Willow Creek Church Update

This is just a short post to bring folks up to speed with the developments at Willow Creek Church in regards to the Bill Hybels alleged sexual harassment allegations, etc.

Here is a link to a letter sent out to the members at Willow Creek Church (link here).

Quoting from that letter (link above):

As a board, we unanimously agree there are several areas where we could have served you better:

-We have at times communicated without a posture of deep listening and understanding. We are sorry that at times our process appeared to diminish the deep compassion we have for all those involved in these matters. We will do better in the future.

-Bill acknowledged that he placed himself in situations that would have been far wiser to avoid. We agree, and now recognize that we didn’t hold him accountable to specific boundaries. We commit to strengthening the relationship of accountability with our church leaders in the future.

-In hindsight, we wish we would have worked harder to collaborate with all parties that were impacted to bring clarity and reconciliation when accusations were first made. While attempts were made, we could have done more.

–Additionally, we recognize that our board structure sometimes causes us to be slow in decision making. Our mandate as an elder board is to speak with a unified voice. Accordingly, we are not at liberty to release information publicly until we have everyone’s consent. As we continue to navigate this season, we are committed to providing regular updates to you that are transparent and informative.

I still think this is Public Relations damage control mode. They still do not address the over ONE THOUSAND emails between the alleged mistress and Bill. It is more than just inappropriate situations! 

And that is not all…

Christianity Today has published an article on more people coming forth to accuse Bill Hybels of abusing his position with them. The total is seven women to date (link to article here).

The allegations and stories in that article leaves me with an impression of Bill Hybels looking like a predator pastor abusing his power.

I hope the leadership of Willow Creek Church do as they say and follow real experts in the field. Hopefully, this round they will have a truly independent investigation and not just another spin on the PR wheel.

But I am not holding my breath…

8 thoughts on “Willow Creek Church Update”

  1. From Christianity Today: The elders also said they would “walk alongside Bill in stewarding his season of reflection well and [we] are committed to working together on appropriate next steps with him.”

    From Martha’s experience: The male leader of my ex-churches Royal Ranger program insisted to the pastor to allow my husband remain in the Royal Rangers as a “commander” of young boys, so that he could walk alongside the lying adulterer to lead and guide him. They coddled the cheater. They tried to “understand” him. The protected him. They believed all his lies. They asked him if he was “being pure” with the whore he cheated on me with and left me for and THEY BELIEVE HIM. He’s still a commander at Royal Rangers. Maybe he’s teaching the boys how to lie and commit adultery and get away with it. Maybe they have a patch they can put on their vest for that.

    Bill Hybel’s said, “I placed myself in situations that would have been far wiser to avoid,” he said. “I was naïve about the dynamics those situations created. I’m sorry for the lack of wisdom on my part. I commit to never putting myself in similar situations again.”

    My ex-cheater said to me and the pastor, “I didn’t know that a newly divorced woman was vulnerable right after a divorce. I didn’t know it was wrong to go out for drinks until 1:30 in the morning with her. I was just trying to be a good friend to her after her divorce. She’s just a friend. I can’t tell whether she’s a male or female. She’s sexless to me.”

    Martha now knows this is all cheater-speak. All lies to confuse the faithful spouse and anyone who’s listening. It all sounds so nice and innocent, because what could possibly be wrong with a man just wanting to be a good friend to a woman who just got divorced? He’s a predator and a snake!

    The rest of the article is so disgusting. Bill Hybel’s is a predator. No doubt about it. That is all predatory and grooming behavior. And Mrs. Hybel’s is a chump! She would be smart to run for her life, but I’m sure she’ll stand by her man (cheater) and believe his lies, because it would be too painful to believe the truth. I believed the lies for over 20 years and now I realize I did, because I wanted to believe he was who I thought he was. He wasn’t. My ex was and is the person that I thought he was way back in 1992 — a liar and a cheater!

  2. Lots of weasel words in this statement. So very vague and no apologies for specific events. Obviously written by PR firm/lawyer. No plans for independent investigation. They still want to control the outcome.
    More to come I am sure…

      1. I did not catch that!😠
        He was Driscoll’s paid apologist as well.
        All hail King of the weasels!

  3. Is Bill Hybels regenerate or just pretend? Isn’t being a pastor in America just a nice career? And for some reason, he is very hard to listen to.

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