HILLSONG: LET HOPE RISE

HILLSONG: LET HOPE RISE is an inspiring music worship documentary about the successful Christian worship group that has sold millions of records worldwide and whose songs are featured in most modern churches.

Hillsong is not one group but several groups at several campuses, which come together to form the music team that plays and sings all over the world. The worship leader is Joel Huston, who’s the son of the pastor, who started the Hillsong Church in the 1980s in a small building in Sidney, Australia. Even though he’s the worship leader, the other members of the team are partners in their music, including Taya Smith, Jad Gillies, Matt Crocker, and several others. They are concerned that their music expresses theological accuracy and brings people close to Jesus.

Unlike secular groups that just go for lyrics and melody, Hillsong labors over their music to express the truths of Scripture. One of their best songs is “I Believe in God the Father,” which is like the Nicene Creed.

The group started traveling the world when they were young, around the turn of the 21st Century. They had a tremendous hit in “Zion” and another in “Oceans,” and now they’re asked to sing in secular venues like the Los Angels Forum. When they’re not singing, they engage in compassion ministry in order to help the poorest of the poor in India, the Philippines and around the world. They take very little salary and live a humble life. From the movie, it appears that most are married, and most have children.

The jeopardy kicks in during the last third of the movie when the group has to sing in the Los Angeles Forum, so they’re trying to write a new song. The clock ticks down from 77 minutes to the performance, with a tremendous struggle to turn their lives again toward God so that God will move in the audience.

HILLSONG is a good worship music documentary. It could have been tweaked by emphasizing the plot problem, which creates the jeopardy, a lot more at the beginning of the movie. Even so, HILLSONG is entertaining worship music documentary that is so winsome that it’s hard not to sing along. MOVIEGUIDE® commends the filmmakers behind HILLSONG: LET HOPE RISE.