Christian Life Centre
Encyclopedia
Christian Life Centre is generally a name given to churches that are affiliated with the Assemblies of God in Australia
Assemblies of God in Australia
Australian Christian Churches , also known as Assemblies of God in Australia , is a Pentecostal Christian denomination and the Australian branch of the Assemblies of God, the largest Pentecostal denomination in the world...

, a Pentecostal
Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism is a diverse and complex movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, has an eschatological focus, and is an experiential religion. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek...

 denomination
Christian denomination
A Christian denomination is an identifiable religious body under a common name, structure, and doctrine within Christianity. In the Orthodox tradition, Churches are divided often along ethnic and linguistic lines, into separate churches and traditions. Technically, divisions between one group and...

 in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. The CLC stream of churches started when Frank Houston
Frank Houston
Frank Houston , was a Pentecostal Christian pastor in the Assemblies of God in New Zealand and Australia....

 moved to Australia in 1977 and planted Sydney Christian Life Centre. From this church several others were planted, as Sydney CLC was the model church.

Sydney Christian Life Centre

Sydney Christian Life Centre was a Pentecostal
Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism is a diverse and complex movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, has an eschatological focus, and is an experiential religion. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek...

 Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 church, affiliated with the Assemblies of God
Assemblies of God in Australia
Australian Christian Churches , also known as Assemblies of God in Australia , is a Pentecostal Christian denomination and the Australian branch of the Assemblies of God, the largest Pentecostal denomination in the world...

, that ran from 1977 to 1999 and is now the "City Campus" of Hillsong Church
Hillsong Church
Hillsong Church is a Pentecostal megachurch affiliated with Australian Christian Churches and located in Sydney, Australia. The church's senior pastors, Brian and Bobbie Houston, began the church in 1983 as the Hills Christian Life Centre in Baulkham Hills...

.

History

Sydney Christian Life Centre was poineered in July 1977 by Pastor Frank Houston
Frank Houston
Frank Houston , was a Pentecostal Christian pastor in the Assemblies of God in New Zealand and Australia....

 after he moved to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 from New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. Initially a home group, the church started with 8 adults and 3 children in the home of Chris and Beverley Aiton. From there it grew large enough to rent "Sherbooke Hall" in Double Bay on Sundays. From there it moved to renting a function hall in the Koala Motor Inn in Darlinghurst, and from there to leased premises next door - the ground floor and part of the second floor of the building at the corner of Goulburn and Riley streets. Eventually, it moved to premises in Waterloo
Waterloo, New South Wales
Waterloo is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Waterloo is located 4 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney.-History:...

.

The church grew steadily and saw many other churches planted using the "Christian Life Centre" name. In its first decade it was independent and not associated with any denomination. Houston's son Brian
Brian Houston (pastor)
Brian Houston is a pastor in the Australian Christian Churches. He is currently the Senior Pastor at Hillsong Church which has locations in Sydney and Brisbane, Australia, London, Cape Town, Kiev, Germany, Paris, Moscow, Stockholm and New York City. He was also the National President of Australian...

 joined the team in 1978 and in 1980 left to plant a few churches (including Hills Christian Life Centre in 1983). By 1981 the church had grown to 1,000 people.

Frank Houston announced on 14 February 1999 that the church would come under the leadership of his son Brian Houston
Brian Houston (pastor)
Brian Houston is a pastor in the Australian Christian Churches. He is currently the Senior Pastor at Hillsong Church which has locations in Sydney and Brisbane, Australia, London, Cape Town, Kiev, Germany, Paris, Moscow, Stockholm and New York City. He was also the National President of Australian...

 after he confessed to sexually abusing a teenage boy 30 years earlier. Sydney Christian Life Centre then merged with Hills Christian Life Centre to form Hillsong Church
Hillsong Church
Hillsong Church is a Pentecostal megachurch affiliated with Australian Christian Churches and located in Sydney, Australia. The church's senior pastors, Brian and Bobbie Houston, began the church in 1983 as the Hills Christian Life Centre in Baulkham Hills...

. Sydney Christian Life Centre is now known as the "City Campus" of Hillsong Church.

Christian Life Centres

Christian Life Centre can mean the following churches;
  • Sydney Christian Life Centre
  • Hills Christian Life Centre (now Hillsong Church
    Hillsong Church
    Hillsong Church is a Pentecostal megachurch affiliated with Australian Christian Churches and located in Sydney, Australia. The church's senior pastors, Brian and Bobbie Houston, began the church in 1983 as the Hills Christian Life Centre in Baulkham Hills...

    )

Cambelltown City Church come Macarthur Christian Life Centre - Come Hillsong Macarthur
    • London Christian Life Centre (now Hillsong Church London)
    • Kiev Christian Life Centre (now Hillsong Church Kiev
      Hillsong Church Kiev
      Hillsong Church Kiev is the Kiev-based offshoot of Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia.-History:In September 1992, an outreach began in the October Palace in Kiev with team members from Hills Christian Life Centre...

      )
  • Canberra Christian Life Centre (Only associated through Australian Christian Churches organisation no direct relationship)
  • Liverpool Christian Life Centre
    Liverpool Christian Life Centre
    Inspire Church is a Pentecostal Christian church affiliated with Australian Christian Churches, the Assemblies of God in Australia. It is located in Hoxton Park, a South-Western suburb of Sydney, Australia and holds three services, 9:00am, 10:45am and a 6:00pm service...

     (now Inspire Church)
  • Oberon Christian Life Centre
  • Penrith Christian Life Centre
  • Perth Christian Life Centre
  • Port Macquarie Christian Life Centre (now [honour], only associated through Australian Christian Churches organisation no direct relationship)
  • Summerland Christian Life Centre, Lismore (now "Centrechurch")
  • Harbourside Christian Life Centre (Five Dock, NSW)
  • Hillsong Kiev
  • Hillsong Paris
  • Hillsong Cape Town
  • Hillsong New York

Other churches

Christian Life Centre in other denominations;
  • Christian Life Centre Oamaru (CLCO) - a Church in Oamaru
    Oamaru
    Oamaru , the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is 80 kilometres south of Timaru and 120 kilometres north of Dunedin, on the Pacific coast, and State Highway 1 and the railway Main South Line connects it to both...

    , New Zealand
    New Zealand
    New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

  • Auckland Christian Life Centre - an independent church in New Zealand
    New Zealand
    New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

  • Christian Life Centre (church) - an Elim Pentecostal Church
    Elim Pentecostal Church
    The Elim Pentecostal Church is a UK-based Pentecostal Christian denomination.-History:George Jeffreys , a Welshman, founded the Elim Pentecostal Church in Monaghan, Ireland in 1915. Jeffreys was an evangelist with a Welsh Congregational church background. He was converted at age 15 during the...

     in the United Kingdom
    United Kingdom
    The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

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