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Brian Houston Says Hillsong Church Won’t Sing ‘Oceans’ or ‘Shout to the Lord’ Anymore

Brian Houston Says Hillsong Church Won’t Sing ‘Oceans’ or ‘Shout to the Lord’ Anymore

This weekend, Hillsong Senior Pastor Brian Houston explained why new visitors to his global, multi-site church originally based in Australia won’t hear two of the most popular songs their worship bands have ever recorded. As The Christian Post notes, while speaking at Atlanta’s Catalyst, Houston explained that,

When it comes to influence, predictability is our enemy. Because you never get influence from doing things the way they’ve always been done. You get influence from creating new ways … Thank God for innovation. Thank God for creativity … Spontaneity is our friend in the church.

For them, that means not singing two of the most popular modern worship songs ever recorded.

You may be shocked to hear we don’t sing ‘Shout to the Lord’ anymore at Hillsong Church. It’s not 1993. If you come all the way to Australia and you hope to hear ‘Shout to the Lord,’ your chances are slight. We don’t even sing ‘Oceans’ much anymore.

Along with their global church plants and multi-site locations, Hillsong has been home to some of the most influential worship artists in the last 30 years, including Hillsong’s worship band (originally led by Darlene Zschech and Reuben Morgan), Hillsong United and Hillsong Young & Free.

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