[4][5] Hills CLC's growth into a megachurch through the 1980s and 1990s was largely driven by young people attracted by its contemporary worship music, and by its practice of planting churches internationally.

[18] In September 2018, Hillsong left the Australian Christian Churches—of which Brian Houston had been national superintendent/president from 1997 to 2009—to become an autonomous denomination, identifying itself more as a global and charismatic church.

[35] Hillsong has been described as a "global corporate brand",[36] and "Australia's most powerful brand",[37] with its fast global growth assisted by the spectacle of its huge conferences, the popularity of its music releases, young people's attraction to the charismatic leaders,[36] Hillsong Television, its messaging and language (described by critics as "health and wealth"), customer service, targeting of children, presence on social media, and merchandising.

[42] Since 2021, the chairman of the Hillsong Global board is Steve Crouch Cite error: A tag is missing the closing (see the help page).

[26] Hillsong has a global presence, with churches and ministries in Australia, Indonesia and Japan, many European countries, Canada, US, South Africa, and, in Latin America, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Uruguay as of February 2022[update].

[4] In July 2008, concerns were raised by some teachers, parents, and experts about the Hillsong City Care Shine program for girls being run in New South Wales public schools, community groups and the juvenile justice system.

[65][19][66] Hillsong's positions on non-central doctrines of the faith are diverse, although individuals have taken a public stand on many topical issues in contemporary Christianity in keeping with mainstream Pentecostalism; for example, the church's founder opposes abortion and supports teaching creationism in schools.

[78] In September 2012, Hillsong produced The Global Project, a collection of their most popular songs released in nine different languages including Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, Mandarin, Indonesian, German, French, Swedish and Russian.

As the members grew older, United has since transitioned into a band with currently an eleven-member fixed lineup of Hillsong musicians as well as a focus on studio albums compared to the Worship and Young & Free ministries.

[89] The removal came amid controversies involving Brian Houston, who resigned from his position as senior pastor after being indicted in a misconduct investigation by the ministry.

[92][93] The American linear channel was rebranded as TBN Inspire on 1 January 2022, and the international versions followed suit in April 2022, though Hillsong remained a partner in the network.

[97] The Australian conference is hosted by Hillsong Church and lead pastors Brian and Bobbie Houston and involves a variety of guests from across the globe.

In March 2022, Discovery+ released a documentary series, Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed, revealing the allegations related to child-sex crimes, marital affairs, and the mishandling of money given from the congregants to the church.

[106] On May 19, 2023, Hulu released a four-part documentary series, The Secrets of Hillsong, across the United States and Australia, in association to Vanity Fair.

[107] The show begins with an introduction of the former pastor Carl Lentz and his process of creating a revival among the city of New York through their new location, Hillsong NYC, that opened on October 17, 2010.

[108] The church quickly evolved into a megachurch and started attracting various big-named celebrities like Justin Bieber, the Kardashian-Jenner family, Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Kyrie Irving, and Jay-Z.

[110] Among the troubles at Hillsong, former congregants reported allegations of racism, sexual abuse, homophobia, and being taken advantage of when offering their services for free to help the church.

[112][113] In 1998, Brian Houston met with the prime minister of Australia, John Howard, and most of his cabinet at Parliament House in Canberra before sharing prayers.

[136] In 2005, Hillsong was accused of spending most of the money it received through government grants for programs to assist the Riverstone Aboriginal Community Association (RACA) on their own staff salaries.

[137] The federal government acknowledged that A$80,000 from the grant money had been used to pay Hillsong Emerge CEO Leigh Coleman, who was only indirectly involved in the programs.

[138] One program, designed to give microloans to Indigenous Australians, paid A$315,000 to Hillsong staff over the course of a year, though only granted six loans averaging A$2,856 each during that time.

"[137] Pushes for a charity commission in Australia have stemmed from claims that religious organisations like Hillsong avoid taxes by paying their staff in tax-exempt fringe benefits.

[140] In early 2023, it was announced that 153 staff members accepted voluntary redundancies in 2022, a cost-cutting method that reportedly will save the church close to $10 million.

[146] The victim later testified to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that Frank Houston offered him AU$10,000 as compensation at a McDonald's in the presence of Nabi Saleh.

The church also said, "We have heard many wonderful testimonies about how the work of Mercy has helped the lives of young women facing often debilitating and life-controlling situations.

"[159] Mercy Ministries in Australia was shut down on 31 October 2009, citing "extreme financial challenges and a steady drop in [their] support base".

[180] Hillsong expanded on the East Coast under Lentz, but some members felt that it became unduly focused on fashion, and on servicing the desires of its pastors and its famous patrons.

Brian Houston subsequently posted a Twitter message questioning Crenshaw's version of events and also gave an interview with Eternity magazine portraying the church as the victim of allegations.

[196] An investigative report on ABC TV's 7.30 program on 6 April 2022 revealed that Hillsong had acquired many properties that had been hidden behind a web of entities across the world.

An investigator from the Trinity Foundation in Dallas found that Hillsong owned at least three condominiums in New York City, a US$3.5-million home in California and 31 properties in Arizona, expected to be worth a total of US$40 million by 2023.