Inside the Hammerstein Ballroom’s great double doors, beyond the metal gates and metal detectors, the three-story music venue’s lights are turned down, the stage empty. A few people mill about, and to their left is a merchandise table branded as a “welcome lounge” selling T-shirts and CDs and soft-covered books. The sound booth has four technicians and two big cameras for the ground floor alone. Ten hours earlier, the stage was occupied by holographic Japanese pop star Hatsune Miku, the three balconies and large pit filled with her fans. But it’s morning now, the floor’s no longer sticky, and the event taking place isn’t a concert — it’s church.

Hillsong is one of the largest evangelical Christian churches in the world. What began as a small pentecostal church in a suburb of Sydney now holds services on all six habitable continents, with 30 locations and more than 80 affiliated campuses. More than 100,000 people are estimated to attend Hillsong church services every week, including Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Nick Jonas, and the Jenner sisters. According to the church, for every person attending in person three more watch online.

The worship band at the Hammerstein — Hillsong’s Manhattan campus — isn’t huge. A man plays a guitar and a woman sings lead, along with a bassist, a drummer, four backing vocalists, and a choir of about 15 people at the back of the stage. They play four songs before a local pastor appears with long curly hair, a sleeve of tattoos, and a Hawaiian shirt. “This is not Christian karaoke,” he jokes. “I know the words are on the screen, but that’s not what we’re doing here.” This is a time of worship, a church service — not, I repeat, a concert.