But other nondenominational megachurches were not Willow Creek. Its association ran an annual Global Leadership Summit where not only preachers but Fortune 500 executives and politicians, including President Bill Clinton, spoke and joined discussions about how to empower organizations and people. The church always seemed to be pointed toward the future, not engaged in arguments based on past practices.
FILE – The Global Leadership Summit, on the main campus of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Ill., on Aug. 9, 2018. (Photo courtesy of Global Leadership Summit)
While conservative Christian in its theology, Willow was pragmatic about its evangelism, down to who ran its small groups.
“In actual experience, it was easier to find high school girls who were spiritually mature and skilled in leadership than it was to find guys,” Hybels once wrote, in describing why the church had women in leadership.
“From a practical standpoint, it would have been unthinkable not to allow girls to lead.”
Beach recalled that as a college kid, she was leading adult women in Bible studies. “The women I tried to serve were mostly old enough to be my mom,” she told RNS.
In 2004, when Willow was drawing 17,000 worshippers on Sundays, the church built a 7,400-seat auditorium for $65 million. The new building nearly doubled the previous capacity. A decade later, its format had become an irresistible ideal.
“Any community that is able to draw in 24,000 worshippers in a single weekend is clearly doing something right,” said a writer for America, the Jesuit magazine, explaining why his erstwhile Catholic brother had defected to Willow.
But by 2015, when Willow was celebrating its 40th anniversary, hard times were already on their way.
FILE – Pastor Bill Hybels speaks at American University in Washington, July 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
After several years working behind the scenes trying to get Willow Creek’s elders to address allegations of misconduct by Hybels, a group of former church leaders, including some of Hybels’ close friends, went public in March 2018.
According to those former leaders, Hybels had a history of alleged inappropriate behavior toward women at the church, including inviting women to his hotel room and giving unwanted physical affection.
Hybels, who did not respond to a request for an interview, denied any wrongdoing. Eventually more women, including his former assistant, accused him of sexual misconduct.
On April 10, 2018, Hybels, who had been planning to retire, resigned from Willow Creek. While he denied most of the allegations against him, he said he had made mistakes.
“I realize now that in certain settings and circumstances in the past I communicated things that were perceived in ways I did not intend, at times making people feel uncomfortable,” he told church members, according to Christianity Today. “I was blind to this dynamic for far too long. For that I’m very sorry.”
FILE – Elders at Willow Creek Community Church lead a service of worship and reflection on July 23, 2019, in the Lakeside Auditorium on the church’s main campus in South Barrington, Ill. (RNS photo/Emily McFarlan Miller)
Eventually almost every top leader at Willow Creek would step down, including Hybels’ handpicked successors and the entire elder board.
