Tag: Global Leadership Summit

After the resignation of Lead Pastor Heather Larson and all Willow Creek church elders last night, President and CEO of the Willow Creek Association Tom De Vries addressed the Bill Hybels controversy at the Global Leadership Summit this morning. Watch:

He seemed sorry for something and then said the Global Leadership Summit would continue doing good work as in the past. Many would disagree with De Vries self-justification. He said there will be three commitments. One is to promote an independent investigation of allegations against Hybels. A second commitment is to explore power dynamics between men and women in the workplace at the summit and then a commitment to extend the topic after the summit.

He also addressed why the WCA didn’t cancel the GLS this year. Essentially, he said leaders have to step out and do something (as if pausing isn’t doing something). Then he said they are doing it for the women attending and used numbers of host sites that don’t match his own website’s numbers. In other words, the world can’t go on without the GLS.

Imagine a World Without

It is this attitude (the world needs us) that turns me off and strikes me as presumptuous. I am open to reasons why the show must go on. Maybe somebody’s livelihood is dependent on it. I get that. But don’t tell me that the sun won’t come up or that women around the world would be lost without you.

I think this is what gets evangelical pastors — like Bill Hybels maybe?– into trouble. I think Mr. De Vries expressed some of that too. The GLS must go on  because we need it to. No, actually we don’t. Find some other reason.

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Image fair use from GLS conference website.

UPDATE: In a statement issued at Willow Creek Church tonight, three steps were outlined. All elders of the church will step down by the end of 2018, the church will hire a consultant to assist with governance, and another committee of Christian leaders will conduct an investigation of the allegations of misconduct against Bill Hybels. Also, pastor Heather Larson announced that she is stepping down as a pastor. Essentially, it appears that the entire leadership team is moving aside.

The news of the elders and Ms. Larson stepping down was greeted with loud applause from the members of Willow Creek gathered in the meeting. Also speaking was Steve Gillan who will be the interim pastor during the transition. Gillan is currently pastor of Willow Creek North Shore.

The statements from elder representative Missy Rasmussen, pastor Heather Larson and interim pastor Steve Gillan can be seen in full here.

(Original post)

There are persistent rumblings out of Willow Creek that the elders of the church will resign over their handling of the Bill Hybels situation (for more on this, click here and here) perhaps as soon as tonight.

The elders have been under tremendous pressure due to their response to public and private allegations of misconduct against the former pastor of Willow Creek, Bill Hybels. Many inside and outside the church have questioned their reluctance to initiate an independent investigation of the allegations.

The church’s troubles have come into public view recently due to the start of this year’s Global Leadership Summit tomorrow. Many churches and simulcast hosts have backed out over the allegations. Five speakers including Denzel Washington have pulled out of the conference.

I will update this post as I get new information.

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Photo: By Ianphilpot at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18726346

According to blogger and Willow Creek church member Rob Speight, the leaders of the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit (August 9-10) have promised to give 10 minutes at the beginning of the conference to a “live acknowledgement” of the Bill Hybels controversy. Here is a beginning of Speight’s post:

I have become aware of some disturbing news about the Global Leadership Summit (GLS) 2018, and how it will be kicked off.

The WCA has made the decision to make a “live acknowledgement” approximately 10 minutes prior to Session #1 on August 9, 2018. The webinar that described this announcement was directed to the host site producers and tech staff of the GLS.

The Summit is God’s Event
By way of introduction, the following statement was made on the webinar:

“First off, the Summit is God’s event. It’s always been God’s event, not about one person. So it’s not something that we felt the ministry had to pause for a year.”

This statement is fraught with troublesome issues. Several inferences are obvious:

The WCA is reassuring the host sites that remain that they are participating in an event that belongs to God.

At the same time, the WCA implies that the host sites that have pulled out of the GLS have made a mistake by choosing to not participate in this event because it belongs to God.

By ascribing God’s name to and ownership of the GLS, one is not permitted to argue against it. It compares to the age old dilemma posed by “that” friend who would say to you, “God told me . . . (and then fill in the blank).“

If God told that person something, then the conversation ends. One can’t debate or question that which is of God.

The WCA falsely concludes that because the GLS belongs to God, they must automatically hold the event this year.

It could well be argued that if indeed the GLS is God’s event, the WCA ought to hit the pause button this year! After all, God is the Defender of the oppressed. The women have been oppressed at the hands of the powerful.

First, by Bill Hybels, and more recently by the leadership of Willow Creek. Until the truth is revealed regarding the women’s claims, would it not be wise for the WCA to err on the side of caution and on behalf of the women who claim personal violation?

It is technically true that the GLS is “not about one person.” But:

○ That one person originated the GLS.

○ That one person traveled the world representing the GLS.

○ That one person was the face of the GLS.

○ That one person was looked to by all other WCA senior leadership to give them their marching orders.

○ That one person raised untold millions of dollars for the WCA and GLS.

○ That one person’s own star power attracted other stars to participate in the GLS.

○ It is this same one person’s inappropriate conduct (while traveling globally on behalf of the WCA & GLS) with women (not his wife) that is at the center of the biggest scandal in the 26 year history of this iconic ministry.

It seems obvious that Willow Creek leaders presided over a massive failure of leadership. To put on a leadership meeting and think that a 10 minute acknowledgement will address the issues is another sign that the leaders need to be taught not teach.

Go read the rest of Speight’s piece here.

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Image: Fair use from https://www.willowcreek.com/events/leadership/index2.html