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Shauna Niequist has apologized for failing to speak out after her father, Bill Hybels, the founding pastor of Willow Creek Community Church, was accused of decades of sexual misconduct. In a lengthy Instagram post Monday, Niequist, a popular author and ministry leader, addressed the allegations along with a simple image that features the phrase “An apology.” “I apologize for my silence & for all that it communicated. I’m so sorry. I continue to grieve alongside every person who’s grieving,” she wrote. Niequist, whose husband, Aaron Niequist, formerly served as a worship leader at Willow Creek, said that the “season” in...

Report: Allegations against Hybels deemed 'credible' SOUTH BARRINGTON, Ill. (BP) -- Allegations of sexual misconduct against former pastor Bill Hybels are credible, an independent group of ministers commissioned to investigate the claims concluded in its final report Thursday (Feb. 28). Disciplinary action would be recommended were Hybels still pastoring Willow Creek Community Church (WCCC), the Willow Creek Independent Advisory Group (IAG) said in its report. Since Hybels resigned his pastorate in April 2018, the IAG recommended no action against him, but recommended he seek counseling. "Allegations of sexually inappropriate words and actions by Bill Hybels in the context of his...

Pam Orr, chair of Willow Creek Community Church's elder board in suburban Chicago, has apologized to multiple women who publicly accused the megachurch's founder, Bill Hybels, of sexual misconduct in recent months and revealed after listening to some of them, "we do not believe the stories were all lies." In a statement released by the church late Wednesday, Orr, who had previously defended Hybels against the allegations along with the elder board, also revealed that she will step down from her role at the end of this month and will be replaced by longtime church member Lane Moyer. "Our top...

Providing more details on the sexual misconduct case against Willow Creek Community Church founder Bill Hybels, former staffer Nancy Ortberg claimed that the woman who alleged a prolonged sexual affair with Hybels was suicidal and that the founder was allowed to continue counseling the woman even after the allegation was made. Ortberg, who served on the Board of the Willow Creek Association and on staff as teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church for nine years, decided to release the details two days after Hybels announced that he would retire, because she remains "deeply concerned about the process and church...

Maintaining his innocence at a church gathering, Bill Hybels, founder and senior pastor of the multi-campus Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, announced on Tuesday his decision to retire from his role six months earlier than planned under a swirling cloud of sexual misconduct allegations. "I have decided to accelerate my planned retirement date from October of this year to tonight. This decision was mine and mine alone, but after much discussion, my decision earned the unanimous support of the Elders and the Executive Team," Hybels said in a statement he read to the church. "As Lynne (wife)...

The founder Willow Creek Community Church near Chicago, one of the nation's largest evangelical churches, has stepped down six months ahead of schedule. The Tuesday announcement by the Rev. Bill Hybels to his congregation comes after published reports Hybels was the subject of inquiries by church leaders. They were looking into claims Hybels engaged in inappropriate behavior with women in his congregation. He was cleared of the allegations. Hybels has been a counselor to presidents and is considered one of the most influential evangelical figures in the country. His announcement came at his church Tuesday night. "I have decided to...

Bill Hybels, founder and senior pastor of the multi-campus Willow Creek Community Church, has denied multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, including a consensual affair with a married woman, who retracted her claims. Investigations commissioned by the church also could not substantiate the allegations. In an extensive investigation of the allegations published by the Chicago Tribune on Thursday night, former members of the church, including those who resigned from high-level leadership positions, argue that the church's investigations have been deficient. The Tribune report also alleges a pattern of behavior against Hybels that includes suggestive comments, extended hugs, an unwanted kiss, and...

Until today, perhaps the most national news-worthy thing Bill Hybels has done is announce his eventual retirement from being the lead pastor Willow Creek Church, a transition which he has planned meticulously. That all changed, though, when the Chicago Tribune published a story about allegations of sexual misconduct leveled at Hybels by prominent current and former leaders at Willow Creek. Hybels has said he believes those making the claims against him have “colluded” against him in an effort to discredit his ministry. According to the Tribune, which conducted an investigation into the allegations, the claims of misconduct are numerous. “The...

Willow Creek Community Church is no longer an affiliate of Exodus International, ending a relationship that spanned across several decades. Willow Creek spokespersons say they just wanted to rethink the South Barrington megachurch's affiliations, but Christianity Today reports that Exodus President Alan Chambers believes the church split from his organization to avoid public criticism. "The choice to end our partnership is definitely something that shines a light on a disappointing trend within parts of the Christian community," Chambers told the publication, "which is that there are Christians who believe like one another who aren't willing to stand with one another,...

http://www.alittleleaven.com/2009/02/exponential-09-conference-to-feature-a-speaker-whose-biggest-regret-is-not-clubbing-a-church-lady-wi.html Exponential 09 Conference to Feature a Speaker Whose Biggest Regret is Not Clubbing a Church Lady With a Baseball Bat The Exponential 09 church planters conference has invited Gary Lamb of Revolution Church in Canton Georgia to be one of the featured speakers. Gary Lamb is on the record saying that one of his biggest regrets is that he didn't club a church lady with a baseball bat, punch her husband in the face and set fire to the church organ. Gary Lamb has no business being a pastor or a conference speaker. The LAST thing the church needs...

Preaching About Superbowl Commercials Apparently preaching from the Bible is something that pastors feel no obligation to do now-a-days. Now we can stick it to the man and preach about the deep spiritual messages in Superbowl Commercials. (too bad that the man they're sticking it to is Jesus) Pay real close attention when the video gets to the 1:22 mark. You will witness this Methodist congregation in the Dallas Fort Worth area singing that deep and meaningful hymn "Drop Kick Me Jesus Through the Field Goal of Life" http://www.alittleleaven.com/2009/02/preaching-about-superbowl-commercials.html

2007 Trends Analysis: Americans Reformulating Christianity By Audrey Barrick Christian Post Reporter Tue, Dec. 04 2007 09:34 AM ET As fewer Americans identify themselves with Christianity, research indicates that those who remain Christian are redefining what "Christian" means. Study: Christianity No Longer Looks Like Jesus Younger generations are not bound by traditional parameters of the Christian faith and instead are embracing values that are not necessarily based on biblical foundations, according to a recent analysis by The Barna Group. Although faith is an acceptable attribute and pursuit among most young people, their notions of faith do not align with conventional...

Speaking at the Leadership Summit, Hybels summarized the findings this way: "Some of the stuff that we have put millions of dollars into thinking it would really help our people grow and develop spiritually, when the data actually came back it wasn’t helping people that much. Other things that we didn’t put that much money into and didn’t put much staff against is stuff our people are crying out for." Having spent thirty years creating and promoting a multi-million dollar organization driven by programs and measuring participation, and convincing other church leaders to do the same, you can see why...

Yesterday, I received a promotional mailing for the Leadership Summit at Willow Creek. I quickly opened the slick marketing package to learn about this year’s list of speakers and the other pertinent information. Then, like an unexpected punch in the stomach, I saw that former President Jimmy Carter was listed as a speaker, about leadership. I have long respected Bill Hybels; his seemingly innate ability to reinvent himself, find a new path, and expand his universe is something rarely seen, especially in the Christian community. However, I am disappointed that he chose the former president to speak to a group...

Rick Warren, the best selling author of "The Purpose Driven Life" and senior teaching pastor at Saddleback Church in California, has invited Sen. Barack Obama to speak to the congregation of the faithful on Dec. 1, 2006. In doing so, he has joined himself with one of the smoothest politicians of our times, and also one whose wickedness in worldview contradicts nearly every tenet of the Christian faith that Warren professes. So the question is "why?" Why would Warren marry the moral equivalency of his pulpit – a sacred place of honor in evangelical tradition – to the inhumane, sick...

The Church Report is pleased to announce this year’s list of The 50 Most Influential Christians in America. Thanks to the readers of the magazine as well as the online readers for contributing over 150,000 nominations. Each of the people on this list is most deserving of this recognition. As with all types of lists, there are those who are not on the list – not because they weren’t deserving – but simply because we did not have enough space to publish a list of the 100 most influential. The staff of The Church Report did not choose this list;...

Megachurch Dismisses 'Muslim in the Pulpit' Criticism Willow Creek says controversy sparked by 'errors and distortion' One of the country's biggest churches, criticized for inviting a Muslim speaker in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, has defended its actions and rebuked detractors for rushing to judgment. Willow Creek Community Church (WCCC), the Chicago-area fellowship known for pioneering quot;seeker-sensitivequot; ministry, refutes claims that it gave its pulpit to a local Islamic leader and says that widely circulating reports of what happened are inaccurate and distorted. The South Barrington, Ill., church, which weekly draws around 17,000 people, has been criticized...