Hillsong United Conference

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I got into Miami about an hour ago, and for some reason, the first thing I did was trail the streets to find a computer. Strange, especially when you're in Miami, but then again, who am I to comment on being strange?

The last two days have been eventful. I say eventful, because I don't know of a word to describe how things have been over the weekend without jumping up and down. And I might get weird looks if I do that.

For those who don't know what I've been up to over the weekend, I've been to a conference in Orlando, hosted by Hillsong United - the people who run the youth ministry in Hillsong Church in Australia.

I arrived in my hotel in Orlando at around midday on Friday. After a quick shower, I went to to church where the conference was being held. This was around 1 o clock. The doors opened at 5, so I was just going to have a look at the church. I took the bus there, and upon arrival, I realised I had forgotten my receipt for the ticket, which I needed to get through the doors. So I tried to get into reception to ask if I could use a computer to print it off there, but all the doors were locked.

There were two ladies who saw me trying to get in, and told me there was a door round the back open, so I went through there. Once inside, I found somebody who looked like they worked there, and asked whether I could use a computer. She said yes, and took me to the Hillsong United VIP lounge to wait! About 5 minutes later, she took me into a room, and said to one of the people there "I've got a guy here from Hills, he needs to print off something, can he use your computer please?" At that point I realised, that lady just said I was from Hillsong United! And so I printed off the receipt, and walked out. As I walked past, Joel Houston, the lead singer in the Hillsong United band walked past me! And he actually said hi to me as well. God is good...

After that, I decided to make the most of the time I've got here before they realise, and so I found an entrance to the sanctuary, where the stage was. I got up on the balcony seating area, right at the back, and waited to see what happened. For the next hour and a half, I saw them setting the equipment up, the band sound checking every instrument, and then a preview of some of the songs they would be doing!

Around an hour before the doors opened, I left. I managed to find my way outside again, and queue up with all the other people.

Over the next two days, there was hours of worship with the worship band, many different sessions with different speakers, and plenty of time to socialise with other people.

The conference mainly dealt with youth ministry, worship bands, and worship leaders, and so all the different talks / sessions dealt with things like: leading worship, how to develop a worship band to actually 'lead' worship, developing an effective youth ministry, and other things. The talks were inspiring, and relevant to the church today. I learnt so much there, and there's so much I'll be able to take back home with me and put into practice.

During the worship sessions, I noticed a few things I think would be good to mention:

First of all, maybe a bit of background on Hillsong United would be useful. The worship band has written many many songs, and because they're so popular, they put on occasional concerts. These concerts aren't about leading worship, they're about playing the songs so many people enjoy. I don't think there's anything wrong with playing songs people would call 'worship songs', just to entertain, unless you call it worship. I think if you call it worship, but you're out to entertain, then it becomes wrong.

This however, was called worship. The band wasn't putting on a performance. They were leading people in worship. The congregation (if I can call it that), wasn't fixated on the band the whole time, they were concentrating on worshiping God. Half the time they weren't even looking at the stage! During praise songs, they were going crazy, but crazy because they were praising God, and because they enjoy praising him. And during the worship songs, the people had their eyes closed, hands raised, and their heads lifted. It was almost as if the band wasn't there. Yet, it was so loud, a passer by would probably think it's another concert.

Another thing I noticed, was that during the longest worship session, over half the songs were new. Never been heard before. Now I love Hillsong United's music, and because of that, I know most of their songs. But when these new songs were played, instead of just singing words you've memorised through singing them time and time again, you were reading the words, thinking and understanding what they mean, and then singing, them. And it didn't matter that what you were singing probably wasn't entirely the same tune as what was being sang from the stage, because you were singing those words because you were worshiping God. And throughout the whole conference, I found that the times I felt as though I was worshiping God the most, was when I was singing songs I didn't know. Because instead of thinking about the tune, or the cool guitar riff that's coming up, all I could think about was what I'm actually singing.

There are my thoughts from the conference. I was there for two days, and so I can't go into detail about 'everything' that happened, but I'm sure you'll see most of what I experienced coming out and being put to use when I get back home. I didn't take any still photos, I took videos instead, so won't be able to put any on here.

And so I'm in Miami now. No big spiritual reason, I just though it would be fun! I'll probably do some Christmas shopping here, and see what else there is. Signing out from Zed's Cyber Cafe...