Australian Darlene Zschech is acclaimed all over the world as a singer, songwriter, worship leader and speaker, most notably for spearheading the music that comes from Hillsong Church. Although she has achieved numerous gold albums and her songs are sung in many nations of the world, her success is not the result of pursuing stardom and fameit stands as a testimony to her life’s passion to serve God and people with all her heart.
As a songwriter, Darlene is perhaps most famous for the chorus “Shout to the Lord,” a song that is sung by an estimated 25 to 30 million churchgoers every week. “Shout to the Lord” was nominated as Album of the Year for the 1997 Dove Awards and Song of the Year for the 1998 Dove Awards. In 2000 Darlene received a Dove Award nomination for Songwriter of the Year.
Darlene has written over seventy songs that have been published by Hillsong Music Australia alone. She has also written three books on her passion, which includeExtravagant Worship and her latest release, The Kiss of Heaven.
Darlene has a great heart for helping hurting people. Currently, she is an ambassador for the work of Compassion International, and is committed to relieving human suffering in any possible way. A new project, featuring the theme of worship and justice is in production now.
A missions trip to Central Africa in 2004 prompted Mark and Darlene to initiate Hope: Rwanda, a global endeavor designed to bring hope to a nation seemingly forgotten since the horrific genocide of 1994. The 100 Days of Hope (April 6 July 15, 2006) project was strategically coordinated to cover the same 100 days that saw approximately 1 million people viciously slaughtered. www.hoperwanda.org
Darlene and Mark reside in Sydney with their three daughters, Amy, Chloe and Zoe. Darlene’s greatest joy is her role as wife and mother.
- On leadership… The process of developing a team was a deeply spiritual one and she had no clue what she was doing.
- God spoke to her in Psalm 45… “And God your God will anoint you with joy and set you above your companions…”
- She struggled from being pulled from among her peers and to lead them.
- She knew she needed to be anointed to lead.
- The intentionally pursue joy.
- Without joy, it becomes works. We don’t get saved to work… we’re saved by grace, through faith.
- The worship team is not its own “church”… it comes underneath a greater vision… the vision of the senior leadership.
- There’s not a culture of whining and complaining… it’s a culture of serving the Lord with gladness (Psalm 100).
- Wherever Jesus is being preached in Australia, the church will grow.
- On Developing People… God gives way for the ordinary with passion and the call on their lives to see their gifts released.
- Gifts are honed over time… you’ve got to give people time to develop.
- Darlene was known as the “velvet sledgehammer”… when there’s an environment of commitment that values people more for who they are than what they do, you earn the permission to speak the truth to them.
- Help people go on the journey to find where there gift lies.
- We’re not asking people to join a club or do a gig, it’s a holy calling.
- On Songwriting … If you aren’t open to receiving critique or correction, don’t give something to people to check out.
- “We’ve never been under any allusion of not being under the hand of God in what we do… we know it’s nothing we’ve done to earn the platform or the influence we’ve been given.”
- They “workshop” songs… there’s never one song that’s been written by one person. They critique, work through the songs, check theology, etc.
- “In the early days we sang things that weren’t even in the Bible… we didn’t know!”
- On Compassion International… true worship is that we go and be Jesus hands and feet whenever and wherever we can.
- If you’re leading up front you also need to be leading in the areas of the unseen.
- On Her Transition… She is no longer the worship pastor at Hillsong Church for nearly 14 years and gave leadership to Joel Houston to pursue global efforts.
- She said she felt an urgency to “replace herself” and sensed change was coming.
- She knew it was time to invest in the next generation.
- It was intentional.
- Worked hard at getting a good theology of worship and teaching them to be disciples… not puppets or to follow a method.
- They stayed at Hillsong intentionally during the time of transition and are still there.
- She promised not to get in the way and committed to not “standing the way.”
- Her new book “The Great Generational Transition” is coming out soon!
Joel Houston is the Creative Director of Hillsong Church and a world renowned songwriter and worship leader. As well as overseeing the creative team, Joel also travels the globe with Hillsong United bringing a message of worship and justice to an emerging generation. Through this, he has birthed ‘I heart’; a movement that inspires this generation to rise up and change the world around them.
- On the transition… Darlene used to babysit him!
- Growing up as the pastor’s son made for an interesting dynamic.
- In his personal journey, he learned to love God and love the house of God, the Church .
- Just as parents love their children and point them in the right direction, he felt Darlene set him up well and set the stage for him.
- He used to play the bass and primarily write songs, but didn’t see himself as a worship leader.
- Went on staff at Hillsong 2 years ago, not sure of what God was up to.
- When he was asked to assume the role he knew God was in the midst of it.
- Hillsong United only travel 5 times per year but the rest of the time they are committed to their church… Hillsong has 4 campuses and over 30 services per week.
- Biggest challenge assuming the role was the huge shoes he had to fill in the wake of Darlene’s leadership.
- Find the place within yourself where even if you don’t feel like you have enough to trust that God is with you and will give you grace to work through you.
- You need to learn to be not be moved by what you see.
- Worship is about giving.
- If you are really doing this “as unto the Lord” we must be a gracious people and give grace to one another to work through our personal challenges.
- It’s your faith not your gold that God puts on display.
- There’s a definitive “Hillsong sound”… how did that happen? The style has changed over the years but just as what the mouth speaks is in the heart… the sound of Hillsong is reflective of the heart of their church and the vision God has given them.
- The church is not built on the gifts of a few but on the sacrifice of many.
- How do you keep yourself and your heart in check? Matt L (Willow): Amount of time spent in God’s Word makes the difference. Joel: Surfing. He lives in the heart of the city near the beach and is connected to the culture where he’s at… away from the church and the suburban setting. He sees the world and the people in it and it keeps him balanced with why they do what they do. In a very worldly setting, but with the right safeguards in place… remembers the ministry is with the people and not on a platform. Darlene: We need to be Spirit people, Spirit-led, Spirit-filled. It’s a balance that we’re in the Word and in prayer… but for her soul to be fed she needs to do other things… be with her family, on the mission field, etc. The spiritual thing is a non-negotiable… you cannot be in ministry and not be a prayerful person or a person of the word. We need to be soulful and identify what also fills our souls… not just in our artistic expression but also the expression over the course of our lives.
- Joel: Prov 16:9 … walk where you are and with what God has placed in your hand. God has called every single one of us and we all have a part that only we can play. God has given us everything we need to do everything He has called us to do for right now. It might not seem like much, but step with confidence and in God’s grace. Honor Him where you you are at. Over the course of your life as you continue to be obedient and die to self, you will look back and see God has taken you further than you could ever imagine.
- Darlene: Take stock. How are you leading others and speaking life into other’s dreams? Are you encouraging? Mentoring? Giving life to others? As threatening as it can be, the reward on the other side of obedience is greater joy. Seeing someone released into the call of God on their lives is the greatest reward. Humanity is depending on it. Historically, in the church, we haven’t done it very well. We are sitting on the cusp of the greatest time in history… as fear is ruling the church in America, it’s our time as the church in America to shine.
