Willow Creek is Alive and Well
Last week I ran into a friend who was quite involved in leadership at Willow Creek Community Church in the early 2000's. He pulled me aside and said, "I'm quite concerned about the trajectory of Willow Creek. It's not looking good."
I replied, "Really? I'm quite optimistic about Willow."
I had the opportunity to share with my friend some of the things happening at Willow that are positive signs of health for a church that took a massive punch in the gut six years ago. A few examples:
Attendance continues to grow by double-digit percentages every year.
The number of people engaging in volunteer roles and in discipleship small groups is growing dramatically.
Baptism are now happening every week--more than 1000 expressing their new life in Christ publicly in the past two years.
The diversity of the Willow attendees has grown from 33% to 43% in the past four years -- matching or exceeding the diversity of the neighborhoods surrounding the campuses.
Willow is now drawing in young adults with kids -- more than any other demographic. 62% of the new adults are Millennials or Gen Z.
41% have been attending five years or less (they came after Hybels left), and 42% of them do not have previous church experience.
There are bloggers who exist (seemingly) to see churches fail. They love to headline scandals, and they sensationize their stories to support their bias that churches (especially big churches) are inherently evil. They will never write about restoration or healing or reconciliation -- all of which is happening at Willow.
I told my friend that I am super bullish about the future of Willow Creek. All of the metrics are improving, and thousands of new families are joining with an eagerness to get involved and grow in their faith. Every where I travel, I find people who are praying for and cheering for Willow Creek. They have felt the impact over the past (nearly) five decades, and they want Willow to thrive. I am here to tell you: Willow is beginning to thrive again.
Some people feel guilty if they talk about the good that came out of Willow from 1975 to 2018. Yet I meet people all over the country whose lives were deeply transformed by the impact of this local church. Tens of thousands of churches were started by leaders who attended a church leadership conference or global leadership summit. I think it's okay to tell those stories. The damaging actions of a flawed leader do not negate the story God has been writing for fifty years. And I believe Willow's best days are ahead.
I stepped away from the team last summer (more on that story here), but Willow continues to be my home church. I am encouraged by the bold steps of the leadership team to continue to make decisions to strengthen Willow for the long-term. I'm sure it was a difficult decision to recently close the downtown campus, but it is the job of church leaders to steward the tithes and offerings well, and it didn't make sense to continue to lose money. I believe 9 out of 10 church leaders, and 10 out of 10 business leaders, would have made the same decision after looking at the facts.
Willow is in good hands. Following my departure, Katie Franzen was promoted to a role on the lead team. She has a strategic brain and relational IQ that rivals leaders twice her age. Megan Bagnall also took on new responsibilities, including much of what I was carrying, and is the exact right leader to drive our campus strategy. Matt Sundstedt has been a stabilizing leader at Willow for more than two decades, and is the most shepherding operational leader I've ever met. Shawn Williams has led an amazing turnaround at the South Barrington campus, and recently took on the oversight of the weekend services. These executive leaders serve Willow along with senior pastor Dave Dummitt--a man who carries a unique gift mix of compassionate leadership along with the ability to make difficult mission-driven decisions. This group is surrounded by many other high-capacity women and men who lead the campuses and ministries of Willow Creek (shout-out to Liz, Betsy, Thomas, Scott, Todd, Jason, Kyle, Stephanie, Miguel, Jeff and SO many more).
Last fall I sat down for an interview on The Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast (it releases today on YouTube and podcasts). Carey asked me about my transition to Willow, and why I decided to run into the fires that were blazing at the time in early 2020. It is a very raw conversation about how difficult things were at the beginning, but then the work that was done by the team to rebuild the staff culture back to a place of thriving. If you love a story of healing and restoration, I encourage you to tune in.
I leave you with a few suggestions.
Believe the best. If you don't have all the information, fill the gap with trust.
Don't click on articles from bloggers who constantly tear down the church. They make money every time you click.
Churches are led by flawed humans. Pastors mess up and sometimes hurt people. The next time you hear about a crisis or scandal at a church -- instead of spreading the bad news, take time to pray for them. Cheer them on. Pray for truth, and also for that church to begin thriving again.
Don't believe everything you read.–
Live and lead with integrity. We are all a couple bad decisions away from derailing our lives, our families, or an entire church.