this is "nightline." tonight, hipster church. the music is thumping, the pastor is tattooed and the congregation includes people like justin bieber and kevin durant. it's a combination of new school style and old school theology that many love, but some find very controversial. and tonight, what made the pastor cry? plus, worst case survival guide. if your plane crashes, you're stranded at sea -- >> all life goes in front of you. >> and it's in shark-infested waters, here's what to do about it. and yes, our reporter is the offering himself up as bait. and, murder at the mall. newly obtained surveillance video revealing some surprises about a violent car jacking at an upscale shopping center with the holidays right around the

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good evening. and tonight, we're going to take you inside a church unlike anything you've probably ever seen before. the house band has sold millions of records. the services have lines around

the block. and the congregation sometimes includes people like bono and bieber. and the pastor is a hipster heartthrob. tonight, what makes hillsong church so popular and so controversial? and what abc's byron pitts that asked the pastor that made him cry. >> reporter: this is hillsong, new york. your granddaddy's church, it's not. ♪ hand raising, heart-thumping hipster style christianity. the lines to get in are long. blocks long. filled mostly with young people. >> we are here to have an encounter with jesus. >> reporter: the pastor, 36-year-old carl lints. brad pitt looks, billy graham theology. >> god will bless you in areas

you didn't know you needed to be blessed. >> reporter: among the faithful, a who's who of entertainment and sports. bono and hugh jackman have attended. kevin durant was baptized by pastor carl, as well as celebrity bad boy justin bieber. celebrities are part of new york city. we figured, we're going to reach everybody here. we say from the faithless to the famous. >> reporter: and they come in droves. close to 8,000 worshippers, spread over six sunday services. what goes on in here? >> a typical service for us -- >> reporter: there's nothing typical about your service. >> that's probably screw. >> reporter: the sanctuary, a rented new york ballroom. how do you explain the success of this sure? >> it's grow egg, but we're not trying to have this big hot trendy cool packed church. it's awesome. >> reporter: hipster church? >> that is a term that i'm like what does that mean? the story is not the clothes people wear. it's the lives they're living. >> reporter: we talked to members who say how hillsong helped t eed them reconnect witr faith. >> just the message of god's

love. it's a positive environment where you come in and you come and you leave feeling much better than you came in. >> it seems like it's a pretty tumultuous time in culture. response to that has been the really shallow world of social media, smoke and mirrors living. so, you come into church and there is a -- there is a realness to it. it's hitting a core that people didn't know they had. when we first moved here -- >> reporter: on the streets of new york, pastor carl keeps it real. >> what's up, brother? >> reporter: he's known to offer a word or prayer to anybody, anywhere. >> i' i've been with pastors who don't know anyone outside that door. >> i don't look at it as this giant metropolis as much as our local parish, if you will. >> reporter: it did seem for a moment in our interview, leading a church this big, growing this quickly, can sometimes overwhelm a pastor this young. >> you can't fake who you are. you are who you are. >> reporter: who are you? >> i love people.

>> reporter: tell me what's up. >> i really want to have, you know, the same heart for people that jesus did. which is to not see what everybody else saw, but try to dig a little bit deeper. i feel like that's how i was reached. i feel like there are people that look over all the stuff that i had going and saw stuff in me that i didn't have going on. >> reporter: he may have given a glimpse of humanity, but he shut it down with humor. >> don't show this, byron. this is fake! it's all for show! oh. >> reporter: hillsong, new york, is the u.s. flag ship of a global movement, started in sydney, australia, by senior pastor brian houston, 30 years ago. >> i feel like music and reaching young people, it's god's kiss. he's graced us for it. >> reporter: there are satellite churches today from london to paris, kiev to cape town. >> if you walked into all of

them, you'd see a similar demographic of people. close your eyes and you could say, i think i'm in any one of our hillsong churches their in t anywhere in the world. >> reporter: the feeling stems from the music. >> we started singing and writing songs in our church and we were surprised when they started singing them in other churches all around the world like they are now. >> reporter: it's called hillsong united. simply put, they're one of the hottest bands on earth. ♪ take my deeper >> reporter: with hits like "oceans," hillsong united has sold over 16 million albums and is now nominated for its first american music award. it felt like i was backstage at a concert. there were technicians off to the side. folks there behind the keyboard, the headsets on. >> less groupies, though. >> reporter: joel houston is colead pastor in new york, but also guides hillsong united. >> music has an incredible ability to break down walls and to reach people's hearts.

>> reporter: a snappy beat, a smidge of scripture have made for a winning and profitable combination. how vital is the music to funding what you do at hillsong? >> well, it plays apart, for sure. and it's been -- >> reporter: a half, a third? >> you know, to be honest, i really can't answer the exact amount. we're a nonprofit, so, all of the finances come into the nonprofit and are used for the ministry. >> reporter: like many megachurches, hillsong is shy about discussingç their financ. at the service we attended in noeshg, we were asked not to film the offetory. >> you see their sacrifice here. >> reporter: one areas critics have seized upon are social issueshomosexuality. the church comes out of a pentecostal tradition. >> the only way getting out of that life is through jesus.

>> reporter: theology steeped in old testament tradition. you went on the record some years ago, saying that homosexuality is a sin. >> right. >> reporter: how does that impact how you lead a church where there are gays who may want to come to hillsong? >> that's exactly why we -- we see it as a conversation. the apostle paul described homosexual till as sin. i can't unwrite the bible. but on the other hand, we're not a church that is going to make big blanket sweeping statements. >> reporter: if a gay couple came to hillsong, would you want them to change? >> the short answer is, all of us need to be changing. but we'll never be the kind of church who, when people join the choir, we ask them, are you homosexual? we'll never be that kind of church chlgt. >> reporter: another part of hillsong's job, as pastor brian sees it, is growth. >> this is the future. >> reporter: his other son, ben houston, just opened hillsong los angeles. and already, those familiar

lines are forming for sunday services inside this rented theater. >> god is moving. >> reporter: with a church so dependent on young people, the question is, will they some day outgrow it? the shepherds and the sheep insist it's not the nuance that makes hillsong work. it's the name you hear over and over again. jesus. >> the story, the thread, has to come back to jesus. >> reporter: "nightline," i'm byron pitts in new york. up next here, could you survive a plane crash or being stranded at sea or a shark attack? what about all three at once? our reporter gives it a go. and later on "nightline," what we're learning nor newly released surveillance video of a fatal shooting at a high end mall. how criminals target their prey.

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don't try this at home. it's one of the oldest cliches in television. but for real, what you're about to see in this next story, please, do not try it at home. we sent abc's matt gutman to see if he could survive some simulated cluding a plane crash and being stranded in shark-infested waters. he took these challenges very, very seriously. >> reporter: this was a normal flight. gliding towards honolulu last year. suddenly, an alarm. >> the engines just made a sound. >> reporter: the rattle, the loss of altitude and that

shattering impact. >> your whole life just goes in front of you. >> reporter: as the water rushes in, passengers manage to escape before the plane sinks. all but one of them survived. all of it caught on tape because fuentes never stopped rolling. if you think there's nothing better to do but brace yourself and pray if your plane crashes into the water, the coast guard has another answer. prepare. last month, i became the first reporter to ever go through the coast guard's grueling crash survival training here in elizabeth city, north carolina. >> welcome to aviation technical training center. >> reporter: my training ground, this beast. the dunker. which simulates a plane crashing, sinking and then flipping over in the water. >> if you get the i'm stuck signal, we can pull the toggle. the seat belts come undone. >> reporter: most of the previous class had to tap out. >> staying calm is the key.

>> reporter: before the dunker, a briefing to assure i don't drown. >> release that window. grab a reference point before you undue your seat belt. >> reporter: got that? if you are about to crash, instruck torps say hold onto something. after the crash, remove any obstacles like arm rests and only then unbuckle your belt and then get to a window or a door as quickly as possible. a little tense, but i made it. >> nice job! >> reporter: now, the hard part. a different scenario altogether. this time, the dunker simulates a boat capsizing in the open ocean. the winds howling. but the way to save yourself, the same. >> reference point, obstacle, door, seat belt. i get the belt off and find the door. but there are three handles and i don't know which one will open the door. i'm turning the wrong one. nearly a minute in, i'm running

out of air. i have to tap out and allow the rescuers to do their job. instantly, they yank me out. watch again how quickly they pull me from the boat, jerking my body through the dur and to the surface. if that had been in a real world situation -- >> skrould been a bad day. >> reporter: i would have been dead. >> you would have been dead. >> reporter: but i'm not dead and i had to try it again. rewarded with that high five. but what if you do survive the crash. then what? the coast guard takes us out in the water. they have me jump into the chilly chesapeake waters to fend for myself. i think i could swim about a mile, 800 yards 1,000 ya. they say not to. stay put. it burns a lot of energy, especially with a life jacket on. just wait for help to arrive. don't scream, because no one will hear you above the engines. try to wave your arms in the air, if you have a flare, use it. most important, stay calm. let the coast guard and others

do their job. >> reporter: a few minutes later, they haul me out. what if they hadn't? just this week, these kayakers found themselves in shark-inf t shark-infested waters off the coast of florida. a 13-foot hammerhead shark trailing them for two miles. bumping their kayaks. >> he hit my rudder and jocked my whole kayak. just following us steadily and creepily. a little bit of johns acti sjaw there. wlar >> reporter: what do you do if you find yourself surrounded by sharks and you're in the water. worst case scenario. shipwrecked with sharks. we went to an especially sharky part of the bahamas, where the natural beauty belies what's beneath. >> the sharks can smell a part of blood in a million parts of water. >> reporter: we're simulating a normal person getting dumped in shark infested waters. we have chain mail to protect

us. don't try this at home. >> ready? >> reporter: no. >> off we go. >> reporter: i letter terry go first. ah. i just landed on one. they are just bumping us -- we each hold on what could be debris from a crash. anything to stay afloat and conserve energy. and it's in the midst of this school of 25 sharks that my lesson begins. whether it's great whites or reef sharks, which have a far less lethal bite, terry says the advice is the same. >> get back to back. link arms. now we got each other for protection if we are on top of the water thrashing, that's potential food. >> reporter: right. >> if they come in, and it becomes an attack, you are going to have to strike them. quick, fast, punch down. you are going to hit them around here and they don't like that. >> reporter: it's the eyes, the gills, the nose, the snout.

>> exactly. that's where all their sensory stuff is concentrated. just fight, let them know you're not going down easy. >> reporter: within minutes, the sharks are all over us. and it's a fight to keep them off. the best thing for me right now is fending them off with my feet. kind of like that one. >> yeah. you do the best you can to keep them off you. >> reporter: but it doesn't always work. the sharks keep coming. watch this. one going right over my head. >> get in. >> reporter: and that was enough for me. for "nightline," i'm matt gutman in the bahamas. coming up on "nightline," alleged mall car jackers caught on tape, said to be searching for a victim. and how you can protect yourself from predators who could be lurking where you would least expect it.

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and finally here tonight, the surveillance footage obtained by abc news that shows the apparent planning for a car jacking and murder in the parking lot of an upscale mall. it highlights some important safety tips as we head into the holiday shopping season. so, here's abc's ryan smith. >> 911. is this an emergency? >> yes. >> reporter: that call, from jamie friedland. ten days before christmas last year. she and her husband, dustin, shopping together at the upscale shorthills mall in new jersey. when the unthinkable happened.

>> i'm at the short hills mall parking lot. my husband's been shot. >> reporter: dustin, shot dead in front of her by car jackers after the couple's range rover. tonight, new surveillance tape showing the alleged killers may have scouted the mall, stalking for prey. holiday shoppers. the video, released by jamie friedland's lawyers, along with a sobering message. >> i want people to realize that at least as of now, it is not safe to shop at every mall. >> reporter: this video shows the suspect's dark suv three days before the car jacking, in the mall's parking lot. watch it. it follows this white range rover right past the entrance. and then, on the night dustin friedland was killed, nagel says that same suv, lurking in the lot, before driving to the friedland's car. minutes later, that suv speeding off with the friedland's stolen range rover right behind. four men now charged, pleading not guilty. and jamie freeland, suing them

all, saying it wasn't safe. her lawyer giving us that tape. >> there's no police, there's no security. there's nothing stopping these people. >> reporter: short hills mall tonight insisting safety is a top priority. so, going into this holiday season, what can you do to stay safe? >> parking where you have a lot of different cars around, like these big cars, people can be hiding behind these things. >> reporter: we took a ride with joe, who told us what criminals look for. what should people look out for during the holiday season in parking lots like this? >> always get yourself a spot near a light or an entranceway. keep your eyes going on what's around you. don't be distracted by your cell phones. and save the most expensive things for last. >> reporter: the keys to keeping the holidays as happy as possible. for "nightline," ryan smith, abc news, new jersey. >> our thanks to ryan smith for that report and our thanks to

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