A few days ago I visited my favorite websites (monergism.com) and saw a link to an article entitled "Willow Creek Repents?", by the editors of Leadership Journal. Of course I went immediately to the article, very curious as to what was happening at Willow Creek. As most of you probably already know, Willow Creek Community Church is pastored by Bill Hybels and has been one of the most influential churches in America for the last three decades. They more or less spawned the modern "seeker-driven" movement. Their ministries have been generated in response to the question, "What are the un-churched looking for in a church?" Thus the church has created programs in accordance with people’s preferences. The idea is that as people get plugged into these programs, they grow spiritually.
Now Bill Hybels says, "We made a mistake."
This confession came in response to a multiple-year qualitative study of Willow Creek’s ministries, the findings of which have just been published in a book, Reveal: Where Are You?, co-authored by Greg Hawkins, executive pastor of Willow Creek. 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." Hybels called this "the wake up call of his life" and went on to say:
We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibilities to become ‘self-feeders.’ We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between service, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.
Do you hear what Hybels is saying? He’s making the point that "spiritual growth doesn’t happen best by becoming dependent on elaborate church programs but through the age old spiritual practices of prayer, bible reading, and relationships." (Leadership)
Where does Willow go from here? According to Hawkins, "Our dream is that we fundamentally change the way we do church. That we take out a clean sheet of paper and we rethink all of our old assumptions. Replace it with new insights. Insights that are informed by research and rooted in Scripture."
Of course time will tell what becomes of all this. But I am encouraged by this response. Hybels is to be commended for responding to these findings with such humility and authenticity. It is my hope that this really will be a fresh start and new direction for Willow Creek, that as they train their congregation to study the Bible and live what they learn, they will grow both deep and wide for God’s glory.
Now Bill Hybels says, "We made a mistake."
This confession came in response to a multiple-year qualitative study of Willow Creek’s ministries, the findings of which have just been published in a book, Reveal: Where Are You?, co-authored by Greg Hawkins, executive pastor of Willow Creek. 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." Hybels called this "the wake up call of his life" and went on to say:
We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibilities to become ‘self-feeders.’ We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between service, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.
Do you hear what Hybels is saying? He’s making the point that "spiritual growth doesn’t happen best by becoming dependent on elaborate church programs but through the age old spiritual practices of prayer, bible reading, and relationships." (Leadership)
Where does Willow go from here? According to Hawkins, "Our dream is that we fundamentally change the way we do church. That we take out a clean sheet of paper and we rethink all of our old assumptions. Replace it with new insights. Insights that are informed by research and rooted in Scripture."
Of course time will tell what becomes of all this. But I am encouraged by this response. Hybels is to be commended for responding to these findings with such humility and authenticity. It is my hope that this really will be a fresh start and new direction for Willow Creek, that as they train their congregation to study the Bible and live what they learn, they will grow both deep and wide for God’s glory.