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“Sexual abuse is the most underreported thing — both in and outside the church — that exists,” says Boz Tchividjian, a grandson of Billy Graham and a former Florida assistant state attorney. As a prosecutor, Tchividjian saw dozens of sexual abuse victims harmed by a church’s response to them. (In one case, a pastor did not report a sexual offender in his church because the man had repented. The offender was arrested only after he had abused five more children.) In 2004, Tchividjian founded the nonprofit organization Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment (GRACE), which trains Christian institutions...

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...

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)...

In the summer of 2008, Bill Hybels stood in front of thousands of pastors and other church leaders gathered at Willow Creek Community Church and admitted his megachurch had failed. “We made a mistake,” he told the crowd gathered for the 2008 Global Leadership Summit (GLS). A detailed Willow study had found that the church had helped many people find new faith in Jesus, but had failed to teach them how to practice the spiritual disciplines needed to grow their faith. He vowed the megachurch would do be better in the future. Ten years later, Willow Creek’s leaders confessed even...

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...

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,...

At a time when the prospects for immigration overhaul seem most dim, supporters have unleashed a secret weapon: a group of influential evangelical Christian leaders. Normally on the opposite side of political issues backed by the Obama White House, these leaders are aligning with the president to support an overhaul that would include some path to legalization for illegal immigrants already here. They are preaching from pulpits, conducting conference calls with pastors and testifying in Washington — as they did last Wednesday.

People were walking toward the impressive auditorium from every direction. I got the impression of a crowd going to a sporting event. Almost every person was dressed as if they were. Out of thousands of people, I saw one man wearing a suit; most people were in shorts so I saw lots of leg. It was a very causal event. I did see five or six women carrying what seemed to be Bibles, although surely not a KJV! But then, I’m making an unsupported judgment. Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, IL is having an incredible impact on “evangelical”...

This winter, as the Rev. Joel Osteen graces the pages of People Magazine, the familiar image of the old-school, anti-gay televangelist is rapidly being replaced by a new iconography: a younger generation of mega-church leaders with upbeat and inviting messages. Unfortunately, while this generation's tone may seem less harsh, many of their mega-churches still enforce policies of exclusion and teach theologies that label Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people as sick, sinful, and in need of change. An "American Family Outing" is taking shape in the spring of 2008 so LGBT families can talk with mega-church leaders and congregation...

A Lebanese-American author and activist is criticizing Christian leaders who are seeking to find "common ground" with Muslim imams. She says that six years after 9/11, these leaders "still do not understand the Islamic faith and ideology driving terrorism around the world." Last month, 138 Muslim scholars signed a letter addressed to Pope Benedict XVI, and other religious leaders, urging them to find common ground between Islam and Christianity. The letter declared that Islam and Christianity both believe in only one God, and the commandment to love one's neighbor. Some 200 Christian leaders have responded to the Muslim scholars with...

A Slice alert today as the Christian Post reports this morning that Rick Warren, Leith Anderson, the head of the National Association of Evangelicals, Bill Hybels and other evangelicals have signed a document urging Muslims to “love God” together with them and to find peace between the two religions. This is where it has all been heading, folks. You’ve been warned for a long time now that this new spirituality is coming. Here’s a quote from the article: Christian leaders urged for an interfaith dialogue that moves beyond “polite” ecumenical talks between selected leaders. Instead, leaders of both faiths should...

Willow Creek Community Church Rated Most Influential in U.S. SOUTH BARRINGTON /U.S. Newswire/ -- Willow Creek Community Church as been rated the most influential church in the U.S. in a recent survey of more than 2,000 of the largest non-Catholic congregations in the nation. The survey, which was conducted by Church Growth Today, an organization in Bolivar, Mo., which provides consulting and research services for church growth and development, asked participants to recommend up to 10 churches they considered to be among the nation's most influential. The final list is a report entitled, "50 Most Influential Churches." The churches that...

This is satire. If you have a problem with satire, STOP READING NOW. If you have a problem with literacy, i.e. you can't read, I'd tell you to STOP READING NOW but I doubt you'd understand me. ============================ Shutdown Season: Willow Creek Community Church Will Close its Doors for the Summer   SOUTH BARRINGTON, IL – In perhaps the most extreme example to date of churches halting ministries during the traditionally slower summer months, Willow Creek Community Church – one of America's prototypical mega-churches – has decided to close its doors until after Labor Day. "The church leadership took a...