False Profits is the inside story of the church that made Christianity cool. And it’s one person’s search for answers. Hillsong created a sound, a look and a global empire. Its message is simple ”Welcome Home - You Belong”. Noemi Uribe was part of Hillsong and discovered a different and darker reality beneath the shiny, happy surface. Alongside journalist Elle Hardy, Noemi reveals stories Hillsong never wanted the public to see about money, sex and power. This series traces the rise and fall of Hillsong’s founder, hears from sources inside the church, and asks if Hillsong is part of a wider problem within evangelical churches.
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Episode Transcript
Hillsong is a major dumpster fire. This is a story
of a mecca church and its followers, a church that
started small and became a global brand. I was introduced
by two friends that I went to high school with,
and they introduced me in the Whole Song, and that
(00:20):
first day is the date that I have tattooed on
my collar bone. Hillsong created a winning formula, a concert vibe.
It looked and felt different from the traditional church that
I grew up in. Like it's at a bar. It
appears unconventional, but at the court it's a Pentecostal church.
(00:41):
It's a lesson in how to make religion cool. It's
a lesson in power, money and abuse. I would like
Hillsong to to stop existing, but even more than that,
I would like for it to account for what it's done.
I'm no Emmy would even I was a part of
Hillsong Church, but I left. Now I'm telling my story.
(01:02):
While Song started with a few followers in Australia and
now it's in more than thirty countries. Thousands of people
say Whole Song brought them to Jesus. The message is simple,
welcome home, you belong. I felt like I was building
God's Church, and I felt like included and it felt
like a family. I felt like a part of something,
(01:24):
even just for the first time. Emotional, financial and sexual
abuse are at the heart of the story, and star
preachers who thought they were untouchable. They never saw the
worth in us, never suspected that we would say anything,
or than anyone would listen. And where some of the
loudest voices out here because we just saw so much
because they never saw us, and they just felt free
(01:47):
to just be bad actors. In this series, we get
access to information hill Song never wanted the public to see,
and access to people prepared to speak out. I remember
sometimes looking around and being like that, I get myself
into The church says it's changed, but has it truly
owned the past? And our Hillsong scandals a symptom of
(02:07):
a deeper problem in Christianity. There's something much bigger than
just this particular institution. In my opinion, it has everything
to do with modern Christendom, especially within the evangelical world.
There's something really rotten at the core within evangelicalism. Listen
to False Prophets starting February two on the I Heart
(02:29):
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