Damian & Julie Bassett on Planting Hillsong Canada, What it Means to Lead Together & Their Priority of Building Friendships With Other Pastors

Mar 1

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Julie and Damian join Jason for Episode 48 to talk about their journey of moving to Canada, planting a church in Toronto, becoming a part of Hillsong, and their learnings along the way.

After having met in Australia while at Hillsong College, they got married and moved to Toronto, sensing God’s leading to plant a church there. They packed up their young family and moved to the cold of Canada in the middle of January, leaving behind the beautiful beaches they knew. Once in Canada, the hard work began of laying foundations, making connections, and hosting Sunday services. Damian reflects on how they never had explosive growth, but rather worked with a small group for many years before they built momentum. After 9 years they officially became a Hillsong Church in 2017 and have seen the fruit of faithfully investing in their leaders in those early years.

Julie shares about them growing as leaders and learning they don’t have to be great at everything. They were both worship leaders before planting and never expected to be communicators or managers of budgets. The beautiful part of that though is that it teaches us to rely on God and others and to learn to be comfortable with the way God has made us.

Jason asks what it’s like to be married and pastoring together. Their major focus, especially throughout this past year, has been the importance of intentionality and communicating outside of just work. It can be so easy to become consumed in the work, but setting aside time to go for a walk, visit a coffee shop, and just spend time listening to each other has been key for them. Damian also says that their friendships with other pastors have been critical, something they found really challenging when they first moved to the new city.

They end by sharing about how they are both deeply invested in the work of Compassion, alongside Hillsong Church’s support of Compassion globally. The way Compassion works with local churches is critical, says Damian, because it’s not just about relieving physical poverty, but spiritual poverty as well. He shares about the privilege they’ve had to go on trips with Compassion and visit their sponsor children and how it can change you as a leader and change how you speak to your church about justice and service.

Both Damian and Julie love Canada and hope that on the other side of this pandemic we are more reliant on God, connected to His word, and unified as the Church. Their story of perseverance, sacrifice, faithfulness, and leading together will hopefully be one that connects with and encourages you.

“If you focus on building leaders, you’re going to build a great church.”

— Julie Bassett

Damian & Julie Bassett

Pastors Damian & Julie Bassett are passionate followers of Jesus and have committed their lives to helping build His Church. Together they are the Lead Pastors of Hillsong Canada. With a heart that extends toward all people, they desire to lead others to a genuine relationship with Jesus, empowering them to realize their full potential in Christ. They are proud parents of three beautiful daughters, ages 17, 14 and 10, and have been married for 20 years.