The Miserere, by Josquin des Prez, is a motet setting of Psalm 51 (Psalm 50 in the Septuagint numbering) for five voices.  He composed it while in the employ of Duke Ercole I d'Este in Ferrara, in 1503 or 1504.  It was one of the most famous settings of that psalm of the entire Renaissance, was hugely influential in subsequent settings of the Penitential Psalms, and was itself probably inspired by the recent suffering and execution of the reformer Girolamo Savonarola.

During the 1490s, the Duke of Ferrara, Ercole I d'Este, kept in close contact with Savonarola, who was also from Ferrara, and supported him in his efforts to reform the Roman Catholic Church.  About a dozen letters between the two survive:  the Duke sought advice both on spiritual and political matters (for example, his alliance with France).  Even after Savonarola's arrest, Duke Ercole attempted to have him freed, but his last letter to the church authorities in Florence, in April 1498, went unanswered.  After Savonarola's execution, Ercole, then in his eighties, probably commissioned his newly hired composer, Josquin, to write him a musical testament, very likely for performance during Holy Week of 1504.  Savonarola's impassioned meditation on sin and repentance, Infelix ego, composed in prison after his torture, and published in Ferrara in mid-1498 shortly after his death, was the probable model for Josquin's setting.  It is an extended prayer to the God against whom he believes he has sinned, based closely on Psalm 51, and unified by a boldface-type repetition of the phrase "Miserere mei, Deus" throughout the text.

In keeping with Savonarola's dislike of polyphony and musical display, the Miserere is written in a spare, austere style, much different from the contrapuntal complexity, virtuosity, and ornamentation of works such as the five-part motet Virgo salutiferi, which was probably written around the same time.  The tenor part, which contains the repeating phrase "Miserere mei, Deus", was likely written to be sung by the Duke himself, who was a trained musician and often sang with the musicians in his chapel.

The Miserere is one of Josquin's two "motto" motets, motets in which repetitions of a phrase are the predominant structural feature (the other is the five-voice Salve Regina of several years before).  In the Miserere, the opening words of the first verse "Miserere mei, Deus", sung to a simple repeated-note motif containing only two pitches (E and F), serves as the motto.  This recurs after each of the 19 verses of the psalm.  The motto theme begins each time on a different pitch, with the recurrences moving stepwise down the scale from E above middle C to the E an octave below, then back up again to the opening E, and then down stepwise to A fifth below, where the piece ends.  In addition, the length of the motto theme is halved once it begins its ascent out of the bass, and has its length returned to normal for the final descent from E to A.  These three journeys of the motto theme's opening note, down, up, and then down again, define the three divisions of the composition: a brief break is usually observed in performance between them.

While overall the composition is in the Phrygian mode, the harmonized repetitions enforce tonal variety.  Texturally, the piece is so constructed that the words are always clearly intelligible.  Intelligibility of sung text was not always a high priority for composers of the period, and this lack of intelligibility was a specific criticism Savonarola made of polyphonic music.  Josquin arranges for the words to be heard by using chordal textures, duets, and by avoiding dense polyphony; and of course after each verse the tenor voice intones alone "Miserere mei, Deus", as in the Savonarola meditation.  As tenor sings these words, the other voices join in one at a time to reinforce the first, "an effect analogous to boldface type in a printed text."

Josquin's setting of the Miserere was influential not only as a psalm setting, but as an example of how to approach the text of Infelix ego.  Later in the 16th century, composers who specifically set the words of Savonarola, such as Adrian Willaert, Cipriano de Rore, and Nicola Vicentino, all of whom wrote motets on Infelix ego, used Josquin's work as a model.

External links
Free scores of this work in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)

References and further reading
 Richard Sherr, ed., The Josquin Companion. Oxford, Oxford Univ. Press, 2000.
 Gustave Reese, Music in the Renaissance.  New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1954.
 Patrick Macey: "Josquin des Prez", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (Accessed November 26, 2006), (subscription access)
 Patrick Macey, Bonfire Songs:  Savonarola's Musical Legacy.  Oxford, Clarendon Press.  1998.
 Lewis Lockwood, Music in Renaissance Ferrara, 1400-1505.  Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1984.

Notes

Compositions by Josquin des Prez
Renaissance music
Motets

Miserere (Josquin)


Wolf River is an American cultivar of domesticated apple, which originates from the shores of the Wolf River of Wisconsin, in the United States of America, known since 1875. The tree is exceptionally frost hardy and generally disease resistant, and thus keeps well in storage. The fruit usually ripens mid-September to early October. It is large, commonly weighing over a pound, and fairly sweet with a distinctive red and yellow appearance. It has many culinary uses, as it keeps its shape well when cooked.

Wolf River is a world-class apple butter apple, which has long been praised for the rich, fluffy apple butter it provides after hours of slow cooking.

References

External links

Apple cultivars

Wolf River (apple)


The Clan MacDonald of Lochalsh was a Scottish family and a branch of the larger Clan Donald.

History

The MacDonald of Lochalsh branch was founded by Celestine MacDonald (d.1476). Celestine MacDonald was a son of Alexander of Islay, Earl of Ross, 3rd Lord of the Isles and 8th chief of Clan Donald. His mother was likely the daughter of Neil or Angus MacPhee of Glenpean in Lochaber, and Alexander may have married her via handfast.

Celestine MacDonald of Lochalsh, with the support of the MacDonalds of Glengarry unsuccessfully claimed the right to succeed his father as Chief of Clan Donald and Lord of the Isles. Instead the right remained with his younger brother John of Islay, Earl of Ross, 4th Lord of the Isles, 9th chief of Clan Donald, the son of Elizabeth Seton. Celestine was succeeded as chief of the Clan MacDonald of Lochalsh by his son Alexander.

Ewen Cameron XIII Chief of Clan Cameron and a large body of Camerons, joined by Alexander MacDonald of Lochalsh, Clan Ranald of Garmoran and Lochaber and the Chattan Confederation carried out on a raid into the county of Ross-shire, now known as the Raid on Ross. During the raid they clashed with the Clan Mackenzie of Kintail. They then advanced from Lochaber to Badennoch where they were even joined by the Clan Mackintosh. They then proceeded to Inverness where they stormed Inverness Castle and Mackintosh placed a garrison in it. The Lords of Lochalsh appear at this time to have had strong claims upon the Camerons to follow them in the field. They were superiors under the Lord of the Isles of the lands of Lochiel in Lochaber, in addition to the claims of a close marriage alliance (Ewen married a daughter of Celestine of Lochalsh).

In 1497 Sir Alexander MacDonald of Lochalsh and his clan rebelled against the King. Lochalsh invaded the fertile lands of Ross-shire where he was defeated by the Clan Mackenzie at the Battle of Drumchatt (1497) and was driven out of Ross-shire. He escaped southward amongst the Isles but was caught on the island of Oransay, by MacIain of Ardnamurchan, and put to death.

When Sir Donald MacDonald of Lochalsh was returning home from the Battle of Flodden in 1513 he was joined by Sir Alexander MacDonnell of Glengarry and Wiland, chief of Clan Chisholm to capture took Urquhart Castle. Some sources say that MacDonald occupied the castle for three years despite the efforts of Clan Grant to dislodge them.

Sir Donald MacDonald of Lochalsh, whose father had been assassinated by Maclain of Ardnamurchan. Sir Donald, who was then attempting to lay claim to the Lordship of the Isles besieged Mingarry Castle, seat of Ardnamurchan in 1515 and again, more successfully, two years later, when he took possession of the castle, which he burned and laid waste the surrounding lands.

John MacIain of Ardnamurchan was killed at the hands of his avenging kinsmen in 1518. Not only for the assassination of MacDonald of Lochalsh in 1497 but also for the deaths of the chief the Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg and his son.

References

See also

Clan Donald
Scottish clan

Clan Donald
MacDonald of Lochalsh

Clan MacDonald of Lochalsh


Andrew Dominic McDonald (born 1 March 1955) is an Australian doctor and former politician.

Early life and education
McDonald attended St Leo's Catholic College in Wahroonga, before studying medicine at the University of Sydney.

Career

Medical career
McDonald worked as a paediatrician at Campbelltown Hospital for 17 years before his election to Parliament. In this period, he was quoted by The Sydney Morning Herald as a critic of Opposition Leader John Brogden's policies on health.

Political career
On 23 January 2007, he was preselected for the New South Wales electoral district of Macquarie Fields by the Labor Party, following the disendorsement of incumbent MP Steven Chaytor. He was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly at the 2007 New South Wales state election. Although Labor retained the seat, there was a 12% two-party preferred swing against the party (as compared to the previous election), the highest anti-Labor swing in the state.

During the government of Morris Iemma, journalist Imre Salusinszky recommended that McDonald be appointed Health Minister. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Iemma sought to appoint McDonald to the ministry; however, Iemma's bid for a ministerial reshuffle was rejected, leading to Iemma's resignation. Under the premiership of Nathan Rees, McDonald was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for Health on 23 September 2008. He retained this post upon the appointment of Kristina Keneally as Premier of New South Wales, ending his tenure as Parliamentary Secretary upon the defeat of the Keneally government in the 2011 New South Wales state election.

During the 2007–11 term of Parliament McDonald was a member of the Macarthur Boys, described as 'a new powerful force emerging from within the once powerful Right'. After the resignation of Morris Iemma from the premiership, it was speculated that McDonald might resign from Parliament to return to work as a paediatrician, and was reported to be considering retirement from Parliament. However, McDonald re-contested his seat of Macquarie Fields in the 2011 New South Wales state election.

McDonald was re-elected in the 2011 New South Wales state election for the electoral district of Macquarie Fields, suffering a 9.9-point swing towards the Liberal Party. At the election, Macquarie Fields became the third-most marginal seat held by the Labor Party in New South Wales. He was described as a 'hero of the election' for Labor, and as 'a thoroughly un-political character'.

After the 2011 election, McDonald was appointed as Shadow Minister for Health and Shadow Minister for Medical Research by Opposition Leader John Robertson. His appointment as Shadow Minister for Health was praised by Premier Barry O'Farrell. Although McDonald's shadow portfolio of Medical Research was reassigned in December 2013, he was given the additional portfolio of Shadow Minister for Liquor Regulation.

McDonald served as Shadow Minister for Health and as Shadow Minister for Liquor Regulation until his announcement in September 2014 that he would retire from state politics at the 2015 New South Wales state election. He was succeeded as Shadow Minister for Health and Shadow Minister for Liquor Regulation by Walt Secord, and as Member for Macquarie Fields by Anoulack Chanthivong.

McDonald continued to work one day a week as a paediatrician while serving as Member for Macquarie Fields and as Shadow Minister for Health. Upon his retirement from politics, he indicated that he would return to practicing medicine.

References

1955 births
Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales
Australian paediatricians
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Living people
Sydney Medical School alumni
Place of birth missing (living people)
21st-century Australian politicians

Andrew McDonald (Australian politician)


Sir Robert Lucas Lucas-Tooth, 1st Baronet (7 December 1844 – 19 February 1915) was an Australian politician.

He was born in Sydney, the son of Edwin Tooth and Sarah Lucas, and was educated at Eton College. He returned to Australia in 1863, joining the family firm and becoming involved in the brewery business. He owned Kameruka estate, near Bega.

On 2 January 1873, he married Helen Tooth, his first cousin who was a daughter of Frederick Tooth; they had six children. From 1875 he had built an impressive mansion, Swifts, in the Sydney harbour suburb of Darling Point, New South Wales, which was designed in the Gothic revival style. From 1880 to 1884 he represented Monaro in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.

In 1889, he settled in England, although he remained involved in Australian interests and visited frequently. In 1895 he ran as a Conservative for the House of Commons, but he was defeated.

In 1904, he took the name Lucas-Tooth and was created a baronet. In 1910, he bought Holme Lacy House from the Earl of Chesterfield and modernised it, installing electricity and sewage systems.

As a philanthropist he gave:
 in 1913 a gift of £50,000 to Prince Alexander of Teck to support the prince's fund to assist and extend facilities for the "physical and moral training of boys". His name was given to the fund and a medal named "Lucas-Tooth Boys Training Fund for Efficiency" was created  to reward deserving military cadets;
 the same year a donation of £1000 to the Mawson Antarctic Expedition Relief Fund, helping the "Aurora" reach King George V Land and bring back Dr. Douglas Mawson and six others who were over-wintering there after a series of calamities;
 in 1914 he also contributed £10,000 to Lady Dudley's Field Hospital to help the Australian war effort.

He died at Holme Lacy in 1915.

Both his elder sons were killed in action within six weeks of each other in the First World War in 1914 and the youngest, Archibald, who had succeeded him as 2nd Baronet, also died of pneumonia on military service in 1918. Although two of his sons had married, there were no male heirs and the baronetcy thus became extinct.

His wife Helen, Lady Lucas-Tooth (nee Tooth), died in Cheltenham in 1942.

The baronetcy was revived in 1920 through the son of Sir Robert's daughter. Holme Lacy was sold in 1919 to R. Hadden Tebb.

References

1844 births
1915 deaths
People educated at Eton College
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Australian brewers
19th-century Australian businesspeople

Robert Lucas-Tooth


Erzyan  neopaganism or  Erzyan native religion, is the modern revival of the ethnic religion of the Erzya  Mordvins, peoples of Volga Finnic ethnic stock dwelling in the republic of Mordovia within Russia, or in bordering lands of Russia. The name of the originating god according to the Erzya tradition is Ineshkipaz.

The Mordvins have been almost fully Christianised since the times of Kievan Rus', although Pagan customs were preserved in the folklore and a few villages completely preserved the native faith at least until further missionary activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 17th century and in the early 20th century. The Neopagan revival was started in 1990, alongside that of many other native religions in Russia, as the Soviet Union was on the brink of dissolution.

According to scholar Victor Schnirelmann, 2% of the Erzya adhere to the native faith and don't practice Christianity,. Adherents of the Erzyan Mastor organisation organise the  (Erzyan for: "Native Prayer"), a national Erzyan worship service held yearly, with participation also of members of the Mastorava organisation and other ones.

History
The revival of the Erzyan native religion has grown alongside, and with the support, of Mordvin nationalism which started in the last years of the Soviet regime. The revival of the national consciousness of the Mordvins was difficult at first, since they were a minority in their country and the press, which was very influential, took a tough communist line. The Russian democrats and communists were hostile towards Mordvin nationalists.

At the start of the perestroika the Mordvin national intelligentsia waged a vigorous and successful campaign against Russian Orthodoxy, called "the religion of occupation", "the Russifying ideological force". Later the Saransk Ministry of Culture endorsed the revival of Mordvin culture and Paganism, arousing outcry from local Orthodox bishops. This was the circle that produced the first Neopagans, the Mastorava organisation led by the local poet Raisa Kemaikina, a group within the Saransk intelligentsia whose aim was the complete reconstruction of a Pagan worldview and religious services reworking folkloric, ethnographic and linguistic study.

Mastorava - Erzyan Society for National Rebirth
The Mastorava organisation was established in 1990 with the aim of "restoring the Erzyaethnic communities", also fostering a revival of Paganism. The association is officially registered in Moscow since 2002. The current president is Nikolay Vasilyevich Butilov.

Erzyan Mastor

The Erzyan Mastor (Erzya for: "Erzyan Land") is a more recent organisation splintering from the Mastorava association. At first it was headed by Raisa Kemaykina (Mariz Kemal; Маризь Кемаль). The group is focused on the Erzya, has political aims for the spread of Erzya Paganism, and is militant against Christianity. In 1992 Kemaykina released the following declarations to the Chuvash newspaper Atlas, answering to a question about her attitude towards Christianity:

{{blockquote|I am strongly opposed to it. In its role as the official state religion of Russia, Christianity suffocated the religions of other nations, transforming them into involuntary spiritual slaves. [...] t is worse than a prison. Sooner or later people get out of prison and become masters of their own fate again. A prisoner is someone who has lost his or her freedom temporarily. But a slave is not a prisoner — he doesn't even desire freedom. Over the course of many centuries Christianity has bred our peoples into slaves, depriving them of freedom of thought and reducing them to the level of submissive cattle. In the Erzya religion the relationship between God and human beings is different from that in Christianity. It is deeper, more humane, more beautiful. [...] In our religion a person's worth is not killed or suppressed, but extolled. You never hear things like "you are God's slave", or "turn the other cheek", or "if someone takes your coat give them your shirt as well", or "bless your enemy".}}

In 1992 Kemaykina organised the first Pagan national ritual after decades or even centuries, sponsored by Erzyan businessmen. Neighbouring villages learned long-forgotten Pagan prayers and Kemaikina was proclaimed the first priestess of the Erzya people. Television reports of that and following national worship ceremonies caused enthusiasm throughout the republic, and now the "Pagan question" is discussed from the remotest villages to university auditoria.

See also
 Erzyan Mastor journal
, native religion of Moksha Mordvins

References

Bibliography
 Schnirelmann, Victor: "Christians! Go home": A Revival of Neo-Paganism between the Baltic Sea and Transcaucasia. Journal of Contemporary Religion, Vol. 17, No. 2, 2002.
 Filatov, Sergei; Shchipkov, Aleksandr. Religious Developments among the Volga Nations as a Model for the Russian Federation''. Religion, State & Society, Vol. 23, No. 3, 1995. pp. 234–237

External links
 Erzyan Mastor, official website

Uralic modern paganism
Modern paganism in Russia
Mordvin people

Erzyan native religion


A charter of novodamus, in Scottish feudal land law, is a fresh grant of lands to the grantee. It is usually granted to make some change in the incidents of tenure of land already granted, or to resolve doubts about the grant or its terms.

See also
 Director of Chancery

Sources

The Oxford Companion to Law, ed David Walker, 1978, page 894

Scots law
Feudalism in Scotland
Land law
Scots property law

Charter of novodamus


Totò contro i quattro, internationally released as Toto vs. the Four, is a 1963 Italian comedy film directed by Steno. Despite its title, it was not a true fusion between Totò and the four, but the film consists in interwoven episodies in which Totò makes pair from time to time with one of them. It was defined as a "winningly funny police farce".

Plot
At the Commissioner Antonio is stolen the car during a night. He needs to find her first address four cases of thievery in the city of Rome. The defendants are Peppino De Filippo, Aldo Fabrizi, Nino Taranto and Erminio Macario.
Thanks to the stories these four funny characters at the end Antonio, moreover, by disguising woman, manages to capture the thieves in an area of Villa Borghese.

Cast
Totò: Police Commissioner Antonio Saracino
Peppino De Filippo: Cav. Alfredo Fiore
Aldo Fabrizi: Don Amilcare
Nino Taranto: Giuseppe Mastrillo
Erminio Macario: Colonel La Matta
Ugo d'Alessio:  Di Sabato
Carlo delle Piane: Pecorino
Mario Castellani: Comm. Filippo Lancetti
Pietro Carloni : brother in law of Lancetti
Rossella Como: Wife of Lancetti
Dany París: Jacqueline
Ivy Holzer: Miss Durant
Moira Orfei: Miss Fiore
Nino Terzo: Agent Pappalardo
Gregorio Wu Pak Chiu : domestic Chinese
Mariano Laurenti : car driver of Fiat 600

References

External links

1963 films
Films directed by Stefano Vanzina
Italian comedy films
Police detective films
1960s police comedy films
Films set in Rome
Films with screenplays by Giovanni Grimaldi
1963 comedy films
1960s Italian-language films
1960s Italian films

Toto vs. the Four


Pierre Amédée Emilien Probe Jaubert (3 June 1779 – 28 January 1847) was a French diplomat, academic, orientalist, translator, politician, and traveler. He was Napoleon's "favourite orientalist adviser and dragoman".

Biography
Born in Aix-en-Provence, Jaubert was one of the most distinguished pupils of Silvestre de Sacy, whose funeral Discours he gave in 1838. Jaubert acted as interpreter to Napoleon Bonaparte during the Egyptian Campaign of 1798–1799, in which he was a member of the Egyptian Institute of Sciences and Arts.

On his return to Paris he held various posts in the government. In 1802 he accompanied Horace Sébastiani de La Porta on his Eastern mission, and in 1804 he was present in the Ottoman Empire, assisting Sébastiani in Istanbul.

In 1805, he was dispatched to Qajar Persia in the "Jaubert Mission", to arrange an alliance with Shah Fat′h Ali, but on the way there he was seized and imprisoned in a dry cistern for four months by the Pasha of Doğubeyazıt. Jaubert was allowed to go after the pasha died; he successfully accomplished his mission, and rejoined Napoleon in the Duchy of Warsaw (1807). Amédée Jaubert was at Finckenstein Palace for the negotiation of the Treaty of Finckenstein which formulised the Franco-Persian alliance on 27 April 1807. In 1809 he became correspondent of the Royal Institute of the Netherlands.

On the eve of Napoleon's downfall, he was appointed chargé d'affaires at Constantinople.

The Bourbon Restoration ended his diplomatic career, but in 1818 he undertook a journey with government aid to Tibet, from whence he succeeded in introducing into France 400 Kashmir goats. Jaubert spent the rest of his life in study, in writing and in teaching. He became professor of Persian in the Collège de France, and director of the École des langues orientales, and in 1830 was elected member of the Académie des Inscriptions. In 1841 he was made a Peer of France and member of the Conseil d'État. He died in Paris.

Besides articles in the Journal asiatique, he published Voyage en Arménie et en Perse (1821; the edition of 1860 has a notice of Jaubert, by M. Sdillot) and Elements de la grammaire turque (1823–1834).

See also
 Franco-Persian alliance

Notes

References
 In turn, it cites as references:
notices in the Journal Asiatique, January 1847
Journal des Débats, 30 January 1847

People from Aix-en-Provence
1779 births
1847 deaths
19th-century French diplomats
French orientalists
French people of the Napoleonic Wars
French translators
French travel writers
History of Tibet
Qajar Iran
French expatriates in Iran
Spies of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
Academic staff of the Collège de France
Commission des Sciences et des Arts members
Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
Members of the Société Asiatique
Peers of France
Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery
Dragomans

Pierre Amédée Jaubert


Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known by his stage name Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and dancer.

After an unsuccessful stint with Motown, Mars signed with Atlantic Records in 2002. He became recognized as a solo artist after lending his vocals and co-writing the hooks for the songs "Nothin on You" by B.o.B, and "Billionaire" by Travie McCoy. He also helped write the hits "Right Round" by Flo Rida featuring Kesha, "Wavin' Flag" by K'naan, and "Fuck You" by Cee Lo Green, also known as "Forget You". In October 2010, he released his album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans. The album reached number three on the Billboard 200 chart. He was nominated for seven Grammys at the 53rd Grammy Awards, winning Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "Just the Way You Are".  His singles "Just the Way You Are", "Nothin' on You", "Grenade", "Locked Out of Heaven", "When I Was Your Man", "The Lazy Song", "It Will Rain", "24K Magic", and "Finesse" have all reached the top five of the US Billboard Hot 100, with the first five reaching number one.

Mars has sold 10 million albums around the world.

In 2013, his song "Locked Out of Heaven" was nominated for a Grammy Award.  He was featured on British producer Mark Ronson's song "Uptown Funk!", which became the number-one song of the year 2015 and the 2010s decade in the United States.  It spent 14 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.  "Uptown Funk" won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year.

Mars co-wrote the song "All I Ask" from English singer-songwriter Adele's third studio album 25 (2015).  In 2016, Mars released the single "24K Magic" (pronounced "twenty-four-karat magic") from his album, also called 24K Magic.  It has reached the top five of the Billboard Hot 100.  The second single from 24K Magic, "That's What I Like", became Mars' seventh number-one song on the Hot 100.  A remix of the 24K Magic song "Finesse", featuring rapper Cardi B, was released in January 2018 and reached the top five around the world.

In 2021, Mars collaborated with recording artist Anderson .Paak on the song "Leave the Door Open" as the duo Silk Sonic. The song became Mars' eighth and Paak's first number-one on the Billboard Hot 100.

Early life
Peter Gene Hernandez was born on October 8, 1985, in Honolulu, Hawaii.  He was raised in the Waikiki neighborhood of Honolulu. He is the son of Peter Hernandez and Bernadette "Bernie" San Pedro Bayot (died June 1, 2013). His father is of half Puerto Rican and half Jewish (from Hungary and Ukraine) ancestry and is originally from Brooklyn, New York. Mars' mother immigrated to Hawaii from the Philippines as a child and was a Filipino.

At the age of six, in 1991, Mars appeared on The Arsenio Hall Show as an Elvis Presley impersonator. After performing many times in his hometown throughout his childhood, he decided to pursue a musical career and moved to Los Angeles after graduating from high school.

Artist influences
As a child, he was influenced by artists such as Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson and would often try to sing like these artists. Mars also incorporates reggae and Motown inspired sounds into his work. Jon Caramanica of The New York Times referred to Mars as "one of the most versatile and accessible singers in pop."

Discography

Studio albums
Doo-Wops & Hooligans (2010)
Unorthodox Jukebox (2012)
24K Magic (2016)

with Silk Sonic

 An Evening with Slik Sonic (2021)

Awards

Grammy Awards
Mars has won 15 Grammys (10 solo, four as part of Silk Sonic, and one as part of The Smeezingtons) from 35 nominations.

References

Other websites

Official website

American contemporary R&B singers
American R&B singers
American pop singers
American hip hop singers
American funk musicians
American new jack swing singers
American rock singers
American doo-wop singers
American singer-songwriters
Grammy Award winners
Jewish American musicians
Singers from Hawaii
Writers from Hawaii
1985 births
Living people
People from Honolulu
Atlantic Records artists
Bruno Mars

Bruno Mars


Raúl Javier Ibañez (born June 2, 1972) is an American former professional baseball left fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) now serving as a special advisor to Los Angeles Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman. He played 11 of his 19 big league seasons for the Seattle Mariners, while also playing for the Kansas City Royals, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees, and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. While primarily a left fielder, Ibañez often saw considerable time as a designated hitter (DH), throughout his career.

An All-Star in 2009, Ibañez won the Player of the Week Award five times.  Despite not reaching 500 plate appearances in a single season until the age of 30, Ibañez batted .272 with 424 doubles, 305 home runs and 1,207 runs batted in (RBI) over nineteen major league seasons.  He had eight seasons with at least 20 home runs, two seasons with at least 30 home runs, six seasons with at least 90 RBI, four seasons with at least 100 RBI, and ten consecutive seasons (2002–2011) with at least 30 doubles.  In 2004, Ibañez tied an American League record with six hits in one game

1972 births
Living people
Sportspeople from New York City

Raúl Ibañez


Michael A. James Baldasaro (May 23, 1949 – June 9, 2016) was a Canadian political and religious figure from Hamilton, Ontario. He presided over a religious sect known as the Church of the Universe. Baldasaro received significant media coverage over his lifetime for his advocacy on behalf of marijuana legalization, as well as his status as a perennial candidate in numerous Hamilton-area elections.

The Church of the Universe

Baldasaro was a member of the Church of the Universe, where he was commonly known as Brother Michael. The Church has been in existence since 1969, when it was founded by the late Walter Tucker, and Baldasaro remained continuously active in its operations. Its members use marijuana as a sacrament and previously operated from the Church Headquarters, an abandoned rock quarry near Puslinch, Ontario.

The quarry was named 'Clearwater Abbey', which church members called 'a beautiful oasis' where they could practice naturism and cultivate marijuana. In 2004, after selling small amounts of marijuana on multiple occasions to an undercover police officer at their Barton Street, Hamilton residence, Baldasaro and Tucker were arrested and charged with trafficking.  In 2007, they pleaded not guilty to the charges but after a lengthy trial, a jury found them both guilty.  At their sentencing hearing in April 2008, Baldasaro, who had 12 previous trafficking convictions, was sentenced to a two-year penitentiary term while Tucker was sentenced to a one-year reformatory term.  The Crown also applied to the court to have the property from which they distributed marijuana and their Church forfeited to the federal government as an offence-related property, and the Crown's application was granted.

Political activities

Baldasaro, a perennial candidate, saw his support peak in 1988, when he was the sole opponent of incumbent mayor Bob Morrow. He received over 7,500 votes, which was approximately 10% of the vote.

Baldasaro stood in the 2004 Ward 2 by-election, following the resignation of Andrea Horwath, and placed seventh out of eleven candidates with 52 votes. In 2006, Baldasaro again ran for mayor of Hamilton and received 4,520 votes or 3.6% of the total vote.

Baldasaro ran for Parliament three times. In 1984, Baldasaro received 300 votes as a Libertarian candidate in the federal riding of Hamilton West. In 2000, Baldasaro won 573 votes as a Marijuana Party of Canada candidate in Hamilton East. In 2004, Baldasaro received 345 votes as an independent candidate in Hamilton Centre.

Baldasaro also announced he would be a candidate for the Progressive Conservative leadership convention in 1998. He developed a plan to revitalize the party's flagging poll numbers by encouraging direct democracy, pardoning individuals convicted on marijuana possession, cutting government pensions and making the words to O Canada gender neutral. Baldasaro was forced to withdraw when he could not meet the filing fee and threatened legal action against the party when they refused to waive $30,000 entrance fee.

Two years later, in 2000, Baldasaro attempted to join the Canadian Alliance leadership race. His plans again involved legalizing marijuana, but this time also favoured abolishing political parties altogether. He openly admitted that the challenge was mostly for publicity, and that he did not expect to win against the likes of Preston Manning or Stockwell Day. He was dissuaded, once more, by the party's $25,000 leadership nomination fee.

In 2007, Baldasaro started a campaign to save Hamilton's Center Mall from conversion into a 'power center' operated by SmartCenters. In 2007, during Hamilton City Council's debate over the renovation of City Hall, Baldasaro and Tucker sent a letter addressed to Mayor Fred Eisenberger and City Council, requesting they move municipal operations to Stelco Tower, in Hamilton's downtown core.

Baldasaro was a candidate for the 2010 Hamilton Municipal Elections, once again running for Mayor. He finished fourth in a field of fifteen candidates, with 2.1% of the vote. In the 2014 Hamilton Municipal Elections Baldasaro stood for Mayor and finished with 2.9% of the vote in a field of twelve candidates.

Death
Baldasaro died of cancer on June 9, 2016, aged 67.

Notes

References
 The Hamilton Spectator archives 1991 to Present, via Lexis Nexis Academic – Accessed June 3, 2010
 City of Hamilton Website, public correspondence – Accessed June 3, 2010
 Church of the Universe Website, to provide extra reference – Accessed June 3, 2010

External links
 House of Commons election history by riding

1949 births
2016 deaths
Ontario candidates for Member of Parliament
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada leadership candidates
Marijuana Party (Canada) candidates for the Canadian House of Commons
Independent candidates in the 2000 Canadian federal election
Libertarian Party of Canada candidates in the 1984 Canadian federal election
Canadian religious leaders
People from Hamilton, Ontario
Canadian libertarians
Deaths from cancer in Ontario

Michael Baldasaro


Osonye Tess Onwueme, also known as T. Akaeke Onwueme (born 8 September 1955) is a Nigerian playwright, scholar and poet, who rose to prominence writing plays with themes of social justice, culture, and the environment. In 2010, she became the university Professor of Global Letters, following her exceptional service as Distinguished Professor of Cultural Diversity and English at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire. Through her plays, she is able to use the theatre as a medium to showcase historically silenced views such as African women, and shedding more light on African life. She sustains her advocacy for the global poor and youth, along with the experiences and concerns of the African Diaspora in her creative work. In 2007, the U.S. State Department appointed her to the Public Diplomacy Speaker Program for North, East, and West India. The 2009 Tess International Conference: Staging Women, Youth, Globalization, and Eco-Literature, which was exclusively devoted to the author's work, was successfully held by international scholars in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, following the Fonlon-Nichols award to the dramatist. She is regarded as one of the band of more important African authors. She also is an active speaker regarding domestic violence.

Early life and education
After secondary education, she married an agronomist, I. C. Onwueme, and bore five children, during the time she attended the University of Ife, for her bachelor's degree in education (1979) and master's in literature (1982). She obtained her PhD at the University of Benin, studying African Drama. In 1998 she married Obika Gray, a Jamaican political scientist.

Works

 A Hen Too Soon (1983)
 Broken Calabash (1984)
 The Desert Encroaches (1985)
 The Reign of Wazobia (1988)
 Ban Empty Barn and other plays (1986)
 Legacies (1989)
 Three Plays: an anthology of plays by Tess Onwueme (1993)
 Tell It To Women: an epic drama (1995).
 Riot In Heaven: drama for the voices of color (1996; 2006)
 The Missing Face, a play (1997; 2000)
 Shakara: Dance-Hall Queen: a play (2000; 2006)
 Then She Said It: a play (2003)
 What Mama Said, an epic drama (2004)
 No Vacancy (2005)

Awards
She has won several international awards, including: the prestigious Fonlon-Nichols award (2009), the Phyllis Wheatley/Nwapa award for outstanding black writers (2008), the Martin Luther King, Jr./Caeser Chavez Distinguished Writers Award (1989/90), the Distinguished Authors Award (1988), and the Association of Nigerian Authors Drama Prize, which she has won several times with plays such as The Desert Encroaches (1985), Tell It To Women (1995), Shakara: Dance-Hall Queen (2001), Then She Said it (2003), among numerous honors and international productions of her drama.

References

Further reading
 Simon Gikandi, Encyclopedia of African Literature, Routledge (2002),  - pp. 414–15
 Ini Uko, Gender and Identity in the Works of Tess Onwueme, Trenton, New Jersey: Africa World Press, 2004
Chris Dunton, "Nigeria and the Diaspora, Solidarities and Discords: The Drama of Tess Onwueme", in Toyin Falola (ed.), Nigeria in the Twentieth Century. Durham, North Carolina. Carolina Academic Press, 2002. pp. 791–798
Therese Migraine-George, "African Women on the Global Stage", African Women and Representation: From Performance to Politics. Trenton: Africa World Press, 2008. pp. 157–178.
Kanika Batra, "Daughters who Know the Language of Power: Community, Sexuality, and Postcolonial Development In Tess Onwueme's Tell it to Women," Interventions: Journal of Postcolonial Studies, Vol. 9, 1 (2007), 124–138, (ISSN 1369-801X print/1469-929X online)
J. O. J. Nwachukwu-Agbada, "Tess Onwueme: Dramatist In Quest of Change", World Literature Today (Summer 1992), 464–467.

External links
Dr. Osonye Tess Onwueme's website

Nigerian dramatists and playwrights
1955 births
Living people
University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire faculty
People from Delta State
Obafemi Awolowo University alumni
Nigerian women dramatists and playwrights
University of Benin (Nigeria) alumni
20th-century Nigerian writers
21st-century Nigerian writers
Nigerian expatriate academics in the United States
20th-century Nigerian women writers
21st-century Nigerian women writers

Osonye Tess Onwueme


John Mackey (September 24, 1941 – July 6, 2011) was an American professional football player who was a tight end for the Baltimore Colts and the San Diego Chargers. He was born in Roosevelt, New York and attended Syracuse University. He was the first president of the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) following the AFL-NFL merger, serving from 1970 to 1973. Mackey was also a major reason the NFLPA created the "88 Plan", which financially supports ex-players who required living assistance in later years.

A five-time Pro Bowler, Mackey was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992, the second pure tight end elected and is widely regarded as one of the greatest tight ends ever.

College career

Mackey played three seasons at Syracuse University (1960–1962), alternating between the running back, tight end, and wide receiver position.  His first two seasons were on the same team as Ernie Davis, the 1961 Heisman Trophy winner.  Mackey caught a total of 27 passes for 481 yards and 5 touchdowns, while also rushing for 259 yards and 4 more scores.  As a Junior, he set a school record with 321 receiving yards, and caught 4 passes in Syracuse's 15–14 win over the University of Miami in the 1961 Liberty Bowl.  In Mackey's three seasons, Syracuse had a 20–10 record and won the Liberty Bowl each year. In addition to playing football at Syracuse he was also a member of the lacrosse team.

NFL career
Mackey was drafted by the Baltimore Colts with the 19th pick in the second round of the 1963 NFL Draft. As a rookie, he averaged over 20 yards per catch, scored seven touchdowns, and earned a trip to the Pro Bowl.  He also returned 9 kickoffs for 271 yards, an average of 30 yards per return.

He went on to play a total of 10 NFL seasons as tight end, and became known for his size and speed.  Mackey played his first nine seasons with the Colts. After losing his starting role to Tom Mitchell entering the 1972 regular season, he requested to be traded. Colts general manager Joe Thomas placed him on the team's retired list instead, prompting Mackey to demand being put on waivers. He was not claimed by any team in an attempt by franchise owners to blackball him for having been the president of the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA). He eventually signed with the San Diego Chargers on September 18, 1972, after being contacted by the team's defensive backs coach Willie Wood hours after clearing waivers. He retired as an active player at the end of the 1972 season. Although a knee injury forced him into early retirement, Mackey only missed one game in his whole career.

During his 10 seasons in the NFL, Mackey scored 38 touchdowns and caught 331 passes for 5,236 yards.  He also rushed 19 times for 127 yards.  His career yards per catch average of 15.8 is currently the second-highest total among all Hall of Fame tight ends, trailing only Jackie Smith.

Super Bowl V
Mackey played in Super Bowl V on January 17, 1971. He was involved in a famous game-changing play where he caught a record-setting 75-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Johnny Unitas after the ball was deflected twice, once by fellow Colts player Eddie Hinton and once by opposing Dallas Cowboys defenseman Mel Renfro. Baltimore won the game 16–13, following a 32-yard field goal by Jim O'Brien with five seconds left.

Honors
During his playing career, Mackey played in five Pro Bowls, including in his rookie season. He was also named All-NFL three times. In 1992, Mackey was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, becoming only the second pure tight end to be awarded this honor.

Mackey has been included in several lists of great NFL players. In 1999, The Sporting News ranked Mackey at 48 on their list of "The 100 Greatest Football Players." He also placed at number 42 on the NFL Network's list of the "Top 100 Football Players" in 2010.

In 2001, the John Mackey Award was established by the Nassau County Sports Commission. The award is given yearly to the top college tight end. On September 15, 2007, Mackey's alma mater, Syracuse University, retired number 88 in his honor.

On September 27, 2017, Mackey was installed, posthumously, into the Nassau County High School Athletic Hall of Fame as an athlete. His widow, Sylvia, accepted the honor on his behalf. This was the third class of the Hall of fame, which is housed in the renovated Nassau County Veterans' Memorial Coliseum.

NFL career statistics

Post-playing career

NFL Players Association presidency
In 1970, Mackey became the first president of the National Football League Players Association following the merger of the National Football League and the American Football League. Although the NFL and AFL each had a candidate for president in mind, Mackey emerged as the leader both sides could agree on. Mackey held the position of president until September 1973.

In his first year as president, Mackey organized a strike following a lockout by owners, with NFL players seeking additional pension contributions and insurance benefits, as well as higher pre- and post-season pay. The strike resulted in increased fringe benefits for NFL players totalling more than $12 million. According to former teammate Ordell Braase, Mackey "had a vision for that job, which was more than just putting in time and keeping the natives calm. You don't get anything unless you really rattle the cage." In 1972, Mackey became the lead plaintiff in a court action which led to the overturning of the so-called "Rozelle Rule," which limited a player's ability to act as a free agent. In 1976, the Rozelle Rule was ruled to violate antitrust laws in Mackey v. NFL.

Post-career health problems

Several years after retiring from the NFL, Mackey began experiencing symptoms of dementia. In one incident at an airport checkpoint, Mackey refused to remove his Super Bowl and Hall of Fame rings at the metal detector.  When a guard insisted he take them off, Mackey bolted through the checkpoint.  It took four guards to subdue him.  "I'm just so thankful they didn't shoot him because they had no idea about his mental condition," His wife Sylvia said after the incident. "They easily could have mistaken him for being a bomb-toting terrorist."

Mackey's condition worsened, and his family was forced to put him into a full-time assisted living facility. Although Mackey received a small pension, it was not sufficient to cover the costs of his care, leading his wife Sylvia to reach out to NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue.

Once made aware of the problem, Tagliabue and NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw responded with the "88 plan" in February 2007. Named for Mackey's jersey number, the plan provides $88,000 per year for nursing home care and up to $50,000 annually for adult day care for former NFL players, including Mackey, having dementia or Alzheimer's. Mackey died July 6, 2011, at the age of 69. It was revealed by a study by Boston University on his brain that he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy. He is one of at least 345 NFL players to be diagnosed after death with this disease, which is caused by repeated hits to the head.

References

External links

1941 births
2011 deaths
People from Roosevelt, New York
People from Hempstead (village), New York
Players of American football from Nassau County, New York
African-American players of American football
Players of American football with chronic traumatic encephalopathy
American football tight ends
Syracuse Orange football players
Baltimore Colts players
San Diego Chargers players
Western Conference Pro Bowl players
Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees
Presidents of the National Football League Players Association
African-American trade unionists
Deaths from dementia in Maryland
20th-century African-American sportspeople
21st-century African-American people

John Mackey (American football)


Sir John Hoskins (1589 or 1590 – February 1664) was an English miniature painter, and the uncle of Samuel Cooper, who received his artistic education in Hoskins's Noble Mansion in England.

Hoskins was born in Wells England. His finest miniatures Royal & Noble painting are at Ham House, Montagu House, Windsor Castle, Amsterdam and in the Pierpont Morgan collection and collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Vertue stated that Hoskins had a son, and Redgrave added that the son painted a portrait of James II in 1686 and was paid £10, 5s. for it, a statement for which there must have been some evidence, although it is not supported by any reference in the State Papers.  there was a portrait painted of an unknown woman that was known to be the work of Sir John Hoskins ,  work As an important early miniature portrait by John who originally trained as an oil painter. His work is datable to about 1615 and shows the still dominant influence of Nicholas Hilliard (1547-1619). The red curtain background is typical for this time, a development of the flat blue background of Elizabethan (later 16th-century) miniatures. Red paint is laid in flat, but the artist then used a wet brush to lift the red paint in strokes, giving the effect of folds in a curtain. Hoskins has also painted the woman's pearl earring using Hilliard's jewelling technique. This involved laying on a raised blob of white lead paint with some shadowing to one side. This was then crowned with a rounded touch of real silver that was burnished with, to quote Hilliard, 'a pretty little tooth of some ferret or stoat or other wild little beast'. This brought the silver to a sparkling highlight, while actual gold is used to paint the pearl's gold setting. Silver tarnishes with age, and so this pearl now appears black. Twenty years later Hoskins was painting pearls and gold in a more painterly fashion, using white and yellow paint rather than actual gold or silver. This change was influenced by Charles I's court painter, Anthony van Dyck, who arrived in London from Antwerp in 1632

Some contemporary inscriptions on the miniatures at Ham House record them as the work of Old Hoskins, but the fact of the Existence of a younger artist of the same name is settled by a miniature in the Pierpont Morgan collection, signed by Hoskins whether it be son or father is unknown but the talent And beauty leaves us with endless and timeless beautiful pieces, and bearing an authentic engraved inscription on its contemporary frame to the effect that it represents the duke of Berwick at the age of twenty-nine in 1700.

There is nothing of his wife Known she was distantly related to Hoskins ,The elder Sir Hoskins was buried on 22 February 1664, in St Paul's, Covent Garden, England and as there is no doubt of the authenticity of this miniature or of the signature upon it, it is evident proof of the small male line that he left behind a Son who survived him thirty-six years and whose monogram we find upon this portrait, The frame of it has also the royal coat of arms debruised, the batons of a marshal of France, the collar of the Golden Fleece and the ducal coronet.

References

External links

1664 deaths
17th-century English painters
English male painters
English portrait painters
Portrait miniaturists
Year of birth unknown
Year of birth uncertain

John Hoskins (painter)


Hillsong Church, commonly known as Hillsong, is a charismatic Christian megachurch based in Australia. The original church was established in Baulkham Hills, New South Wales, as Hills Christian Life Centre by Brian Houston and his wife, Bobbie Houston, in 1983. Hillsong was a member of the Australian Christian Churches – the Australian branch of the US-based Assemblies of God – until 2018, when they separated to form a new denomination. The church is known for its contemporary worship music, with groups such as Hillsong Worship, Hillsong United and Hillsong Young & Free with many musical credits and hits and a series of scandals and criticisms.

Hillsong and its music have been highly successful globally, with its presence described as a global corporate brand, but a series of scandals and criticisms have negatively affected its image in recent years. In March 2022, Houston stepped down as global senior pastor after an internal investigation found that he had breached the church's moral code of conduct for pastors by engaging in inappropriate behaviour with women on two occasions in the 2010s. Phil and Lucinda Dooley, who had been acting in the position since January 2022, took over the position as senior global pastor.

History

Beginnings: 1977–1999
In 1977, six years before the establishment of what would become Hillsong Church, Brian Houston's father Frank founded the Sydney Christian Life Centre (Sydney CLC) in Waterloo, New South Wales, an inner-city Sydney, in what was described by scholar Sam Hey as "a neo-Pentecostal megachurch." Brian and his wife, Bobbie, started holding services at a school hall in Baulkham Hills, establishing Hills Christian Life Centre (Hills CLC) in 1983. Both Sydney CLC and Hills CLC were affiliated with the Australian Christian Churches (ACC), the Australian branch of the US-based Assemblies of God.

Hills CLC's growth into a megachurch through the 1980s and 1990s was largely driven by young people attracted by its contemporary worship music, and by its practice of planting churches internationally. In 1992, Hills CLC planted London Christian Life Centre as an independent church, with Gerard and Sue Keehan as pastors; it was renamed Hillsong London in 2000 and gradually grew to twelve locations across the United Kingdom. Kiev Christian Life Centre, now Hillsong Kiev, was also planted in post-Soviet Ukraine in 1992.

In 1997, Hills CLC moved into a new building at Baulkham Hills' Norwest Business Park. The church merged with Sydney CLC in May 1999, after Frank Houston had been exposed as a paedophile. Brian Houston became senior pastor of both churches for eighteen months. The multi-campus church was renamed Hillsong Church in 2001.

21st century
Between 2008 and 2018, Hillsong Church planted more churches in Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Israel, Canada and Mexico. Hillsong also branched out into the United States, establishing sixteen locations by 2022.

In September 2018, Hillsong left the Australian Christian Churches  of which Brian Houston had been national superintendent/president from 1997 to 2009  to become an autonomous denomination, identifying itself more as a global and charismatic church. According to both Hillsong and ACC, the parting was amicable. Of the decision to spin itself off into its own denomination, Houston wrote, "We do not intend to function as a denomination in the traditional sense of the word... We are a denomination purely for practical reasons related to having the ability to ordain our pastors in Australia to legally conduct weddings as marriage celebrants operating under the rites of Hillsong Church". Houston added that they had not shifted doctrinally and that the ACC was still their "tribe".

In October 2020, they purchased the Festival Hall venue in Melbourne to become the home of Hillsong Church Melbourne City's weekly church services after undergoing renovations to better suit the new uses.

In October 2021, Hillsong bought the Golders Green Hippodrome in London, England, with the intention of holding Sunday services there.

Brian Houston stepped aside from his senior roles as global senior pastor and chair of the board in January 2022, owing to the pressures of a court case relating to his alleged failure to report sexual abuse of a child by his father, of which he became aware in the 1990s. In March 2022, he stepped down as the global senior pastor of the church after he was found to have breached the moral code of the church in his behaviour with two women.

In August 2022, Hillsong was sued by an Australian whistleblower in federal court there, alleging that the megachurch had moved millions of dollars overseas to avoid the charities regulator, the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC). The whistleblower alleged that Hillsong made "large cash gifts" to Houston and his family using tax-free money.

In August 2023, Brian Houston was acquitted of covering up his father's crimes.

Reach and branding

Statistics
In 2018, it had 80 churches.

According to a census of the denomination, it would have in 2022, 38 churches in Australia and 150,000 members in 30 countries, up from 130,000 in 21 countries in May 2019 and 100,000 in 14 countries in September 2015.

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the church started measuring online attendees instead of regular attendees, which they stated average 444,000 per weekend.

Branding
Hillsong has been described as a "global corporate brand", and "Australia's most powerful brand", with its fast global growth assisted by the spectacle of its huge conferences, the popularity of its music releases, young people's attraction to the charismatic leaders, Hillsong Television, its messaging and language ("health and wealth"), customer service, targeting of children, presence on social media, and merchandising.

Governance
The church is governed by the Hillsong Global Board and a group of elders known as the Hillsong Eldership, headed by Pastors Phil and Lucinda Dooley since 2022. The elders lead the church spiritually whereas the board of directors manages the corporate administration appointed for one year, with renewable terms.

The founders, Brian and Bobbie Houston, have been the global senior pastors of Hillsong Church. On 31 January 2022 it was announced that Phil and Lucinda Dooley, pastors of the South African church, would be acting global senior pastors in Houston's absence until the end of 2022, after Brian Houston stepped down owing to the pressures of a court case relating to his alleged failure to report sexual abuse by his father, of which he was later acquitted.

Brian Houston was also chairman of the board, until his resignation from this position in January 2022.  the replacement chairperson has yet to be announced. George Aghajanian is General Manager, as well as a director of Hillsong Church Australia and its international entities.

In March 2022, Brian Houston resigned from the board of Hillsong Church and from his role as global senior pastor as a result of breaching the moral code of the church in his behaviour with two women.

Locations and ministries
Hillsong has a global presence, with churches and ministries in Australia, Indonesia and Japan, many European countries, Canada, US, South Africa, and, in Latin America, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Uruguay .

Hillsong's various ministries include Hillsong Music, Hillsong Kids, Hillsong Youth, Hillsong Sisterhood, Hillsong Men, Hillsong Conference, Hillsong CityCare, Hillsong International Leadership College, TBN Inspire (branded as Hillsong Channel from June 2016 to 31 December 2021), TV & Film, Hillsong Performing Arts Academy and Hillsong Health Centre. Their total facilities are estimated to be worth around A$100 million.

Hillsong College

Two campuses of the Hillsong International Leadership College arose from the two churches that are now Hillsong Church, the Sydney Christian Life Centre and Hills Christian Life Centre. Both original colleges had similar goals of creating courses in ministry and leadership development based in a local church setting. With an emphasis on the creative arts, theological education was based on the ministry model.

The Sydney college was originally founded in 1983 by David Johnston and located at Arncliffe as the "International Institute for Creative Ministries" (IICM), but in 1989 Johnston parted ways with IICM, bringing the college under the auspices of Wesley Mission. That college moved to the Wesley Centre in Pitt Street, Sydney, and after a few name changes became Wesley Institute (now Excelsia College).

In 1988 Hills Christian Life Centre developed a training arm of IICM, under Ian Fuller. It was first known as Power Ministry School, then in 1992 Power Ministry College, under Steve Kelly. In 1993 the Hillsong School and a School of Music was established to train young musicians. In 1996, after Mark Hopkins took over as director, the Hillsong School and the School of Music were merged to form the Hills Leadership College.

In 1990 Robert Fergusson became principal at the Sydney location and switched the focus to practical ministry training. Classes, at this time accommodating around 50-70 students, were moved back to the church site and the name changed to Aquila College of Ministries in 1993. After Hills CLC merged with Sydney CLC (referred to as its "parent church") in 1999, in early 2000 the Sydney college merged with the Hills Leadership College to become Hillsong International Leadership College, with Duncan Corby appointed principal of its "City campus". It was approved as a registered training organisation in December 2002, and by 2007 there were around 900 full-time students enrolled across the two campuses, the majority from overseas.

In February 2016, Duncan Corby was dean of the college, while Catrina Henderson was principal. and it was still trading as Hillsong International Leadership College. In late 2016 it shortened its name to simply Hillsong College, and  has campuses in Sydney and Phoenix, Arizona, and has an online curriculum. The official trading name of the city campus is Sydney Christian Life Centre Pty Ltd, and one of its tax-deductible charitable funds is called the International Institute for Creative Ministries Library Trust Fund.

Hillsong Sisterhood
Bobbie Houston has been especially influential in Hillsong's ministry for women, called Sisterhood. She is a mentor to many of Hillsong's women leaders. Although Hillsong generally supports the traditional roles of wife and mother for women, the church's position is that their ministries "empower" women. Riches found via interviews with attendees that the ministries increased women's choice regarding around sexuality and child rearing; encouraged women to start small businesses and to take on promotions at work; facilitated women's participation in cultural events, as well as promoted women's voices in religious teaching and public life. Church members have described Hillsong's leadership development as a process that supports women's movement from timid, supportive wife into leadership roles within the church. The Sisterhood is involved in issues such as HIV/AIDS, domestic violence and human trafficking. Their midweek gathering is primarily for women. It is attended by all female staff members and is the foundation of Hillsong's women's ministries. The Thursday meeting for mothers includes businesswomen, and special quarterly "Sisterhood United" night meetings include working women. Members of the church say that her authority as a leader comes from "a Pentecostal understanding of Spirit empowerment".

Australia
Hillsong has multiple campuses around Australia.  in New South Wales it has Baulkham Hills, two Sydney city campuses (one the location of the original Sydney CLC), several around various suburbs, and one each in Newcastle and Wollongong. There are also one or two churches in major cities in all of the other states except for South Australia. It also has churches in 30 countries across the world, and  reports 150,000 regular attendees globally.

Avalon Theatre
Hillsong purchased the heritage-listed Avalon Theatre in Hobart, Tasmania for $2.55 million in 2020. The theatre underwent renovations in 2022.

Hillsong CityCare
In 1986 a social engagement program called CityCare was established in New South Wales, offering various community services including personal development programs, counselling services, a health centre and youth mentoring. CityCare's "street teams" worked within the community to care for, feed and clothe the homeless.

In July 2008, concerns were raised by some teachers, parents, and experts about the Hillsong City Care Shine program for girls being run in New South Wales public schools, community groups and the juvenile justice system. The concerns include that the program is "inappropriate for troubled young women, that the under-qualified facilitators are reinforcing gender stereotypes and that some parents have not been properly informed" and that "the program encourages girls to be subservient by teaching them that they need to be attractive to men". Hillsong claimed that parents were supportive and that the program broke down barriers in a group situation. In a further response, Hillsong denied that the program had been used for evangelism, but a teacher's federation representative insisted that children had been exposed to religious content, such as people relating stories about finding religion and joining  the Hillsong Church.

Beliefs
Hillsong was formerly affiliated with Australian Christian Churches (the Assemblies of God in Australia), part of Pentecostal Christianity.  The church's beliefs are Evangelical and charismatic.

Hillsong's positions on non-central doctrines of the faith are diverse, although individuals have taken a public stand on many topical issues in contemporary Christianity in keeping with mainstream Pentecostalism; for example, the church's founder opposes abortion and supports teaching creationism in schools. Hillsong has also declared support for Creationism and Intelligent Design and believes this should be taught in schools.

Hillsong's prosperity teachings have been criticised by Christian leaders Tim Costello and George Pell. Subsequent statements by Tim Costello indicated that he was satisfied with changes made by Brian Houston to Hillsong's teaching in response to criticism. Costello also wrote a foreword in Hillsong's 2019 annual report. Hillsong's teachings have been commented on favourably by Peter Costello, Tim Costello's brother, also a Baptist and a former Treasurer of Australia, who has defended the church against accusations of unorthodoxy.

Media and events

Music

Hillsong has been described by popular music scholar Tom Wagner as a "confluence of sophisticated marketing techniques and popular music". The music of Hillsong United and Hillsong Worship are credited with driving Hillsong's global popularity. Through the 1980s and 1990s, the congregation grew from 45 members to nearly 20,000 and emerged as a significant influence in the area of contemporary worship music. This was a result of strategic marketing that targeted younger generations and Hillsong's success at establishing itself as a global music standard.

Hillsong Church has produced over 40 albums, which have sold over 11 million copies. Albums are produced for different target audiences including Hillsong Kids for children. Hillsong Chapel features acoustic arrangements, which are "quieter" than the electric guitar, keyboard and drums that are typical of Hillsong's music. Hillsong's albums are produced by Hillsong Music Australia. Hillsong's congregational music has been the dominant source of the church's influence in the Charismatic Christianity movement.

Music is central to worship at the church. Hillsong's worship leaders have generally enjoyed a high-profile international position. Early worship leaders included Geoff Bullock and Darlene Zschech. Zschech was Hillsong's second worship leader and Hillsong achieved international acclaim during her ministry. Zschech's "Shout to the Lord" was an early hit for Hillsong in mid-1990s. In 2008, Reuben Morgan became Hillsong's third worship leader.

Hillsong's worship music has been widely influential not only in Pentecostal churches, but more broadly in Evangelical churches. Many of Hillsong's "worship expressions" have been incorporated into Evangelical services including raised hands, vocal utterance and dance. Hillsong Music has released over 40 albums since 1992, many of them achieving gold status in Australia and one of them, People Just Like Us, achieving platinum status. The church's 2004 live praise and worship album For All You've Done reached No. 1 in the mainstream Australian album charts (ARIA).

In September 2012, Hillsong produced The Global Project, a collection of their most popular songs released in nine different languages including Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, Mandarin, Indonesian, German, French, Swedish and Russian.

Hillsong Worship

The Hillsong Worship albums, formerly led by Darlene Zschech and Reuben Morgan and previously named Hillsong Live before 2014, all achieved gold status in Australia. The live album series was recorded at the Sydney campus(es) and then edited and produced by Hillsong Music Australia. The worship series began as a compilation of songs and developed into studio recorded albums. To help make Hillsong Music mainstream, an agreement with Warner Music Australia took place in 1999. In 2003, Sony Music Australia also signed with Hillsong Music to make the group even more mainstream. In 2018, Hillsong Worship won its first Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song for "What a Beautiful Name".

Hillsong United

Hillsong United was conceived as the youth arm of the worship ministry, producing annual live albums similarly to Hillsong Live, with a focus on alternative rock. As the members grew older, United has since transitioned into a band with currently an eleven-member fixed lineup of Hillsong musicians as well as a focus on studio albums compared to the Worship and Young & Free ministries. Their song "Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)" was No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Christian Songs list for a full year. It was the No. 1 song on the Billboard Christian Songs chart in 2014 and 2016, No. 2 for 2015, and the No. 1 song of the 2010s decade. The New York Times described their music as "ornate mainstream arena rock but with God-only lyrics that are vetted for adherence to theology". Joel Houston, Hillsong's creative director and former lead pastor of Hillsong New York, leads Hillsong United.

Hillsong Young & Free

Hillsong Young & Free was established in 2012 as a new youth branch of Hillsong's ministry. Hillsong Church has been successful at adjusting the musical style of their ministries to keep up with changing musical trends. Hillsong Young & Free was launched to attract postmillennial youth worshippers. The style of music in this particular ministry reflects features of musical genres that are popular with this target demographic, including electronic dance music. Laura Toggs and Peter Toganivalu were founders of the collective, while Laura was also one of the vocalists of Young & Free prior to her resignation from Hillsong in 2023.

Hillsong Kids
Hillsong Kids is music designed for and by Hillsong's children's ministry. The albums Jesus Is My Superhero and Super Strong God were included on Natalie Gillespie's "Best Christian Children's Albums" lists for 2005 and 2006, respectively (published in Christianity Today).

Television

In late March 2022, Network 10 removed Hillsong-produced television programs from its schedules and video on demand service 10Play. The removal came amid controversies involving Brian Houston, who resigned from his position as senior pastor after being indicted in a misconduct investigation by the ministry.

Hillsong Channel

On 9 March 2016 Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), the American religious broadcaster, announced a partnership with Hillsong that saw TBN's digital terrestrial television (DTT) sub-channel, The Church Channel, rebranded as the broadcast version of Hillsong Channel on 1 June 2016. The American linear channel was rebranded as TBN Inspire on 1 January 2022, and the international versions followed suit in April 2022, though Hillsong remained a partner in the network.

Hillsong Conference

Hillsong Conference is a mid-year week long annual conference in Sydney, London and New York City each year. First started in 1986, it has grown to be the largest annual conference in Australia .

The Australian conference is hosted by Hillsong Church and lead pastors Brian and Bobbie Houston and involves a variety of guests from across the globe. Baptist minister Michael Frost described the 2011 conference as having, "a kind of electric, almost carnival atmosphere ... the delegates were full of anticipation and excitement".

In 2014, the New York event was held in Madison Square Garden, while the London conference was held in The O2 Arena over three days and has continued to be held at this venue until at least 2018.

Media appearances
On 16 September 2016, the documentary Hillsong: Let Hope Rise, directed by Michael John Warren, was released to cinemas across the United States. The film explores Hillsong's beginnings and its rise to prominence as an international church. The focus is on the band Hillsong United as they write songs for their upcoming album and work toward a performance at The Forum in Inglewood, California.

In 2023, various programs charting the rise and demise of Hillsong were aired on a number of media platforms. In March 2023, satirical news outlet The Betoota Advocate partnered with Paramount to release a new satirical series on TV which would include an episode about Hillsong. In early 2023,  a four-part documentary series, The Secrets of Hillsong, was released on  FX in the United States, and in Australia, the Herald Sun produced an investigative podcast called Faith on Trial. In June of that year, ex-Hillsong member Marc Fennell presented The Kingdom on SBS Television.

Political influence
Hillsong Church has attracted support from high-profile politicians, especially from the Liberal Party of Australia. In 1998, Brian Houston met with the prime minister of Australia, John Howard, and most of his cabinet at Parliament House in Canberra before sharing prayers. In 2002, Howard opened the Hillsong Convention Centre at the Baulkham Hills location. In 2004 and 2005, the Treasurer of Australia, Peter Costello, spoke at its annual conferences. Mark Latham, the Leader of the Opposition, declined Hillsong's invitation to the 2004 conference, although Bob Carr, the Premier of New South Wales (from the New South Wales Labor Party), attended the 2005 conference.

Liberal MP for Mitchell, Alan Cadman, and two Family First Party senate candidates, Joan Woods and Ivan Herald, who failed to win senate seats, were featured in a Hillsong circular during the election, with members being asked to pray for them.

Hillsong's high-profile involvement with political leaders has been questioned in the media, and publicly, the church has distanced itself from advocating certain political groups and parties, including the fledgling Family First party. Brian Houston has replied to these criticisms by stating, "I think people need to understand the difference between the church being very involved in politics and individual Christians being involved in politics."

In 2008, Sydney inner city publication Central Magazine stated that Hillsong had donated A$600 to a Member of the Legislative Council, Kristina Keneally (ALP), for the tickets of a fundraising dinner, featuring the New South Wales' planning minister, Frank Sartor (ALP), as a guest speaker one month before the 2007 state election, despite Hillsong's own statement of corporate governance declaring that "Hillsong Church does not make financial contributions to or align itself with any political party or candidate." A Hillsong staff member, Maria Ieroianni, said that no donation had been made and that the dinner was not a fundraiser. Hillsong also issued a statement on their website denying that the money was a donation. According to the Central Magazine article, Keneally has described the dinner as a fundraiser and the money from Hillsong as a donation. The article also states that these descriptions are confirmed by the records of the New South Wales Electoral Commission.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison opened the 2019 Hillsong annual conference, shortly after the May 2019 federal election. He is not a member of Hillsong, being part of the Horizon Church's congregation.

Controversies
Hillsong has been criticised by politicians, media, community groups, Christian leaders and former members such as Tanya Levin. Criticisms have included Hillsong's finances, its ties to controversial organisations, its attitudes towards LGBT people and its treatment of critics as well as scandals involving Brian Houston and other prominent church leaders.

Finances
Criticisms have been levelled at Hillsong in regard to its finances, particularly its use of government grants when it reportedly made  in 2004, and  in 2010.

In 2005, Hillsong was accused of spending most of the money it received through government grants for programs to assist the Riverstone Aboriginal Community Association (RACA) on their own staff salaries. The federal government acknowledged that  from the grant money had been used to pay Hillsong Emerge CEO Leigh Coleman, who was only indirectly involved in the programs. One program, designed to give microloans to Indigenous Australians, paid  to Hillsong staff over the course of a year, though only granted six loans averaging  each during that time. Hillsong's application for the grant listed the RACA as a co-funder, though the RACA denied ever offering funding, saying they were never in a position to do so. In 2006, Hillsong were stripped of  from the grant on the grounds they had faked the Indigenous endorsement that was required to obtain it. Hillsong were also accused of offering the RACA  in order to silence their complaints regarding the matter, which they declined; a Hillsong spokesperson stated the offer of money was "not an attempt to silence RACA but amicably resolve the issue."

Pushes for a charity commission in Australia have stemmed from claims that religious organisations like Hillsong avoid taxes by paying their staff in tax-exempt fringe benefits. In 2010, The Sunday Telegraph reported that the Houston family was enjoying a lavish lifestyle, almost entirely tax-free, including vehicles and expense accounts.

In early 2023, it was announced that 153 staff members accepted voluntary redundancies in 2022, a cost-cutting method that reportedly will save the church close to $10 million. The moves were made following the accusations that the church had been extravagantly spending money and participating in fraud. The move comes alongside an independent review into the church's financial structure.

Sexual abuse by founder's father

Frank Houston, the father of Hillsong Church founder Brian Houston, was a pastor in New Zealand and Australia who sexually abused boys over the course of his ministry. One of the nine identified victims was routinely subjected to sexual abuse in the 1960s and '70s when he was 7 to 12 years old. In 1999, his mother reported the abuse to the Assemblies of God denomination. Although Brian Houston, then national president of the Assemblies of God denomination in Australia, was legally obligated to report the crime, he allegedly did not do so. Brian Houston stated that he felt it reasonable not to report the crime when it came to light at the time that the victim was an adult, and when the victim did not want the crime reported (an assertion that was denied by the victim).  The victim later testified to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that Frank Houston offered him AU$10,000 as compensation at a McDonald's in the presence of Nabi Saleh. During an internal church investigation, Frank Houston eventually confessed to the crime. The commission also heard that he was involved in the sexual abuse of other children in New Zealand. Frank Houston resigned from his church in 2000 which, then lacking a pastor, was merged into Hillsong Church. A further internal investigation by the Assemblies of God in Australia, in conjunction with the Assemblies of God in New Zealand, found six additional child sexual abuse allegations that were regarded as credible.

On 5 August 2021, NSW Police issued a warrant for Brian Houston to attend the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney on 5 October, alleging that Houston concealed child sexual abuse by his late father, Frank. Houston was in the United States at the time of being charged. He has denied the charges and his lawyer stated he intends to plead not guilty. In January 2022, Houston resigned his chairmanship of the Hillsong board, as court proceedings were likely to be protracted. Phil and Lucinda Dooley, pastors of the South African church, became acting global senior pastors in Houston's absence, expected until the end of 2022.

In August 2023, Brian Houston was found "not guilty" of covering up his father's sex crimes.

Views on homosexuality
The church has been criticised for its stance on homosexuality issues. It considers homosexual practice sinful, and does not allow homosexuals to assume leadership roles. It issued a statement in February 2019 stating that it was inclusive; however, Houston had formerly said that Hillsong would accept those who did not follow a "homosexual lifestyle".

In 2014, Brian Houston discussed being more understanding of homosexuals. Later, he clarified his position after being criticised by some Christians for allegedly supporting homosexuality. In a statement released on Hillsong's website, he stated: "Nowhere in my answer did I diminish biblical truth or suggest that I or Hillsong Church supported gay marriage."

Mercy Ministries
Hillsong has been criticised for its involvement with Mercy Ministries, an evangelical charity with an anti-abortion view and a conservative perspective on homosexuality.  Hillsong responded by praising the work of Mercy Ministries and stating that "we are not involved in the operational aspects of the organisation." The church also said: "We have heard many wonderful testimonies about how the work of Mercy has helped the lives of young women facing often debilitating and life-controlling situations. Some would even say that Mercy Ministries has saved their life." Mercy Ministries in Australia was shut down on 31 October 2009, preceding which Hillsong had distanced itself from the organisation despite earlier funding it, and staffing elements of it.

Former members' criticisms
Hillsong's attitude towards criticism was portrayed negatively by one former member, Tanya Levin, in her book People in Glass Houses: An Insider's Story of a Life In and Out of Hillsong. Specific criticisms covered authoritarian church governance, lack of financial accountability, resistance to free thought, strict fundamentalist teachings and lack of compassion. In an interview with Andrew Denton, Levin further discussed her experience of Hillsong, which she described as "toxic Christianity".

In 2020, former church members accused the church of exploiting volunteers, due to overwork, lack of recognition and interference in privacy.
Hillsong replied that an internal investigation had been launched in 2018 after receiving a complaint and that a global human resources team had been put in place, as well as an ethical code of conduct to guide voluntary work and an email address to facilitate denunciations.

Guglielmucci cancer claim scandal

On 20 August 2008, Michael Guglielmucci, a then pastor of Planetshakers Church, composed "Healer", a song about his experience of cancer. He was invited by Hillsong to add his song to the album This Is Our God. Later, he confessed that he had lied about having cancer. Hillsong leadership told the press they were unaware of this situation and that the suspended pastor was seeking professional help. The Australian Christian Churches promised that all money donated by listeners inspired by the song would either be returned or donated to charity. "Healer" has since then been removed from further releases of the album.

Mark Driscoll appearance
In 2015, American preacher Mark Driscoll was invited to attend the Hillsong annual conference. When it was revealed that Driscoll had made offensive comments about women, Brian Houston announced that Driscoll would no longer attend the conference. However, a pre-recorded interview with Driscoll was played during the conference.

Black Lives Matter movement
Gary Clarke, then pastor of Hillsong London, was criticised for refusing to comment on the murder of George Floyd in the US, having said on 30 May 2020, "For me to be railing as a pastor about something that's going on in another country, I'm not really sure that's going to help anyone." Both Clarke and Houston subsequently apologised for the comments and, in early 2021, Clarke and his wife Cathy were moved into an international leadership role. In early June 2020, Hillsong came out in support of Black Lives Matter in the US, with Brian Houston stating that they are "committed as a Church to playing our part in seeing racism eradicated ... until that becomes a reality, we will continue to say black lives matter".

In response to the Black Lives Matter protests, Hillsong held a panel discussion, with members consisting of people of colour of diverse backgrounds who were involved with the church, such as Hillsong Darwin pastor and Aboriginal Australian academic Robyn Ober.

Carl Lentz affairs

Hillsong pastor Carl Lentz helped to lead Hillsong's first church in the United States, in New York City, in 2010. Lentz became friends with singer Justin Bieber and developed a celebrity following. Hillsong expanded on the East Coast under Lentz, but some members felt that it became unduly focused on fashion, and on servicing the desires of its pastors and its famous patrons. Church volunteers were allegedly expected to work long hours, and were reportedly treated as second-class citizens and gaslighted. Around 2017, two Hillsong volunteers who attempted to convey their concerns about Lentz to Hillsong leadership were allegedly intercepted and dismissed.

In 2020, Hillsong fired Lentz after finding that he had engaged in "more than one extra-marital affair" and was currently involved in one. Lentz's lover stated that Hillsong is not "genuine. That's the truth. It's a money machine ... and I think it's wrong ... I think [Lentz] is a victim of his own church. He gave his life to this church, and that's how they played him."

Sexual assault reporting
In early 2021, Vanity Fair, the Christian Post  and News.com.au reported that a female student at Hillsong Leadership College named Anna Crenshaw had been indecently assaulted by a married Hillsong administrator named Jason Mays, the son of the church's director of human resources. In January 2020, Mays had pleaded guilty to indecent assault and received two years probation and mandatory counselling. Though Mays received a 12-month ban from ministry, he was subsequently reinstated to his ministry role and volunteered with singing at worship services. Crenshaw criticised Hillsong's leadership for downplaying the incident and not holding Mays accountable for his actions. Brian Houston subsequently apologised for his Tweet questioning Crenshaw's version of events. That same month, several Hillsong Leadership College students penned a letter criticising the church leadership for allowing Mays to remain on staff despite his indecent assault conviction.

In September 2021, 60 Minutes aired a segment called "Hillsong Hell" featuring Crenshaw and a second woman known as "Katherine", who alleged that she had been raped by a fellow church member on church premises in 2018. Both women alleged that Hillsong had ignored their complaints and tried to downplay the incidents. According to 60 Minutes, Hillsong see itself as the victim when it is criticised and care more about protecting itself than investigating accusations, noting that Mays had pleaded guilty to assaulting Crenshaw yet retained his job at Hillsong. Brian Houston subsequently posted a Twitter message questioning Crenshaw's version of events and also gave an interview with Eternity magazine portraying the church as the victim of allegations.

Hillsong criticised the 60 Minutes report, saying it was "factually wrong, sensationalised, unbalanced and highly unethical". Hillsong stated that it had investigated both incidents and reported the assault on Crenshaw to police in May 2019. It defended its decision to retain Mays on the grounds that the magistrate had described the offence as "low-level", that Mays had expressed remorse for his actions, and that Crenshaw's account was contradicted by other witnesses. It also claimed that "Katherine" had been unwilling to provide details about the date and perpetrator of the alleged rape, and was unwilling to take the matter to the police. Nine News journalist Tom Steinfort criticised Hillsong's response as "tone-deaf" and accused  the church leadership of victim blaming.

COVID-19 rule breaches
In January 2022, during the COVID-19 pandemic, participants at a Hillsong youth camp at the Glenrock scout camp near Newcastle, New South Wales, were filmed dancing and singing without masks. While the state government's public health order did not apply to religious gatherings, singing and dancing at most recreational and public venues and gatherings was prohibited. NSW Health ordered the organisers of the Hillsong youth camp to stop singing and dancing after public outcry and media coverage from a video of the youth camp. The Premier of New South Wales, Dominic Perrottet, stated that he was "completely shocked" by the video from the event. In response, Hillsong apologised for reinforcing the perception that they were not complying with the public health order and stated that they would comply with health authorities' instructions and maintained that the youth camp was not a music festival. While New South Wales Police personnel spoke with organisers of the youth camp, they declined to issue a fine. All attendees were tested before arriving at the camp.

Resignations of senior pastors
In March 2022, Brian Houston resigned his position as global senior pastor after an internal investigation into his misconduct began. It was reported that in both 2013 and 2019 he had engaged in inappropriate behaviour with women connected to the church.

Hillsong Dallas pastor Reed Bogard resigned in January 2021, two weeks before an internal investigation found that he had been accused of raping a female junior colleague while serving at Hillsong New York City. According to the report, the married Bogard had been having an affair with the colleague between 2013 and 2014, and Hillsong Australia had been aware of the affair in the second half of 2014 but had declined to take action. Hillsong paused the Dallas campus in April 2021 following Bogard's resignation.

On 24 March 2022, Sam Collier, the lead pastor of Hillsong Atlanta, established less than a year earlier, resigned, citing the ongoing scandals and allegations towards senior figures in Hillsong church. Collier was the first African-American pastor to lead a Hillsong church. He announced plans to establish his own church.

In late March 2022, Hillsong Phoenix lead pastor, Terry Crist, announced that his church would be leaving the Hillsong global network, citing a loss of confidence in Hillsong's Global Board leadership in the wake of the resignation of founder Houston.

, nine Hillsong branches in the US had separated from the church since the revelations about Houston.

On 10 May 2023, Houston's daughter Laura Toggs and her husband Peter Toganivalu, founders and global pastors of youth ministry group Hillsong Young & Free, announced to the church that they were leaving Hillsong, citing that they were called by God elsewhere.

Property acquisition
An investigative report on ABC TV's 7.30 program on 6 April 2022 revealed that Hillsong had acquired many properties that had been hidden behind a web of entities across the world. It had done this in part by assuming financial control over other churches, starting with Garden City Church in 2009, which later transferred over 12 properties in Brisbane to one of the Hillsong charities, with no transfer of money. It has also taken control of the finances of at least one church in Sydney, which has since broken away. It took over Hillsong Kiev in 2014, coercing its then pastors to hand over assets and leave Hillsong. An investigator from the Trinity Foundation in Dallas found that Hillsong owned at least three condominiums in New York City, a US$3.5-million home in California and 31 properties in Arizona, expected to be worth a total of US$40 million by 2023. Its corporate and financial structures mean that the church is protected against litigation which demands large payouts to plaintiffs.

Criticism by Hillsong leadership
On 19 March 2022, John Mays, head of people and development in the church, wrote a letter to the global leadership recommending that the Houstons should be dismissed from the church, saying that they had contributed to "many unhealthy people practices... over many years". He alleged that Brian Houston had a "strong, immovable, leadership disposition together with a distinct lack of personal accountability", and that Bobbie was not a victim, but also shared the responsibility of maintaining accountability. He said that the motive behind his letter was "to support Hillsong employees" rather than personal malice, and that he joined in celebrating aspects of the Houstons' legacy.

See also

 C3 Church Global

References

Further reading

External links

Evangelical megachurches in Australia
Christian organizations established in 1983
Charismatic denominations
Christian fundamentalism
Organizations that oppose LGBT rights
Conservatism in Australia
Charismatic and Pentecostal Christianity
Sexual abuse scandals in Evangelicalism
Finance fraud in Evangelicalism

Hillsong Church