‘Hi, I’m Marc Fennell, and I think I’m going to hell. I am today what I’d like to refer to as a dirty heathen, a non-believer. But the thing is, that wasn’t always the case.’
SBS documentary series The Kingdom opens with these words, spoken close-up, directly to camera. We then see an old photo of five-year-old Fennell at his brother’s dedication, with his mother, and his baby brother in the arms of (I presume) his grandmother. Behind them stands Frank Houston. Frank Houston: disgraced pedophile, founder of what would become Hillsong and father of Brian Houston, long-time, recently-resigned leader of the global Hillsong megachurch.
Fennell, we discover, was brought up in Australian Pentecostal churches, during the early days of Hillsong—then called Hills Christian Life Centre. This documentary isn’t just another third-party exposé of the successful megachurch. It’s personal.
At this, I immediately thought, ‘Oh no. Here comes another brutal Hillsong bashing.’ It was certainly advertised as such. In fact, The Kingdom is just one of several investigative programs and podcasts focused on Hillsong.[1]
Criticising Without Demonising
In spite of the opening monologue by Fennell, I was surprised by how the majority of this documentary wasn’t an angry tirade against Hillsong or an atheistic rant against Christianity. Sure, it incorporates footage and a narrative that would make any Hillsong and Pentecostal-sympathiser squirm. It is also driven by interviews with former members, who feel betrayed, burnt, and discarded by the church they had loved so dearly. But I found the interview subjects to be sincere and believable. And in the course of the documentary, both allies and critics of Hillsong and Pentecostalism were given a chance to speak. Not one of the critics was on an angry rant. Not one of the allies was painted as evil or manipulative. Granted, the Houstons were not presented in a good light, but that was via archival and publicly available footage.[2] And, importantly, I found Fennell to be warm and very likeable host, helping set the tone for the documentary.
This is The Kingdom’s greatest strength. It charts the rise of Hillsong and Australian Pentecostalism—from simple beginnings (along with Brian Houston sporting a comical moustache and mullet!); to the dizzying heights of Australian prime ministers gracing its conference stage; all the way to its spectacular fall with sex and financial scandals of recent years—without the need to demonise. Fennell does an exceptional job as a presenter. He appears to be warm and respectful towards both critics and advocates, and allows them to speak for themselves.
The decision to incorporate veteran journalist and Eternity News founder John Sandeman was also key to the tone and overall quality of the series. Sandeman is a Sydney Anglican, who has often reported on Hillsong, both positively and negatively. His posture comes across as that of a grieved distant cousin, not as an opportunistic critic.
As an evangelical pastor in Sydney, who is critical of some of the theology and practice of Hillsong,[3] but still considers them to be brothers and sisters in the Lord, I found this documentary to be reasonable, surprisingly sober, and challenging.
Stories of Burnout and Alienation
Where The Kingdom really struck a chord with me, as a pastor, were two particular interviews. One was with a former youth leader who was hospitalised for attempted suicide. According to the documentary, he was one of many former volunteers and employees who were pushed (his mother would say spiritually abused) to the brink and had to walk away. The other interview was with a former member (a ‘Kingdom-builder’[4]) who only left the church in 2021, and had to rebuild her faith from the ashes of disillusionment. Their stories broke my heart. They reminded me of dangers not just in Pentecostalism, but in any church or movement where numerical growth and efficiency become ends in themselves. In practice, churches can sadly become so unlike the Servant of the Lord:
Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will bring justice to the nations.
He will not shout or cry out,
or raise his voice in the streets.
A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;
he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice on earth.
In his teaching the islands will put their hope. (Isaiah 42:1–4, see Matthew 12:15–21)
Marc Fennell’s own experience was also sobering. Towards the end of the documentary he attends his first Pentecostal service in fifteen years. All around him people are worshipping, singing, and rejoicing. At the conclusion of the service, they stand in response. The camera zooms in on Fennell’s face as he remains seated. In a voiceover he explains that in this moment felt nothing, absolutely nothing. And this leads to his conclusion: ‘Either they are all liars, or God really does speak to people, but has chosen out of everybody here not to speak to me. And that second possibility is far more terrifying than the first.’ I couldn’t help but wonder if this isn’t just a danger for Pentecostal Christianity that highly values the joyful and experiential. Perhaps churches of any tradition need to take note of the spiritual impact that feeling like an outsider can have on people in our churches. When people step into our churches and feel like they don’t belong, they may come to the conclusion that it is God who has excluded or rejected them.
Lacking a Clear Presentation of the Gospel
One unsatisfying element of The Kingdom was that it didn’t give anyone the opportunity to express the Christian gospel. An unbelieving viewer may leave with the impression that Pentecostalism has succeeded simply because it knows how to tap into (exploit?) what Fennell calls the ‘intoxicating’ desire to belong. I wish the program had allowed its Christian guests to commend the good news of Jesus, that Christ “suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God” (1 Pet. 3:18). I suspect that they did, but perhaps this was left on the cutting room floor because it didn’t fit the main narrative. After all that is the nature of secular documentaries. Still, I had hoped the good news would have surfaced in some small way.[5]
In spite of this, The Kingdom is a documentary well worth watching. Whether your interest in Hillsong is deeply personal or you are simply a concerned Australian Christian, this program exposes problems that go beyond Pentecostalism. When the kingdom of God is equated with the kingdoms that we are trying to build with our Western consumeristic brand of Christianity, this is what can happen. We need to remember that the Lord Jesus said: “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place” (Jn 18:36). He warned his disciples:
You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:42–45)
As the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians:
Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:26–31)
Fennell ends with a challenge to all of our churches, ‘you need to do better’. Yes we do. We must do better by repenting of any church, any ministry, or any experience that isn’t about the upside-down, inside-out kingdom of our Lord and Christ.
[1] See Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed (Foxtel); The Secrets of Hillsong (FX Hulu); and the podcast Faith on Trial. At the time of writing this review I have not watched or listened to any of these.
[2] The documentary ends with a disclaimer that they had approached Hillsong in the production of this documentary but (perhaps understandably) Hillsong refused to participate.
[3] There are differences between Classical Pentecostalism and the Pentecostalism of the modern megachurch movement that are beyond the scope of this review. It is worth noting that not all Pentecostals espouse ‘word of faith’ (‘name it and claim it’) and prosperity (‘give to God and he will give back to you’) theologies. I would argue that both are unbiblical and harmful deviations of Classical Pentecostalism.
[4] A Kingdom-builder was someone who gave at least $5000 above the tithe to the building projects of Hillsong.
[5] The closest it came to this was the story of that second interview subject, the former ‘Kingdom-builder’, who, despite her traumatic past with Hillsong, has now found a new community in a small church, and clearly still loves the Lord Jesus.
