A new light
shines at one of the largest megachurches in Texas
In her early morning Sunday sermon at New Light Church, Dr. I commands a sweeping stage carpeted in gold and flanked by video screens. Her voice rises full and impassioned over the audience of nearly 5,000 worshippers. Her high heels flash as she strides from one side of the altar to the other. One hand flutters in the air as she burrows into a Bible verse and dissects the meaning, the other clasps a bright red wireless microphone.
“Can you give the Lord a shout of praise in this place?” she says, in a tone both righteous and relaxed, as if your best friend had launched into a sermon over a cup of coffee. “As you take your seats in the presence of our God, can you give the person standing next to you a hug, a high-five, a how-you-doing, how-you-feelin,’ a wassup, a dap, a something? At least make sure they experience the love of the Lord through you today.”
Irishea Hilliard exhorts and extols, inspires and invokes, petitions and prays with the cadence of an experienced preacher, with the confidence of someone who has been in training her entire life.
The 40-year-old Hilliard — known to many in the nondenominational congregation of 23,000 as the “heir apparent” — recently was installed to succeed her father, Bishop I.V. Hilliard, as senior pastor of New Light Christian Center Church, one of the largest megachurches in Texas.
It is, Hilliard says, “beyond a shadow of a doubt what I’m supposed to do.”
But it is also a position that comes with challenges. Hilliard will be one of a handful of female megachurch pastors, and part of a small group of African-American leaders.
She is taking over at a time of flux for megachurches — and a moment of restructuring for New Light, a prosperity gospel church that began in 1984 in a rickety clapboard building nicknamed “Termite City” and now encompasses three campuses in Houston and Beaumont, a youth campground and television ministry.
“There are many times God will call you to something that in your own strength you couldn’t handle,” she preaches on a recent Sunday. “In my own strength, in my own person — Irishea, Reeree, Reesh, the other name — I couldn’t handle this position, but because of the grace of God, the empowerment of God, the strength of God that says ‘when I’m weak, he is strong,’ you are watching the grace of God in manifestation before you.” BBB
As a teenager, Hilliard never imagined herself leading New Light.
The church, which her parents founded when she was 7, had been part of the fabric of her childhood. She had watched her father build the ministry from a congregation of 23 to an enterprise that, at one point, spread to six locations, including an Austin campus, rehab centers for men and women, and a Bible institute. She watched her mother call on church members who were sick or hospitalized and preside over baby dedication ceremonies.
But unlike her father, who felt called to preach when he was 9 and delivered his first sermon at 10, Hilliard’s journey to ministry was a slow progression.
“I will say I ran from it for a long time,” she admitted.
She wanted to “do her own thing.” Go to college. Become an accountant. Get a job in a big firm.
She told her parents she would attend church, help out occasionally.
“I definitely wasn’t going to be on staff,” Hilliard laughed, as she sat behind her desk in the office that once belonged to her father.
So she went to the University of Oklahoma and Sam Houston State. In college, she became pregnant with her first son and got married. She started shuttling between Huntsville and Houston, working part time at the church.
One day, she had an epiphany: School should not be her priority. She belonged at New Light. Even then, she told herself, it was just because her parents needed her. She began as youth minister, helping run a “spiritual encounter” conference that drew about 5,000 teens every year. And she struggled with personal setbacks. After having a second son, her marriage of nearly 12 years fell apart. She divorced. She faltered.
“It’s through those journeys that you become the person that you are,” Hilliard said. “It’s one of the things that qualified me to really talk and share with people because I understand how it is when life hits you, how you pick up the pieces after life falls apart.”
One of those seasons of struggle came in 2013 when she watched her father criticized for asking church members to contribute a “favor seed” of $52 to help pay for a $50,000 upgrade for the church’s helicopter, a request that was seen by some as asking congregants to fund an extravagant lifestyle. At the time, church officials said the request was not out of line with pleas for financial support that pastors often make to their flocks, and that the helicopter was needed to transport New Light leaders to the church’s various locations.
“Scripture teaches when you give to a Kingdom in need, God will raise up someone to use their power, their ability and their influence to help you,” the bishop said in a newsletter asking for the “favor seed.”
The call for “seed giving” is very much in keeping with the prosperity gospel philosophy, which teaches that faith and generous tithing will be rewarded with material wealth. Prosperity gospel ministers, who include Lakewood Church pastor Joel Osteen and Pentecostal televangelist Paula White, preach that God wants the faithful to be wealthy and in good health.
“I believe that God wants us to live the overcoming abundant life and to live a prosperous life,” Hilliard said. “Most people think prosperity is a dollar amount, but it’s living life to the fullest.”
About 10 years ago, Hilliard’s life shifted again.
Her father, who had been praying for guidance about a successor, called her in. God had told him that she should take over as pastor, the bishop told her.
“She has what it takes,” the elder Hilliard said of his daughter. “She’s a great communicator, an excellent administrator and a spiritual person. It’s the three aspects you have to have.”
Hilliard always had trusted her father’s wisdom, always believed that he could hear from God. But this was huge, “so much bigger than I was at the moment,” she recalled.
She prayed — and accepted the new destination.
“Was I capable? Did I have all the wisdom? Did I feel like I was ready? Absolutely not,” she said. “But I had a peace, that this was the assignment and purpose for my life.”
That began a period of training under her father’s tutelage. She took over as pastor of New Light’s west location in Cypress and filled in to preach when the bishop was out of town. For the last several years, she has also served as New Light’s chief operating officer.
“Many times when there’s a dream or vision for our lives, it’s bigger than who we are,” Hilliard said. “If we get caught up on how big it is, we’ll never take the step to move towards it. I don’t let the magnitude of the assignment keep me stuck.” BBB
Two weeks before her official installation as senior pastor, Hilliard sat on the side of the altar at New Light’s “superstructure,” a massive church building in the Greenspoint neighborhood of Houston. The seats, upholstered in striped gold and burgundy, are reserved for the Hilliard family.
Hilliard, who arrives an hour before the 9 a.m. service to get her hair and makeup done, watched as eight praise dancers in red and black glided across the stage, as her younger sister performed gospel songs that moved the congregation to its feet, as lights flashed and the “New Light News” played on giant video screens.
The newscast offered updates on a girls foundation run by Hilliard’s mother, an upcoming women’s conference and the Feb. 23 installation ceremony for Hilliard, dubbed “The Journey Begins.”
Her father then took the stage to urge worshippers to donate to New Light’s annual vision campaign. The goal: to raise $1 million, part of a restructuring that involves selling properties and reducing debt. As part of the campaign, church leaders are asking congregants to contribute a “Great Things Seed” of $1,000 and up.
“This will be the first vision campaign of the new pastor. I’m not in the background trying to pull her strings,” he assured the congregation. “The girl is anointed … should I say, the pastor is anointed.”
During the sermon, Hilliard urged the congregation to contribute to the campaign, quoting from Corinthians 2:9 “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”
“It is clear from this scripture that there are promised blessings for your participation in the Kingdom of God through your offerings and through your serving,” she proclaimed. “As believers and Christians and prosperity people, we don’t need to be ashamed that this is the key that takes our life to the next level.”
As his daughter prepared to take the reins of the church, the bishop called it a “dynamic moment” for New Light.
The slow transition will smooth out the rough edges that often accompany change, he said. “There are a lot of people who appreciate her style of ministry over mine. … She has her pulse on this generation.”
For her part, the new senior pastor acknowledges that there are challenges ahead.
Many megachurch leaders are discovering they need to revamp the way they deliver services to adapt to a changing membership. Traditional elements like organ music and choirs no longer appeal to younger churchgoers, according to a report from the Hartford Institute.
New Light already had shed several locations over the past few years, paring its properties, selling off the west campus and an office complex. It will retain the “superstructure” in north Houston, another church in south Houston, a Beaumont location and “Love City,” a youth campground. The business structure has been split into two divisions, which will allow her father to focus on evangelical outreach, which includes MaxLife television ministry and “Love City.”
Hilliard, who will oversee church operations, said her priority is to “bridge the generations” in a congregation with members spanning seven. The restructuring is designed to reduce debt as New Light moves forward.
Hilliard also is aware that some older male members might look askance at a female pastor. So she makes sure to wear skirts when she delivers Sunday sermons. But she pairs them with an occasional denim jacket or Texans T-shirt, so that younger members “can see she’s not that old.”
Beverly Jones, who has been a member of New Light since 1982, says some adjustment is to be expected.
“I knew when she took the reign, things would be different because of the generation gap. But that needs to happen,” the 72-year-old event planner said. “We, as members, have to embrace the vision. Will everyone embrace it? Probably not, but those who are supposed to be in the house will be in the house.”
Still, Jones said, it makes sense for Hilliard to take over. “She can preach. There is no question about that.”
Hilliard promises that some things will stay constant.
“I will always respect the legacy and the mission of our church. That doesn’t change, but while I’m respecting the legacy, I’ll use new methods to reach new people.”
One of those new outreach methods is called “Making The Light Shine,” a monthly event in which members go to gas stations, coffee shops and laundromats and pay for a load of laundry, a cup of coffee or to fill up a tank — and to evangelize.
Another change was to cut the Sunday service by about 20 minutes, bringing it down to about two hours. That was met with nearly universal acclaim. monica.rhor@chron.com