Darlene Zschech
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Darlene Zschech (pronounced: [daliːn tʃεk]) (born September 8, 1965 in Sydney, Australia) is an Australian Charismatic/Pentecostal worship leader and singer-songwriter who primarily writes praise songs.
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[edit] Her role at Hillsong
Zschech is the worship pastor of Hillsong Church, in Sydney, Australia (an Assemblies of God church), taking over from Geoff Bullock. Darlene leads worship most weeks for the Hillsong Television programme (the official website says that the programme reaches 125 countries around the globe). Hillsong made global headlines when their 2004 live CD release, For All You've Done reached number one in the Australian national music charts.
[edit] Biography
Zschech was a child star of an Australian television series titled Happy Go 'Round. She was traumatised at 13 when her parents divorced and a custody battle ensued. At 14, Zschech suffered from bulimia.
A year later, as a young adult, she sang jingles for a number of international companies including McDonald's, KFC and Diet Coke.
Currently, she and husband Mark Zschech have three daughters, Amy, Chloe, and Zoe Jewel.
[edit] Shout to the Lord
Zschech's best known song is Shout to the Lord, sung by an estimated 25–30 million churchgoers every week [1]. Darlene composed the praise anthem (based on Psalm 96)[2] at the time that she was feeling discouraged. "I felt I could either scream and pull my hair out — or praise God" she said. This song is the title track for the first live album co-produced with Integrity Music featuring Darlene as a prominent female worship leader. Shout to the Lord was nominated as 'Album of the year' for the 1997 Dove Awards and 'Song of the Year' for the 1998 Dove Awards. It has been recorded on over 20 different albums. In 2000, Darlene received a Dove Award nomination for 'Songwriter of the year' and has received the 'International Award' from GMA (Gospel Music Assoc USA)
[edit] Discography and publications
In 2003, Zschech released her debut solo album entitled Kiss of Heaven. This was followed by her 2005 album, Change Your World.
In addition to writing songs, Zschech has written two books: Extravagant Worship (2001) and The Kiss of Heaven (2003).
[edit] Other interests
Darlene Zschech and her husband Mark are executive directors of Mercy Ministries[3], which runs a residential program to helping young women struggling with eating disorders,unplanned pregnancy and other life controlling disorders.
Zschech has been involved in Hope Rwanda [4] and is an advocate for Compassion Australia. [5]
Her husband Mark is CEO of The Grove Studios, a Sydney recording studio. [6]
[edit] See also
INO Records. http://www.inorecords.com
- Extravagant Worship: The Songs of Darlene Zschech
- Reuben Morgan
- List of Hillsong albums
- List of Hillsong songs
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ http://www.darlenezschech.com/pages/default.asp?pid=21
- ^ http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ps%2096;&version=47
- ^ http://www.mercyministries.com.au
- ^ http://www.hoperwanda.org
- ^ http://www.compassion.com.au
- ^ The Grove Studios. Retrieved on 2006-05-21.
- p.1067, Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music, Mark Allan Powell, Hendrickson Publishers, 2002
- [1], her biography on the official website
