Hillsong youth camp has hosted a three-day youth summer camp — which looks suspiciously like a Christian music festival — with videos of more than 100 mask-less attendees dancing and singing inside a large tent at the Glenrock scout camp south of Newcastle.
NSW Health has ordered the organisers to stop the Pentecostal partygoers from breaking singing and dancing restrictions implemented after the Omicron outbreak. Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the restrictions apply to “major recreation facilities” attended by a large number of people in a “building or place used for large-scale sporting or recreation activities”.
Hillsong camp organisers have said the singing was a “small part” of its outdoor Christian services. Singing and dancing are allowed as part of religious services.
The camp was open to kids in grades seven to nine from January 10 to 12, promising “a week like no other … having the greatest time of your life!”
It’s not clear whether the church will be fined: under the NSW Public Health Act, children under 15 can be given an on-the-spot fine of $40 for not wearing or carrying a mask; it’s $80 for those aged 16 or 17. Businesses can be fined $55,000 for not following health orders and another $27,500 for each day the offence continues. NSW Police didn’t respond to Crikey’s request for comment by deadline.
Although in the wrong, Hillsong stretching the rules shows another concession made to religious groups. While singing and dancing in a small church seems like a fair concession, applying the same rules to megachurches like Hillsong exposes hypocrisy.
It’s not the first time Hillsong has had special exemptions. In March 2020, as the pandemic took off, the government decided to ban any non-essential gatherings of groups of 500 or more. Importantly, the rules didn’t come into play until a Monday — allowing Prime Minister Scott Morrison to attend a Cronulla Sharks rugby league match and for Hillsong to host the second weekend of the Colour Conference, an annual forum attended by thousands. Hillsong founder Brian Houston is a personal friend of Morrison, who is a member of the Pentecostal megachurch Horizon.
Houston — who has pleaded not guilty to a charge by NSW Police of concealing information on child sexual abuse in the 1970s — was also granted an exemption in July 2021 to leave Australia and preach abroad, granted an exemption as he was planning to leave the country for more than three months.
Sydney’s Lord Gladstone pub is rebranding itself as a church for the day, seeing if it can get around the restrictions with an event on January 23 to raise money for Support Act, an organisation that delivers crisis relief and mental health services to those in the music industry.
These are the chosen of God. No rules need apply, piss off and don’t dare to criticise us. I am not religious, but my family outside of my parents were often very fine Christians. I was educated by Anglicans some of whom were truly wonderful people. I ran across the precursor to Hillsong, the Full Gospel mob. Their local pastor was a shonky builder who cheated on and beat up his wife (that was OK the devil made him do it) drove a BMW and a Porsche. Where there is a well off pastor at the top there is a crooked church in my book. I respect religions, and admire the good that is often done, but I despise this happy clappy Jesus Club stuff. I have seen it infect SRE in schools too. The kind compassionate ministers and teachers that I knew were its opposite. I cannot see Hillsong as Christian church, they have no compassion, no humility and bloody little humanity either. Their version has failed to appear in my bible anywhere.
They remind me of the Tammy Baker shonks in the USA. Groups founded by individuals such as Houston under the guise of religion, and using these mood altering music fests are very like a pyramid scheme which enhances the wealth of those at the top. The belief system of prosperity gospel is way outside the belief system and gospel as passed down from Christ
Who do they think they are? ….. This government?
IIRC, the Plague Princess which docked in Sydney March 23, 2020 had a fair few passengers, including a number of US citizens who embarked in NZ, eager to attend the second Hillsong Colour Conference.
There was a fleet of taxis & hire cars waiting beyond the wharf to whisk them away asap.
It is a matter of cabcharge records that the vast majority of the taxis deposited their viral load in an oddly specific area in northern Sydney.
BTW, despite Scummo’s adamantine determination & loud declarations, he NOT attend that Sharkies match as he’d bluffed & blustered.
Nor did the 2nd week of Hillsong conflabing take place…officially.
So, nothing to see here, move along and show proper respect and defer to your betters.
The dude abides..
Even though covered in crematorium ash that was Donny.
It’s a disgrace that this pseudo religious sect is allowed to combine its profitable business of tax free money making with the poisoning of young minds.
Even worse, it’s terrifying when one thinks back to what the royal Commission told us can happen at religion-run “holiday camps”.
Indoctrinating kids in years 7-9 with this garbage is pretty close to child abuse. Why do people persist in lying to their children? it just sets them up for mental anguish when they discover there’s no such thing as god.
Ditto Father Christmas.
Hey! What are you saying? That there IS no Father Christmas? <sigh>
Child abuse is a large element of all religions in this country, as is indoctrination with strange ideas, as is the profit making behind all of their activities.
This was essentially a tax free commercial activity with the secondary objective of dangerous indoctrination of children.
And there will be no penalties because we have a prime minister who supports these activities and wants to give their promoters more freedom to ignore the laws of the land and to abandon common decency.