Mark Porter discusses 'Singing beyond territory: Hillsong and church planting in Oxford, UK'

In early 2014, after several years of thought and planning, Hillsong London planted a congregation in Oxford. The city is no stranger to church plants, whether by established congregations or from larger-scale networks seeking to make their presence felt in a key national hub. Recent plants within the city include Emmauel Church, which belongs to the reformed, charismatic, network New Frontiers International and St Ebbe’s Headington, a branch of its successful conservative evangelical namesake in the city center. The presence of Hillsong, however, brings particular challenges — the church’s reputation as a global brand combined with its tendency towards large congregations makes its disruptive capacity significantly more potent than smaller-scale undertakings. Indeed, the church’s strategy in the city has taken scale into account from the very beginning, with Sunday worship services only starting up once a group of people large enough to fulfil the expectations surrounding such events had been formed within other, less visible meetings. St. Aldates, currently one of the largest congregations in Oxford has, over recent years, increasingly draw on Hillsong’s musical output in order to establish its own musical identity and values whilst also sharing a similar charismatic evangelical theology to Hillsong. At the same time, members of the church will sometimes make the trip to Hillsong London in order to benefit from experience of worship there and to supplement their regular attendance of their Oxford congregation. The elements of similarity and the existing connections between the two congregations mean that Hillsong’s arrival in Oxford raises a number of questions: What does the church’s arrival in Oxford mean for St. Aldates’ identity and role in the Oxford church landscape? How do the churches interact? How do they occupy and differentiate themselves within a common space? How do worshippers move between the different congregations? Whilst the international flow of Hillsong’s music and brand has been long established, how are existing patterns affirmed or disrupted when such movements take more concrete ecclesiastical form? This chapter examines the relationship between the two congregations and their interaction as part of the local city scene.