Chris Tomlin to Proceed with Fall Concert Tour with Hillsong United

Chris Tomlin recently announced he will continue with his planned tour with the scandal-ridden Hillsong United this fall.

It is in conjunction with the release of Tomlin’s latest album, “Always.”

In April, Hillsong Worship announced it would pull out of a tour it had planned with Casting Crowns. 

Hillsong said the April decision “is the one that puts the health and well-being of the people of our team first.”

According to Tomlin, Hillsong offered to let Tomlin back out of the tour in light of emerging scandals. Nevertheless, Tomlin stands behind both the tour and Hillsong United.

“’No, if we’re going to do this, I think it’s going to be amazing. And I think it’s gonna really help people, and I’m with you guys,’” Tomlin recounted telling the Australian-based worship group. 

“It wasn’t like I was touring with somebody I really don’t know; I’ve known [Jonathon ‘JD’ Douglass] forever. I’ve known Joel for so long, and I know their hearts,” Tomlin explained. “I know their hearts are broken just like everybody else’s. The only difference is they have to live it and get lumped in with all this media stuff, and they have to take the hits on that.”

Tomlin continued, “Everybody goes through hard times, and life is hard, and life throws curves in many different ways…To stand there and say, ‘You know what, in the midst of that I worship you, God.’ I mean, that is the Bible. That’s the Scripture; that’s what we read.”

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Others have raised questions about using music by the scandal-plagued Hillsong during worship services, which results in their continual receipt of royalty income.

In March, founder Brian Houston resigned in disgrace after allegations of drug and alcohol abuse and sexual impropriety. This was after a number of Hillsong pastors resigned from their positions at campuses stateside, including the pastors of Hillsong Dallas, New Jersey, and New York. 

In May, a former fundraising and governance coordinator for Hillsong filed a lawsuit alleging it has misappropriated funds and evaded taxes.

In the midst of these developments, Hillsong released a new album “Are We There Yet?”

A Christianity Today article in May pointed out that four of the top ten worship songs sung in churches are from Hillsong. It considered the question of whether churches can justify using the music by separating the art from the artist.

It also points out that Hillsong receives two types of royalty income each time its songs are used. A mechanical royalty for the song and lyrics goes to the songwriter and a performance royalty when the song is played, whether in a church service or on Spotify. 

“For worship leaders worried about guilt by association, the financial connection between Hillsong and its music may be irreconcilable,” the article noted.

On his blog post in August of last year, former president of the Evangelical Theological Society Sam Storms defended using Hillsong music. 

“I dare say that you will find it difficult to survive in our world if you refuse to participate in or make use of something, be it a song, a book, or a product, simply because you fear that by doing so you are promoting and indirectly subsidizing what you regard as unbiblical.”