Hillsong Conference

==History==
===1986&ndash;1994: Early Years===
The first Hillsong Conference was held in 1986 in Baulkham Hills with only 150 attendees.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hillsong's true believers - National - www.smh.com.au|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Hillsongs-true-believers/2004/11/06/1099547435083.html|website=smh.com.au|date=7 November 2004 }}</ref> In the early 1990s, night rallies were held in the [[Hills Centre]] where Hillsong Church was holding meetings, with attendees growing to as large as 750<ref name="Stephen Ollis">{{cite newsgroup
  | author = Stephen Ollis
  | title = Hillsong '92
  | date = 13 April 1992
  | newsgroup = aus.religion
  |message-id= 35140@nntpd.lkg.dec.com
  | url = http://groups.google.com.au/group/aus.religion/msg/c4e73b5f1914551c
  | access-date = 11 December 2008 }}</ref> by 1992.

===1995&ndash;2000: Growth===
From 1995, night rallies were held at the [[State Sports Centre]] in [[Sydney Olympic Park]]. Two similar conferences were held in 1999 and 2000 across two weeks.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Richies |first1=Tanya |title=Worship and social engagement in urban Aboriginal-led Australian Pentecostal congregations : (re)imagining identity in the spirit |year=2019 |isbn=978-90-04-40025-2 |page=109|publisher=Brill }}</ref>

===2001&ndash;2017: Move to Sydney Olympic Park===
Hillsong Conference was first held in the [[Qudos Bank Arena]] (formerly [[Sydney SuperDome]] and named Acer Arena at the time) and various venues throughout Sydney Olympic Park from 2001.{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}}

In 2011 Hillsong Conference was not held in Sydney Olympic Park but instead in the Sydney Entertainment Centre<ref>{{cite web|url=https://vimeo.com/16074054|title=Hillsong conference 2011 - celebrating 25 years|last1=Church|first1=Hillsong|date=21 October 2010}}</ref> for logistical reasons relating to the availability of Sydney Olympic Park.

The 2015 conference was marred with controversy when American pastor [[Mark Driscoll]] was invited to speak. A Melbourne based activist Benjamin Ady and his Wife Megan initiated a number of peaceful protests at Hillsong's Sydney and Melbourne campuses and from conversations with their church leaders was confident Mark would be disinvited. Prominent journalist [[Julia Baird (journalist)|Julia Baird]] covered the story that also noted a number of Christian leaders alarmed that Mark Driscoll's invitation was still offered.<ref>{{Citation|last=Baird|first=Julia|title=Disgraced US mega-church pastor Australia bound|date=2015-06-05|url=https://www.abc.net.au/lateline/disgraced-us-mega-church-pastor-australia-bound/6526732|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|language=en-AU|access-date=2021-10-10}}</ref>

Though Mark Driscoll was not physically in attendance at the conference,  a pre-recorded video was aired instead.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Lee|first1=Morgan|last2=Zylstra|first2=Sarah Eekhoff|title=What Mark Driscoll Told Brian Houston at Hillsong Conference|url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2015/june/distraction-down-under-hillsong-mark-driscoll-conference.html|access-date=2021-10-10|website=News & Reporting|date=30 June 2015 |language=en}}</ref>

At the same 2015 conference [[Tanya Levin]] was arrested by Police Officers contracted to patrol the conference site for trespass.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Aubusson|first=Kate|date=2015-07-01|title=Outspoken Hillsong critic arrested for trespass at Sydney conference|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/outspoken-hillsong-critic-arrested-for-trespass-at-sydney-conference-20150701-gi2sp1.html|access-date=2021-10-10|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|language=en}}</ref> She was later charged however the case was dismissed in court. 

Also in 2015, UK gender church abuse activist [[Natalie Collins]] stage a peaceful protest at the London Hillsong conference in response to [[Mark Driscoll|Mark Driscoll's]] invitation to speak.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Interview: Natalie Collins, gender-justice specialist|url=https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2019/18-january/features/interviews/interview-natalie-collins-gender-justice-specialist|access-date=2021-10-10|website=www.churchtimes.co.uk}}</ref>

===2018–present===
In 2018, the Hillsong Conference completely sold out the [[Sydney Super Dome|Qudos Bank Arena]] venue.<ref>{{cite web |last1=July 13th |first1=Ben McEachen |last2=Comments |first2=Ben McEachen |title=Carl Lentz wants you to crush the world - Eternity News |url=https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/carl-lentz-wants-you-to-crush-the-world/ |website=eternitynews.com.au |date=13 July 2018 |language=en-AU}}</ref> Future growth is expected to continue to overflow into the wider [[Sydney Olympic Park]] precinct where currently the [[Kidsong]] and [[Hillsong Young & Free]] Conference is held simultaneously.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hillsong.com/conference/sydney/kidsong/|title=Hillsong Conference - Kidsong}}</ref>

The 2020 and 2021 Hillsong Conferences were postponed for the first time in its history due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic|COVID-19 global pandemic]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.eternitynews.com.au/australia/ruby-princess-the-untrue-hillsong-slur-that-twitter-cant-let-go-of/|title=Ruby Princess: the untrue Hillsong slur that Twitter can't let go of
|date=29 April 2020|website=eternitynews.com.au}}</ref>