Willow Creek Community Church

Willow Creek Community Church is an American non-denominational Evangelical Christian megachurch located in the northwestern Chicago suburb of South Barrington, Illinois. It was founded on October 12, 1975, by Dave Holmbo and Bill Hybels, who was its longtime senior pastor. As of February 2020, the church averaged 18,000 attendees each weekend at seven locations, down from a high of 25,000 in 2015. Willow Creek has seven locations in the Chicago area, and their Spanish-speaking congregation, Casa de Luz, meets at the South Barrington campus.
In 2018, the church's entire senior leadership and elder board resigned, admitting to having mishandled abuse allegations against Hybels. Steve Gillen, the longtime pastor of the church's North Shore campus, was named interim senior pastor in August 2018. In January 2020, it was announced that Gillen would step down in March and that the two candidates who were being considered for the role of senior pastor had been "released" from the search process. Dave Dummitt became senior pastor in June 2020.
History.
Willow Creek Community Church started when Bill Hybels and Dave Holmbo were inspired by the success of the South Park Church's youth ministry, Son City, of which they were both leaders (Holmbo had invited Hybels to work with him a few years earlier), and aspired to start a church that used relevant biblical teaching, music, and drama. On October 12, 1975, the church met for the first time, renting Willow Creek Theater in Palatine, Illinois. Gilbert Bilezikian was Hybels' theological mentor. In 1977, the church purchased in South Barrington to build its own building. The first service was held in the new building in February 1981. Since then, the building has been doubled in size and the property expanded to . The changes included a new worship center with more than 7,000 seats, which replaces the 4,500-seat Lakeside Auditorium.
There are now ministries designed to serve a variety of needs for different age and people groups.
On April 10, 2018, following allegations of sexual abuses, Bill Hybels announced his immediate retirement as senior pastor for the church, initially slated for October. This marked Hybels' first absence from the church since its inception. Hybels received a standing ovation from the church upon making this announcement.
In August 2018, Steve Gillen—the longtime pastor of the church's North Shore campus—was chosen as interim senior pastor. In January 2020, it was announced that Gillen would step down in March and that the two candidates who were being considered for the role of senior pastor had been "released" from the search process. Following the announcement that Steve Gillen would step down, Ray Johnston would step in as Interim Senior Pastor. Steve Gillen continued on in advisement due to the 2020 coronavirus Pandemic. In April 2020, the Elder Board of Willow Creek named Dave Dummitt as the new Senior Pastor.
Misconduct allegations and resignations.
On March 23, 2018, the "Chicago Tribune" published an article detailing allegations of sexual misconduct by former Senior Pastor Bill Hybels spanning decades, including a prolonged affair with a married woman, though this was retracted by the woman herself. The "Tribune" wrote that elders of Willow Creek had conducted an internal review of Hybels' behavior which led to no findings of misconduct, leading to the resignations of at least three leaders of the Willow Creek Association’s board over what they believed to be an insufficient inquiry. All accusations have been denied by Hybels.
Hybels had planned to retire in October 2018, to focus his energy on the Willow Creek Association. On April 10, 2018, Hybels announced that he was resigning effective immediately, stating he didn't want to be a distraction to the church's ministry. He also announced he would leave the board of the Willow Creek Association and would no longer lead Willow Creek’s Global Leadership Summit.
On April 21, 2018, the "Chicago Tribune" and "Christianity Today" reported more misconduct allegations not included in the initial investigation. Church elders received reports of other unwanted sexual comments and advances by Hybels that not been previously investigated by the elder board. The elders indicated they would seek wise counsel and work with experts to investigate the allegations, developing a collaborative process.
On August 5, 2018, "The New York Times" reported extensively documented allegations of sexual misconduct against a tenth reported victim that were not included in any previous investigations or reports. Co-lead pastor Steve Carter resigned the same day. The entire elder board and co-lead pastor Heather Larson resigned on August 8, 2018 following a joint apology for mishandling the investigation.
On August 13, 2018, the "Chicago Tribune" reported the church had paid $3.25 million to settle two lawsuits over child sexual abuse by a church volunteer. Despite the settlements, the church denied any negligence in the two cases.
In September 2018, Willow Creek Community Church and Willow Creek Association announced the formation of what they called an "Independent Advisory Group" to investigate the numerous allegations against their founder. "Religion News Service" reported in December 2018 that the alleged misconduct and admitted mishandling of the allegations had led to a $3 million budget shortfall for 2018, the elimination of 50 full-time positions, a 9% reduction in attendance across all the church's campuses, and a reduction in attendance of at least 15% at its main South Barrington Campus.
A six month long independent review of the allegations against Hybels, conducted by 4 evangelical leaders engaged for that purpose and completed in February 2019, found Hybels' accusers credible.
In January 2020, the church announced that co-founder Gilbert Bilezikian had "engaged in inappropriate behavior" after a long time church member alleged he had sexually assaulted her a number of times between 1984 and 1988. Bilezikian denied the accusations and said the church had "violated the Bible's teaching on dealing with accusations against fellow Christians." The church Elder Board said they had restricted Bilezikian from serving within the church when allegations were brought to them in 2010, however in 2015 at the church's 40th anniversary he was honored as a "living legend" of the church. In January 2020, the Elder Response Team said they "did restrict him from serving, but the restriction was not adequately communicated, resulting in Dr. Bilezikian serving and teaching in various capacities over the years." In May 2020, Bilezikian filed a defamation lawsuit against the church.
Willow Creek Association.
In 1992, the Willow Creek Association was founded. The WCA develops training and leadership conferences and resources for its member churches. The Willow Creek Association is often confused with Willow Creek Community Church, or mistaken for a denomination. However, it is a distinctly separate organization which has close affiliations with Willow Creek Community Church.
Since 1995, Willow Creek Association has held an annual leadership summit. Speakers at the summit have included President Bill Clinton.
The scandal involving Bill Hybels led to a 36% reduction in revenue for the Willow Creek Association between 2017 and 2018. Following the end of the 2018 Global Leadership Summit, the name of the Willow Creek Association was changed to the Global Leadership Network.
Worship Center.
Willow Creek's Worship Center (completed in 2004 at an estimated cost of $73 million) seats 7,095 people, making it over twice as large as the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood and one of the largest auditoriums in the United States.