Some of the things that have gone wrong, particularly in Hillsong, are serious and really do need to be addressed. Because we're also trying to show why people are in it in the first place. I don’t think the film is as scathing as people expect it to be. That structure hasn't changed in 20, 30 years. Structurally, three fast songs, three sad songs, announce all the prayers are answered this week, ask for money, speakers talk, and then at the last five minutes the music swells. And then when it unfolded, the thing that first struck me was oh, shit, this hasn't changed. I had this really interesting fight or flight response where, as soon as I walked in, I wanted to see where the exits were. I went in, sat in the back row, and watched the whole thing unfold. I genuinely hadn't been in these places for about 17 years. Imagine you haven't done that in a very long time. Think of something you did all the time when you were 15 years old. What has returning to that world been like? You “ran away” from Pentecostal Christianity 17 years ago. I know the world well enough to know what it's like for people inside, but I'm outside and I have been outside long enough to see that there are clearly issues here that need to be discussed. The inverse of that is, within the world of Christianity, I think there's a problem with toxic positivity, where anytime anybody tries to raise issues about money or exploitation of volunteerism, it gets framed as an attack by the enemy.Īnd I don't think either of those things are particularly helpful. I grew up in that world and I know what it feels like to have news reports poke at you from the outside and make you feel like you’re freaks. I would never suggest they shouldn't be done, but, sitting underneath those stories, there's always this little thin veneer of look at those freaks, right? What occurred to me is that, when it comes to Pentecostal Christianity, you get two kinds of stories: You get stories that are very much told from the outside in, and often they're focusing on the money, the sexual impropriety and financial impropriety. I've mentioned it once or twice over the years for different things, but realistically, I don't generally talk about my childhood in this world, because you don't know how it's going to be perceived. I was going through some old family photos and I found a photo of me with notorious paedophile Frank Houston. The other component of that was – the people I work with have worked with me for 10 years, and they know me quite well, but they had no idea I had this strange childhood in Pentecostal Christianity. We also knew there were other churches that had, sort of, lived in Hillsong’s shadow that were clearly moving into place, for lack of a better term. We started looking into what was the future of the Pentecostal movement because we knew that Hillsong was having an enormous amount of scandals. Marc Fennell: It happened kind of by accident. VICE: Why did you choose Hillsong? What compelled you to investigate it at this time, specifically? What is it about Hillsong that kept people coming back? And what would happen in its potential future absence? In the documentary, Mark reconciles his own childhood in Pentecostal Christianity, along with the misdemeanours of the church, to question how this uniquely Australian story came to be. Facing declining numbers, a roll-on-effect from years of scandals (alleged money laundering, alleged abuse), other churches are moving in to fill the vacuum left in Hillsong’s wake. The Australian journalist’s upcoming documentary, The Kingdom, looks at the current state of Hillsong Church. Some people gradually phase it out, others leave in a blaze of glory. It isn’t that anyone is forcing you to stay, it’s that all too often, by leaving, you will leave your only support network behind. Kids are brought into the religion by families, and thousands of people across Australia can recount going to Hillsong masses as a child. Pentecostal Christianity isn’t a choice for everyone. Faith is important, and as humans we ought to be able to follow it where we find it. The famous rock-concerts-slash-sermons seen at Hillsong are designed to envelop the parishioner in God’s grace. For Hillsong followers, and followers of any arm of Pentecostal Christianity, the church offers community, support, and emotion.
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