Christian rock band Hillsong United bring their message to Hong Kong

Jonathan Douglass has not long been back home in Australia when the call comes through from 48 Hours. He is soaking up what he says is sensational weather after a few weeks on the road.

It's hard not to be swept up in the 30-year-old's enthusiasm — even as the wind and rain batter Hong Kong for yet another day — as Douglass begins to describe the sun shining outside his window, before he turns to how he became involved in Hillsong United, one of the most popular and some might even say influential bands in the world.

As a youngster, Douglass was like the thousands of kids growing up around the beaches of Sydney with a daily routine that focused on the twin passions of surfing and music. That should come as no surprise — it's how almost every kid down there starts out in life.

But Douglass and his friends were also actively involved in Australia's Hillsong Church, founded by Brian and Bobbie Houston in 1983, and by the time the 1990s were coming to a close, it had evolved into an organisation that had spread across the country and the world.

"I grew up in the church and have been going since I was four years old," Douglass says. "I was in the youth group in my early teens and a bunch of my friends went to school together. We were passionate about surfing and passionate about music, and just enjoying life the best that we could."

The fact that music played such a central role in the way the Hillsong Church worships gave Douglass and his friends the chance to expand their horizons a little more than your average group of young hopefuls, tucked away in some suburban garage dreaming of the bright lights.