A Second Row Seat to the Crises
Purpose of the Blog
Much has been written in the wake of the crises at Willow Creek Community Church (WCCC). The information is from various points of view and may be either journalistic or editorial in nature. The purpose of this blog is to provide a different perspective from the trenches of a regional campus that made significant efforts to guide the church down the path to repentance and healing. It is written from my personal experience with the intent to provide objective information, a call to action and a discussion of the root spiritual issues precipitating and sustaining these crises. The ultimate goal is to help the church learn and make changes that will bring healing and restoration to the Body of Christ at Willow Creek.
Purpose of this Post
The title of this post alludes to my second-row seat as an advisor to Marcus Bieschke, who was in the front row as Lead Pastor of Willow Crystal Lake (WCL), reporting to Bill Hybels and then his successors. It will describe a brief history of the crises, as well as the efforts of Marcus, the WCL Directional Team (three pastors reporting directly to Marcus) and the WCL Leadership Advisory Council (LAC). This is meant to be an introduction and will be followed by posts detailing statements and actions, or lack thereof, by the Elders and senior leaders of WCCC.
If you are not familiar with the LAC ministry, it is mandated by the Elder Board Policy Governance Manual of WCCC that each regional campus have a functioning LAC. The Council must have at least six members selected by the Regional Lead Pastor and approved by the Senior Pastor. The role of the LAC members is to provide counsel, advice, prayer and accountability to the Regional Lead Pastor.
A Brief History
I left my career in new product development in April 2017 with the intent of pursuing a new profession in writing, specifically creating movie screenplays. But God had different plans. A mutual friend and staff member of WCL suggested I connect with Marcus, because of our mutual interest in innovation. Marcus and I met and had an immediate connection. Shortly thereafter, in July of 2017, he invited me to join the LAC. The first eight months of my new role in this ministry focused on supporting Marcus in the normal activities of the church. In early 2018 our focus changed significantly. I was writing, but it was to support Marcus and the church in response to a series of crises.
The Chicago Tribune published an article on March 23, 2018 presenting allegations of sexual misconduct against Bill Hybels, the Senior Pastor and one of the founders of the WCCC. When these stories came to light, Marcus and other leaders of WCL prepared to understand and respond to these revelations.
Marcus quickly led the WCL staff, LAC and congregation on a path of understanding and action. In his role as a Regional Lead Pastor, Marcus also had the opportunity to influence the leadership at South Barrington. The LAC supported this through research, prayer, fasting and meetings with the Elders and other WCCC leaders. Marcus made significant attempts to help the Elders and Senior Leaders of WCCC pursue the right path. Some of the recommendations were accepted, but many were not.
After the resignations of WCCC Elders and Senior Pastors in August of 2018, Marcus continued to pursue healing for the church. He led WCL through our own Renewal Plan. This was an opportunity for WCCC leadership to see an example of how to move forward, but they were resistant to consider or enact what WCL was implementing.
When the new Elders came on board in January of 2019, Marcus reached out and offered help. It became apparent these new leaders were following the path of their predecessors. Marcus sent the Elders several documents of feedback and recommendations, with the support of the LAC and Directional Team. While they said these were helpful, they routinely ignored them.
Please allow me to clarify, it was not that the Elders disagreed with the recommendations from WCL and gave reasons why. The Elder’s failed to dialogue about the recommendations. This is so important, please let me reiterate; the Elders never discussed any of the recommendations from Marcus, the WCL Directional Team and the LAC. The only reason they gave was “I would ask you to understand that the Elders receive a great deal of information and communications, and these are very busy days for us,” and they made this statement more than once. What I understood them to say was, the recommendations from a Lead Regional Pastor of our own church were not important enough to prioritize out of all the feedback they received (Marcus being the longest tenured pastor over the second largest regional, to use human standards). Also, their busyness was keeping them from discerning or dialoguing about what was important. This was reprehensible!
After significant efforts to help the Elders and Senior Leaders at South Barrington, with no response, Marcus made the difficult decision to leave the church. Here is the reason in some of his own words:
Over the last 20 months, it has become increasingly apparent to me that my heart and values are not in full alignment with WCCC’s current direction. And I cannot pastor and lead WCL to the best of my ability—and in the way that you deserve—without being fully aligned in these fundamental areas. I’ve longed for & encouraged Willow to pursue a different path toward healing, but due to a difference of opinion on what that path should be, rather than risk being divisive in my disagreement, I must depart.
(Marcus Bieschke, Oct 20th congregational announcement of my transition from WCL & WCCC)
From my second-row seat, the “difference of opinion” was only evident in how the Elders acted because they never explained or defended their opinions. They said several times that they respected Marcus’ leadership and integrity, but they failed to talk to him or WCL about their reasons for ignoring his “different path.” It is apparent from Marcus’ description, let alone my familiarity with him, that this was not a minor disagreement, it was in his heart and values. In my opinion, even if the Elders perceived this as a matter of opinion or if they felt Marcus was off base, then they needed to fulfill their God given responsibility as Elders to shepherd him and other leaders of WCL to what they felt was right. They failed to do this.
After Marcus decided to leave WCL, my wife and I continued to seek a dialogue with the Elders. We met with the Chief Governance Officer and the Head of the Reconciliation Committee to share our stories, our hurts and our requests. We felt it was worth one more opportunity to voice our concerns and ask for their reply. Once again, the Elders were unresponsive. It wasn’t until we sent correspondence stating that we were releasing the relationship with WCCC that we received an email. This was more than five weeks after our meeting. Sadly, the Elder didn’t attempt to further discuss our decision. My wife had been an involved member and leader for 42 years, and was the volunteer leader of Women’s Ministries at WCL at the time we left. I was an involved member for over 39 years, and as I’ve indicated, I had been working with Marcus for 20 months to help the church prior to our decision to leave. This has been one of the most painful times in our lives, not just personally, but in seeing our local church, which had been instrumental in so many lives, struggle under the weight of sin and poor decisions by people called to shepherd the body of Christ.
Next Steps
Why am I now going public with my concerns? Why am I pursuing this after I have left WCCC? As you can see from the brief account above, I have addressed the Elders directly both under the leadership of my pastor and personally. I have read and heard the confusion, the misunderstanding, the sadness and the vitriol at Willow Creek and from outside the church. I believe the congregation needs to see more of the truth and act on it. Most importantly, however, I love the Church and I am compelled to continue to seek what is best for her.
I have seen people uncertain about the state of Willow Creek, but who aren’t sure what to do about it. I have heard people who are tired of everything and wanting to just move on. No matter where you are in your relationship with WCCC, I hope you will to continue to read this blog to understand what has transpired over the past year and then to seek real change.
Most of what I will present is available in the public domain; much from the church’s own documents. I highly recommend reading all the Elder updates starting from February 2019. Also, read the IAG Report and Governance Review, which are linked in the Elder Updates of February 28, 2019 and May 2, 2019 respectively. These documents can be found on the WCCC website, Elder Blog Page. Some of what I will present is from meetings that I attended. My intent is to present information that I have personally read or witnessed. I may occasionally present information that has been reported by someone else, but I will make sure to note it as such. I will also provide discussion on the spiritual issues involved in the crises at Willow Creek and which are also evident in the Church at large.
A year ago, today, the Elders posted their first Update on the WCCC website and emailed it to those on the subscriber list. In the next post of this blog, I will take a look back and discuss what the Elders said they would do and whether they fulfilled their promises. Please join me as we objectively assess how the Elders have led the congregation and what must be done to heal our church.