NSW Premier shocked by Hillsong footage
The New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, says he was “incredibly disappointed” to see footage of young Hillsong parishioners dancing and singing to music and the church could be fined if found to have breached the state’s Covid public health order.
Photos and videos posted on Hillsong’s social media accounts over the past two days showed crowds of people singing without masks during services and dancing to pop music that was non-devotional. The camp, which is aimed at 15- to 17-year-olds, is due to finish on Saturday.
Hillsong spokesperson denied the event was essentially a music festival.
“These events are our annual high school-aged youth camps, and are not similar to a music festival in any way,” the spokesperson said.
“Outdoor Christian services are held during the camp but these are only a small part of the program … and any singing is only a small part of each service (a video circulating on social media today reflects a few minutes of this part of the program).”
When pressed on how large groups of young people dancing to songs such as Turn Down For What by DJ Snake and Lil Jon constituted a religious service, the Hillsong spokesperson did not respond.
After several years of atrocious headlines Hillsong needs to pay more attention to detail and more attention to perception.
And in my opinion, trying to pass a youth camp off as a Sunday Service type of event just does not cut it.
That is my opinion.
