Landmines and Broken Trees Follow-Up

After writing and publishing my previous article, I was prompted in my spirit to watch the entire Willow Creek South Barrington Core Meeting. When I did, I heard a question that made me think perhaps I should have watched it before posting that article. However, when I heard the answer, it didn’t change my perspective, if anything, it reinforced it. I believe more must be written to help the church discern the truth of how Willow Creek is dealing with the crises that rocked the church.

At the end of the YouTube video, pastor Dummitt praised pastor Williams, saying he needs to share what he said during a weekend service. That’s where the video excerpt ends. Then in the full video, (first video, at the 3:59:45 hour mark) pastor Williams stated the following:

It sounds odd, but there are certain things; because we don’t have the history and the culture, we’re a little bit leading blind. And we don’t know we mess up until we mess up. And so, your grace that you have extended to us is greatly appreciated, and we certainly won’t hit a landmine because we intentionally do it, but we’re learning a ton when we do. And so, thanks for the grace in that.

I don’t want to spend too many words on the above quote. However, I will say it reinforces what I wrote in the previous article. First, the pastors have the history and they have detailed descriptions of the culture. I understand they were not at Willow Creek during the crises, but the issues have been well documented. It is unpersuasive that they are ignorant of what happened in 2018 up to the current state of the church. Isn’t the recent history precisely why they are at the church in the first place? Second, it is apparent that the new leaders either ignored or were ill-prepared by the elders to know the extent of the so-called “landmines” that exist. That pastor Williams would state, “we’re a little bit leading blind” should be a huge red flag to the church that something is wrong.

Then came the next question and answer. Instead of just relying on the video, following is my transcription of the question and answer should the footage become unavailable. Pastor Williams read:

Somebody basically said that during Steve Gillen’s time, in the interim, there was some things communicated that we were going to identify what were the contributing problems, and then how do we address those and really make changes moving forward. So, if there was a root problem identified and making some changes, what are those things that have been identified, what are the changes that we’re looking to make, that we in theory can learn and grow from our experience and history.

I was encouraged to hear the question because it showed some people are still concerned about what the church is doing to resolve the crises. However, I was sad that this question still had to be asked after all this time. From the way this question was answered, it is clear that the leaders of Willow Creek have not completed what they promised. I will look at each section of Pastor Dummitt’s response to better discuss the issues:

That’s good, yeah. Great question. First of all, you need to know like when I came here one of the things that I told the elders, it’s like you know if you inherit somebody else’s deal, even with an inheritance at some point you sign it and it becomes yours. And so, even though I wasn’t here, I inherited it, and it is now mine. And I take full ownership, along with you, to move through this and to try and, you know, make right what was, you know, what needs to be, what needs to be course-corrected.

I agree that pastor Dummitt inherited the difficulties caused by Bill Hybels, the former leaders and elders, and most of the current elders. It is also true that the problems are owned by the entire church. However, saying the problems just require a course correction diminishes the impact and belies the leader’s understanding of the seriousness of what happened and what still needs to be done. When the church’s senior pastors and an entire elder group resigned during the crises, it is clear that the church had not just gotten off-course but had lost its way.

So, when it comes to the issues from the IAG report where they had recommendations for us and the purpose of those recommendations were basically, I just summarize, so that this never happens again, basically.

First, the IAG report wasn’t just intended to provide recommendations so that the crises never happen again. It also defined many of the problems that existed for years. It determined that the problems of sexual abuse and power abuse were credible. It defined some of the inadequacies of leadership in handling the problems. And it made recommendations for reconciliation with victims of the church.

Also, conspicuous by its absence was any mention of the Governance Review. The failure to mention this investigation shows that pastor Dummitt was ill-prepared to discuss the events that rocked the church. Several other documents written by credible members and pastors are also available to shed light on the crises. The current elders’ Updates from 2019 would be a good place to start. Pastor Dummitt continued:

I believe we have put into place, I’m looking at Sunny [referring to Matt Sundstedt] right now so he can affirm me or tell me no. I think we put into place each one of those things, or addressed them as much as we possibly can. So, if you want more detail on that, and I thought we published something or talked about it. I talked about it during the Next weekend and I just did it and sort of a high-level way. But if anybody wants more detail on that, the efforts that were taken to make sure those and we don’t slip back into any behaviors that could lead us toward something like that. Total transparency, you come up talk to us we’ll get you everything you need.

Interestingly, there was no indication of Matt Sundstedt’s response. The uncertainty of pastor Dummitt as to what has been completed and communicated is telling. It has been more than three years since the exposure of crucial problems at Willow Creek. The fact that there is no clear understanding of what has been done is extremely disappointing and indicative that the crises have not been resolved.

The last sentence of the quote above is very disheartening. Total transparency should not be dependent on somebody’s pursuit or inquiry; it must be the church’s openness to publicly divulge information.

Regarding his off-hand comment about discussing the problem in “a high-level way,” I remember watching the “So What’s Next” sermon last June and being disappointed. I watched it again for this article (twice in case I missed something). His talk about the crises was this:

It's no secret that we’ve been a church in some chaos. But I want us to recognize that the kingdom has existed in the midst of that chaos. Even in the midst of lawsuits and headlines and challenges, we have seen baptisms. We have seen marriages saved. We have seen kids’ lives changed. We have seen neighbors in need get what they need. And yes, yeah, we’ve been a church that hurt people, but we’re imagining a church where people are healed, not hurt. We’ve been a church that’s broken trust, but we imagine a church where we can believe in each other again. (So What’s Next | Dave Dummitt, June 7, 2020 @ 37:00)

Shortly before pastor Dummitt’s sermon with the comments above, all the Elder Statements documenting what the leaders were doing about the crises disappeared from the church website. I had to find a way to reconnect the Updates to my articles (see My Story of Willow). It is evident that what pastor Dummitt imagined for the church didn’t include what the elders promised. Also, his imagination of healing and repaired trust was not significant enough to put into action. The way pastor Dummitt conflated some positive aspects of the ministry with the crises was typical of the deflection and minimization of the problems that the elders and other leaders had done for the previous two years.

Next, pastor Dummitt stated:

Let’s see, and then I’d say the other side of that, for me, is to say for those who have been hurt in as much as we possibly can, you know Romans says live at peace, and as much as you can live at peace with. And so, I have been on the phone with, whether they were folks that were victims, or whether they were folks that were part of the speaking up about what’s happening. And began to try and facilitate what forgiveness, reconciliation those kinds of things look like, and to help facilitate those conversations being had.

I can’t say who pastor Dummitt has spoken with, but if he genuinely wants to be transparent, he should share that information. I can identify a couple of people with whom he hasn’t spoken.

Pastor Dummitt never reached out to Marcus Bieschke, former Lead Pastor of Willow Crystal Lake, to understand his perspective. He texted Marcus at one time to say he would talk to him but never did. Marcus was the most tenured of the Regional Pastors, leading the second-largest regional congregation. He often met with elders and senior staff to try to facilitate change and implement a proper reconciliation process with the victims of the church’s abuse. Regrettably, Marcus ended up leaving the church because of differences between the elders and other pastors over the direction they were taking to deal with the crises. Arguably, pastor Bieschke should have been the first person pastor Dummitt contacted if he wanted to talk to someone who was “part of the speaking up about what’s happening.”

Also, pastor Dummitt hasn’t spoken to me. Perhaps he didn’t know about my participation on the Willow Crystal Lake Leadership Advisory Council and my interactions with the elders. However, on May 28, 2020, I reached out to Tim Stevens, the new Executive Pastor of Campuses, to offer my perspective. I contacted pastor Stevens because his was the only email I could obtain to assure my information would be received. You can find his response here (along with my original email), stating he would read my articles. Unfortunately, I never heard back from pastor Stevens nor any other staff member or pastor.

Sadly, it is not clear how the church has reconciled with the victims of abuse by Bill and the church. The current elders made promises to implement a reconciliation process which they have yet to complete (see Have the Elders kept their Promises? Part 4 “The Book of Forgiving”). For example, in January of this year, Vonda Dyer wrote that the church had mishandled her and her information and that she was still in the process of healing. I have seen no evidence from Willow Creek that reconciliation has been completed with any of the people harmed by the church. Nor have I seen confirmation from the many people abused or alienated that they believe reconciliation has occurred.

Finally, pastor Dummitt stated:

So, I would say that’s probably the two sort of categories that we’ve been running with. IAG report, try and implement everything so that we want to stay above reproach, never happens again, and then also what can we do to repair anything that was broken. Matt, would you add, I always put you on the spot. Would you add anything to that?

It has been three years since the exposure of moral failures of Bill Hybels and the church. It has been over two years since the new elder team took over and failed to reconcile with the victims of the church and failed to implement the recommendations of many caring leaders and pastors. It has been a year since pastor Dummitt has assumed the Senior Pastor role at the church and imagined that the church would heal and rebuild trust. His responses to serious issues were surprisingly casual and uninformed. It is incomprehensible that new pastors coming into a church that suffered severe trauma would be so ignorant of the crises and what the church has done to resolve the problems. The way they use that ignorance as an excuse for their failure to see “landmines” and to be “a little bit leading blind” is unacceptable.

I implore the current leadership of Willow Creek to complete what they promised over two years ago. Pastor Dummitt confirmed that he inherited “the deal” and that he owns it. So, he and pastor Williams should educate themselves on the history of the crises and hold the elders accountable to keep their promises. I hope the church will echo this call and hold leadership responsible to tell the truth and live it out. It’s not too late.