Bethel Church in Redding, California, led by Senior Leader Bill Johnson, has officially launched a new church plant in Sydney, Australia, home to the renowned Hillsong Church.

According to The Christian Post, the announcement was made during a worship service on 3rd November, 2024, where Johnson, along with Kris Vallotton, senior associate leader, and other church leaders, commissioned Matt and Elisabeth King to head Bethel Sydney.

This new branch brings the total number of Bethel-associated churches to eight, including Bethel locations in Atlanta, Austin, Cleveland, New York, New Zealand, Valparaiso, and their main church in Redding.

Notably, five of these churches were established within the last 15 years.

“We've often said we don’t plant churches,” Vallotton remarked, “yet here we are having planted three in just the past five years. Our last one was in New York, and now, we’re expanding to Sydney.”

Matt King, who traveled with Elisabeth to California for the commissioning, shared their vision for Bethel Sydney: “We believe this will be a place where people experience God directly. We’re convinced that Australia is on the cusp of something extraordinary, with a hunger for authentic encounters with the Holy Spirit, focused solely on the Gospel.”

Dave Harvey, director of Bethel Leaders Network, highlighted a prophetic word from Vallotton that suggested Australia was entering a new "spiritual era", expecting revival across the East Coast.

This sentiment was echoed by Elisabeth King, who recounted how she and Matt, former students and staff at the Bethel School of Ministry, felt drawn to Australia two years ago by a calling they couldn’t ignore.

On Sunday 3rd November, Bethel Church reinforced its commitment to this new venture through a Facebook post, saying: “God is moving in Australia. Prophecies from our leaders have pointed to a revival along the eastern coast, signaling a new era for the nation. We believe Bethel Sydney will contribute significantly to this movement.”