Hillsong hits schools with beauty gospel

Paul Bibby
July 26, 2008

EVERY Tuesday afternoon during the first term at Matraville Sports High School, a group of young women take part in classes intended to boost their self-esteem. Some have personal problems, others have behavioural issues, while a few simply go because their friends do.

For the next two hours they learn a range of skills including how to put on make-up, do their hair and nails, and walk with books balanced on their heads.

The program, called Shine, was created by the Hillsong Church. It is being run in at least 20 NSW public schools, numerous small community organisations and within the juvenile justice system.

Hillsong describes Shine as a "practical, life-equipping, values-based course" and its website is awash with glowing testimonials from young women whose lives have been improved by learning about "being a good friend" and "learning about myself".

But serious concerns have been raised by teachers, adolescent developmental experts and parents groups. They say the program is inappropriate for troubled young women, that the under-qualified facilitators are reinforcing gender stereotypes. and that some parents have not been properly informed.

Shine was originally developed by the CityCare arm of Hillsong as an explicitly religious program. The church says it is now "community-based, not religious-based" but, as recently as 2005, promotional material referred to young women's "created uniqueness".

"Through skin care, natural make-up, hair care, nail care girls discover their value and created uniqueness," the material says.

The term has been omitted from more recent material but the beauty classes remain, as do etiquette and deportment lessons.

The program has set alarm bells ringing for psychologists such as Dianna Kenny, an adolescent development expert at the University of Sydney. "They are essentially saying you are not appropriate as you are and we're going to show you how to be appropriate," Professor Kenny said.

"We don't have control of our physical characteristics. To emphasise that takes away from the autonomy of people as individual human beings. That runs completely contrary to what we know about adolescent development.

"We do want our young people to feel good about themselves, but what [they] need is help from professional counsellors."

Most of the facilitators who deliver Shine in Sydney classrooms have no university counselling qualifications, although Hillsong says they must have some qualifications or experience.

In some schools, Matraville Sports High included, the program is run by careers or physical education teachers. At other schools, including Alexandria Park, Glenwood and Cheltenham Girls, it is run by young recruits from Hillsong's leadership college.

Schools pay Hillsong to run the program, with parents asked to pay for books and materials such as hair spray and make-up.

"Over the last two or three years teachers have been coming to us with concerns about Shine," said the president of the Hills Teachers Association, Sui-Linn White. "It is the gender stereotypes that they are imposing. The focus on skin care, nail care, hair care - it objectifies women … These are things women fought against for centuries - they've got no place in a public school."

One teacher from a Hills district school, who asked not to be named, said Shine facilitators had run activities that undermined other teachers. "They were asking the kids to talk about which of the teachers they didn't like."

He said parents may not have been properly informed. "I don't know whether the parents, knowing what we know now, would have put their kids in. I don't know whether the school would have hired them in the first place."

Parents groups from Queensland and the Northern Territory have complained that their schools have tried to sneak Shine in almost unnoticed.

"In our view, this is a way of getting religion into schools through subterranean means," said one parent, Hugh Wilson. "The principal or the chaplain decides it's a good idea and, next thing you know, your kids are being taught about make-up by the Hillsong Church."

The church says parents have been overwhelmingly supportive of the program.

For the record, I don't believe Hillsong's teaching is in line with the Bible.

The Beauty of Your Peace

thought i'd give this post some "atmosphere", some character if you will so that's why i've opted for the youtube video above. don't mind the actual clip, i admit the images are a little tacky but i'm sure behind them were good intentions. just focus on the soothing nature of the song.

so...i've come to a point.

i've been pushing and pushing for a while now without a break or respite, and i've felt the gentle urging for some rest. i'm going to plug back into that peace which has served me so well thus far.

so that's why i've opted to spend today at home reading. it's really quite peaceful. i've really taken to this reading thing again after a many year hiatus. i think i've covered about 13 or 14 books in the last few months!

even though i'm going to sydney in 2 weeks for work i might stay up there into the weekend just to spend some time to reflect and hang out by myself, away from the hustle and bustle and unforgiving schedule that is my life - recharge, and ready to finish off the 2nd half of the year in style! muchos excellente amigos! vamos!

2H 2008

finally half the year is officially over. and don't i know it best, being an auditor and all - busy season will now be upon me!

i was thinking as i was heading in to work today what this meant for me. i reflected upon the first 6 months of 2008 and thought, "what will i remember of the first half of 2008, ten, twenty, thirty years from now?"

for me i think 1H 2008 was a period of exponential growth, continuing off the back of a rollercoaster 2007. i looked back on my new year's resolutions and i've managed to keep them all thus far. i've also added more convictions and new goals along the way which i've handled as well so it's going well. the challenge for me now is to keep this growth steady for the 2H because i know blistering growth isn't sustainable over the long term, but i'll be happy to have stamina rather than power through now then stagnate for a few years following this.

so i've just gotta keep focussed and repeat my mantra, "push, push, push." i also need to learn when too much is too much. i'm not sure if i ever disclosed my poor sleeping patterns over the last 6mths but it's gotten worse over the last couple of weeks. i have not had one night where i didn't wake up at least once in the middle of the night since mid-june.

take last night for example, i woke up at 4:15am, 5am and 6:20am before my alarm went off at 7:15am. i'm actually used to it now, i don't feel particularly tired but i know that if i had good sleep i'd "smash" everything (a popular phrase at work).

so while discipline, grit and determination has recently propelled me to where i am in my life now it has its drawbacks. but the calming thing is i'm not scared at all because i know this will pass as surely as the earth eventually will. i just have to keep my head down and when that day comes it'll bring my work to light, revealed with fire which will test the quality of that work. and if it survives i will be rewarded accordingly. and that's worth living for.