivate, raise up, and harness the greatest talent on the planet quite like Brian.
Let’s just rattle off the roster for a second:
🎸 Reuben Morgan
🎤 Ben Fielding
🔥 Darlene Zschech (literally changed the game)
🎶 Brooke Ligertwood (the GOAT of modern worship)
🎸 Joel Houston (innovator, songwriter, and creative nucleus)
🎤 Taya Smith (that voice? Unreal.)
🎶 Matt Crocker, Ben Hastings, Chris Davenport, JD, Aodhan King... and hundreds more.
And here’s the kicker:
They Were All Volunteers.
🚨 VOLUNTEERS. 🚨
😂 Meanwhile, your church is out here cutting checks for part-time musicians.
Meanwhile, every semi-decent Christian musician worldwide was going into personal debt just to move to Australia and volunteer on a Sunday morning for THREE YEARS STRAIGHT.
Hillsong didn’t just build a church—it became a global hub for Christian art for two entire decades.
No Church in America Has Matched That Level of Talent and Commitment
Not one. Not even close.
The Sunday morning bench was ridiculous.
The depth of songwriting was profound.
Everyone was building the same music ministry with the same level of buy-in.
The closest would be Bethel, who are doing some pretty special things right now.
And then there’s the massive expansion of Hillsong’s product lines:
✔️ Hillsong Worship (the classic, the standard)
✔️ Hillsong UNITED (the disruptors, the alternative edge)
✔️ Hillsong Young & Free (the youth movement, the synth-pop energy)
But if you think Hillsong built a church off of worship music, you’ve completely missed it.
The Evangelical Mistake: Thinking It Was Just the Music
An evangelical mindset would look at Hillsong’s success and think:
👉 “Well, they built an insane worship team, so naturally, people showed up.”
Wrong.
That was never the heart of Hillsong.
Wearing cool clothes wasn’t it, either.
I Was There.
I joined Hillsong NYC at 27.
I met some of the boys in Toronto, and they told me, “We’re starting a church in NYC. You need to come.” So I did.
I lived with Joel when I got there. I saw the thing from the ground up.
I led worship for four years before I was asked to start speaking.
And here’s what I saw:
Church after church copied Hillsong’s tech and aesthetic—the lighting, the stage setup, the vibes, the branding. They could replicate the look, but they could never replicate the culture.
Because the culture—the ever-elusive Hillsong DNA—was what caused world-class talent to set aside everything and VOLUNTEER THEIR INSANE GIFT.
Was Brian Houston Inspiring?
Yes—without question.
Was the church an artistic beacon?
Absolutely.
But was that the secret sauce?
No.
So What Was It?
That’s the million-dollar question.
Here’s what I think it was:
