Darlene Zschech

Darlene Zschech
Background information
Birth name	Darlene Joyce Steinhardt
Born	8 September 1966 (1966-09-08) (age 43) Brisbane, QLD
Origin	Sydney, NSW, Australia
Genres	Contemporary Christian
Occupations	Singer, Songwriter, Pastor
Years active	1990–present
Labels	Hillsong Music Australia (AUS) INO (USA) Integrity (USA)
Associated acts	Hillsong Church
Website	DarleneZschech.com Darlene.com.au

Darlene Joyce Zschech (pronounced /dɑrˈliːn ˈtʃɛk/; née Steinhardt, 8 September 1965, in Brisbane, Australia) is an Australian Pentecostal worship leader and singer-songwriter who primarily writes praise and worship songs. She is the former worship pastor of Hillsong Church, and a member of Compassionart - a charity founded by Martin Smith from Delirious?.

Hillsong

Zschech was the worship pastor of Hillsong Church from 1996-2007, however she still regularly leads worship and remains a pastor of Hillsong Church. She is a key leader of the Hillsong team for all church conferences. She travels regularly with the Hillsong team throughout the globe leading people in worship. Hillsong made headlines when their 2004 live CD release, For All You've Done, reached number one in the Australian national music charts. She stepped down as worship pastor in 2007, being replaced by Reuben Morgan in 2008.

"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]. This song is the title track for the first live album co-produced with Integrity Music featuring Zschech as a 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.^[2] It has been recorded on over 20 different albums. In 2000, Zschech received a Dove Award nomination^[2] for "Songwriter of the Year" and has received the "International Award" from GMA (Gospel Music Assoc., USA).^{[citation needed]}

Biography

As a young adult, she sang jingles for a number of international companies including McDonald's, KFC and Diet Coke. She and husband Mark Zschech have three daughters: Amy Jaye Hood who is married to Andrew Hood, had her first child at the age of 20 (Zschech's grandchild) on Dec 6th named Ava Pearl Hood, Chloe Jaz 17, and Zoe Jewel 9.

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 four books: Worship (1996), Extravagant Worship (2002), The Kiss of Heaven (2003), and The Great Generational Transition (2009).

Zschech also founded Hope Rwanda in 2005 with her husband Mark. The primary objective of Hope Rwanda is to assist developing nations reduce poverty, achieve sustainable development, and to bring spiritual strength and social justice to every segment of society. She is also an advocate for Compassion Australia.

Darlene Zschech and her husband Mark were the founding executive directors of Mercy Ministries Australia.

Songs

Songs written or co-written by Darlene Zschech include:

• Stone's Been Rolled Away (1993)
  • "Your Name"
• People Just Like Us (1994)
  • "Shout to the Lord"
• Friends in High Places (1995)
  • "Praise His Holy Name"
  • "Rock of Ages" with Geoff Bullock
  • "Lord I Give Myself"
• God Is in the House (1996)
  • "God Is in the House" with Russell Fragar
  • "And That My Soul Knows Very Well" with Fragar
  • "Let the Peace of God Reign"
  • "Walking in the Light"
• All Things Are Possible (1997)
  • "All Things Are Possible"
  • "I Live to Know You"
  • "I Know It"
  • "Glory to the King"
• Touching Heaven Changing Earth (1998)
  • "That's What We Came Here For" with Fragar
  • "I Will Bless You Lord"
  • "Jesus You're All I Need"
  • "The Potter's Hand"
• By Your Side (1999)
  • "Sing of Your Great Love"
  • "Free to Dance"
• For This Cause (2000)
  • "Here to Eternity" with David Moyse
  • "It Is You"
• You Are My World (2001)
  • "Irresistible"
  • "Glorious"
  • "To You"
  • "Worthy Is the Lamb"
• Blessed (2002)
  • "Blessed" with Reuben Morgan
• Hope (2003)
  • "My Hope"
  • "Call"
  • "You Are"
• For All You've Done (2004)
  • "You Are Worthy"
  • "Glorify Your Name" with David Holmes
• God He Reigns (2005)
  • "Saviour"
  • "Know You More"
• Mighty to Save (2006)
  • "More to See" with Mia Fieldes, Deborah Ezzy (Zschech's sister), Donia Makadonez & Nigel Hendroff
  • "I Believe in You"
  • "At the Cross" with Reuben Morgan
• Saviour King (2007)
  • "One Thing" with Marty Sampson
• This Is Our God (2008)
  • "High and Lifted Up" with Mike Guglielmucci
• Faith + Hope + Love (2009)
  • "His Glory Appears" with Marty Sampson
• Across The Earth: This Means Love (2009)
  • "Still Believe" with Reuben Morgan

See also

• Extravagant Worship: The Songs of Darlene Zschech
• Kiss of Heaven
• Change Your World

• List of Hillsong albums

Notes and references

1. ^ Darlene Zschech
2. ^ ^{a b} http://musicremedy.com/d/Darlene_Zschech/album/Change_Your_World-2082.html Dove Award Nomination

• Powell, Mark Allan (2002). Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music (First printing ed.). Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers. p. 1067. ISBN 1-56563-679-1. 
• [1], her biography on the official website

External links

• Official Website
• Hope Rwanda project by Mark and Darlene Zschech
• Faithtalks.com Interview with Darlene Zschech
• Thought Quotient - Interview with Darlene Zschech