Zschech will soon be leaving the Australian megachurch where she has served for
25 years to become senior pastor of a nearby Pentecostal church.
Zschech, whose songs “Shout to the
Lord,” “The Potter’s Hand” and numerous others over the last
decade made the name of Hillsong Church in Sydney synonymous with modern
worship music worldwide, will lead Church Unlimited on Australia’s Central
Coast with her husband, Mark (pictured with her, left), starting late January.
“We are entering into what we
believe will be a wonderful and fruitful season ahead,” Mark Zschech said in a
statement last week. “The two words that are on our hearts are to ‘lead’ and to
‘build.’ We’re going to build a church for everybody.”
Longtime Hillsong pastor Brian Houston
expressed good wishes for the Zschechs.
“Mark and Darlene have really sown
into our church for a long, long time,” Houston said in a message to his
congregation, which is part of the Australian Christian Churches denomination,
formerly Assemblies of God. “Whilst they will be greatly missed, we feel as
though this is a good and a timely step for them.
Zschech was the worship pastor of
Hillsong Church for 11 years, stepping down in 2007. She continued to lead worship
regularly at Hillsong and was a prominent figure with the Hillsong worship team
on its international ministry tours.
Houston said in a note posted on the Hillsong website
that Darlene has been welcomed “to continue to be part of the team in key
Hillsong praise and worship projects and, with Mark, in Hillsong Conferences,
and we pray great things for their future.”
Cheri Fuller and Cindy Lamb Curry 
Marilyn Hickey 
Charisma Staff 
