Hillsong United, the "next generation" worship movement out of Sydney's Hillsong Church, got its name from the times when the middle school, high school and young adult groups would gather together for "united" worship. 

That name, much like United's music, began as an expression of one church that evolved into an expression of the global church.

Now, after 12 years and 12 albums, Hillsong United worship leader, co-founder, visionary and pastor Joel Houston says that while much has changed, everything that's important hasn't changed.

“I think the central message for us is keep it simple,” Houston says. “I've got friends who don't know Jesus, and friends who do know Jesus--and need to know him more. At the end of the day, what we're about is the Church, centered on Jesus, and helping people—no matter who they are or where they're at—connect with a God who is alive and active today.”

From the artwork to the themes to the song selections and beyond, everything about the latest album, Aftermath, is upside-down, Houston says. Known for its in-your-face rock worship anthems, Aftermath takes a decidedly more subdued, awestruck tone, throwing all expectations out the window. What is the same about this United album is the continued dedication to relaying what God is saying to His Church.

Houston took time out of his lunch break during an all-day staff meeting in Sydney to talk with NRT Senior Editor Marcus Hathcock about Aftermath, the changing expression of worship, and God's desire to reveal Himself.


So it's 6 o'clock over here on the West Coast, and you're on a lunch break during an all-day meeting in Sydney, right?

Yeah, yeah. I love those all-day meetings.This is a nice break. We’re kind of preparing to get on the road. It’s good. We've all come back from holiday vacations, and everyone’s just diving head first into this year and all that’s about to happen... it’s an exciting time.

What occupies most of your time these days? What's your routine like?

I'm trying to catch up with my routine. We are all really involved with just church life in general, and obviously there's a lot of different facets to that. Most of the days I'm in the office or the studio, or catching up with different people. I'm also very involved with the creative aspect of what we do as a church, our expression and how we're communicating that. Apart from that, I try to surf as often as I can, enough to keep me moving.


Obviously you’re still very involved in songwriting and worship leading with United. Has your role changed much over the years?

Yeah, I guess there's been more responsibility, but even when we started out, there was no such thing as a role. It was just all just all hands on deck, whatever it took to give the best expression of who Jesus is to our friends. In a sense we're doing the same thing, but perhaps on a bigger scale. So there's more responsibility. At the end of the day, it’s really pure, and I think that’s what kind of keeps me motivated to keep doing what we’re doing.

It seems that each United album speaks to different seasons in the Church globally. With your global perspective, what season do you see the Church in today, and how is that reflected in Aftermath?

It means a lot that you’d say that. When we go into these projects—always, but in particular these last few years—we’re really intentional about hearing what God is saying, and to reflect that through the album. It’s a process that’s kind of frustrating and awesome because it requires trust. With this project, I didn’t know what it would say, and we had no songs for it. There was no clear message, initially. As we started the songwriting process, these themes started coming to the forefront, all these different pixels were coming to life. I kind of stand back, amazed at how it all came together. It's a testimony to who God is and how He reveals Himself. It helps to articulate what God is doing in the Spirit--not just in our lives, but all around the world. It's no surprise; it's the same God, at the same time in history.


United has been known for changing people’s perceptions of what church worship can sound like, and really, it’s given the youth something to go crazy to, while still going deep. On Aftermath, it seems that there’s a more subdued, awed feeling to the music. Can you talk about the progression?

Yeah, like I said, it happened organically, and I love it. God moves in different ways, during different seasons, in different generations. We see that throughout history. Our intent was to create a worship album that was, first, true for us, and that would be something hopefully other people could resonate with. Even with the way the track listing fits, there's a journey there, a story that involved surrendering to God's grace. The song “Rhythms of Grace” kind of articulates the overall feeling behind the whole album. There's not a science to it. The best way to explain it is that we were intentional about being true to what God's been saying to us personally.

You start the album with “Take Heart,” a soaky, chill song – very different from your typical power-punch intros. What is the journey you’re taking people on, from beginning to end on Aftermath?

That was the first song we had for this album. We kind of started writing it a couple years ago, in the aftermath of the GFC [global financial crisis], when a lot of people were doomsday-ing. The song sat on the shelf for a while, but when we began working on the album, I thought it would be the last song—a pretty epic ending. “Go” seemed like the natural place to start. I guess everything about this album is back to front—the album artwork, this whole symbolism of the paradoxical nature of the Kingdom of God. And so all of the sudden this light bulb went off, and I thought we needed to start with “Take Heart.” It's a beautiful place to start.

It's natural to look at our circumstances, our own life, our misgivings, failures and insufficiencies and to be discouraged by them. This album is really hopeful back to front. Jesus says, “In this life you will have trouble, but take heart I have overcome the world.” Once we've established the fact that Jesus conquered all our fears, our failures and our tears on the cross, we live in a different kind of aftermath. Then we're ready to “Go.” When we showed the “powers that be” for lack of a better word, they thought it was very interesting, and listed out the pros and the cons. I thought the cons were the best part, so we went with it. I'm glad we're not doing the same thing we've always done.

This is the second studio album of United. How did you, this time around, try to capture the live worship ambiance in the studio?

It's always, I suppose, the unknown factor. Many of the songs on this album were untried (in the congregation) before we recorded them. We recorded quite a few songs; we were working on 30 different ideas. Even with some of the songs we went with, we were unsure how they'd translate into the live setting. Our whole intention in songwriting was to articulate our heart's cry for worship in this day and age. Every single one of the songs we've brought to the congregation has been taking off. We have a quiet confidence about it, I suppose, because all along our expression of worship is true, and you can never underestimate what can work in a corporate worship setting when it comes to music. I've been to all kinds of rock concerts where people are screaming bands' songs at the top of their lungs; all humanity has a natural instinct to worship. Why box that in with the church? It'll be good; I'm really looking forward to getting on this tour next week to see how the songs really fly.


Marty Sampson makes his first return to a United album in three years or so, singing the title track, “Aftermath.” How’s he doing, and what was it like to have him back?

Marty was a huge part of the United journey, and we've remained very close friends. He's done some different things over the last few years, but Marty's always around. He hasn't necessarily been involved in leading worship and so forth—by his own choice—but he's still a part of the church. When we started working on this project, it just felt like a bit of a rebirth for United in a sense. I don't know how to explain it. We went in with the attitude like we were doing it for the first time. We gave it our very best, treating it like it was our one and only project.

Marty was floating around the studio a bit, and I asked him, “What do you think about singing a song?” I showed him “Aftermath,” and he said he'd love to sing it. He really brought that song to life. He's always had such an incredible heart for people and for God. You hear it in the way he sings. For me, it's a personal thing. We've been great mates for a long time, and I don’t know I'd be doing what I'm doing if not for our friendship and the partnership we've had since the early days. 

How would you say United's vision has changed since the early days?

I don’t think our vision’s changed. It's certainly grown in scope, and it’s evolved in some ways. Our heart in the early days was to write songs for our youth ministry to connect our friends who didn’t know Jesus and friends who did, and do it in our own way—breaking the rules, doing it in a way that seemed right. That hasn’t changed.

The platform has changed and increased. It’s interesting we’re called United. I didn’t see that at the time, but the opportunity we have is to unify the church to lift the name of Jesus and to express our worship in way that would mobilize us. I look back on these videos of us years and years ago, and remember what God was doing in our lives and our church at that time. In prayer meetings we'd cry out to God with this naivete, genuinely believing God would use us to change the world. It brings back the fondest memories. It's beautiful.

There's something about staying planted, keeping your course and doing whatever it takes. God does the rest. He opens up doors you never imagined. I love it, and I don't want it to stop because I've come so far, and I feel there's so much more to be done. 
Where is the Church at, globally, with regards to worship?

I think it’s an exciting time. Our worship has the be pure. I think the danger is that even when our heart’s intentions are good, we can be pulled by the demands of structure and routine. Sometimes those things have a subtle way of diluting the purity of our worship. I think as long as our expression is pure and open to the voice of the Holy Spirit in what we're doing, and it’s all about Jesus, and about God and people, I think that we’re in a good place. I sense that.

 New Christian Music PodCast For Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Want to hear more from Joel Houston? Click on the flash player below to listen to more with Joel Houston, plus interviews with Josh Wilson & Hawk Nelson.