Bill Hybels

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William Hybels (born December 12, 1951 in Kalamazoo , Michigan ) is the founder and senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church , a megachurch with over 24,000 visitors in South Barrington , a suburb of Chicago .

Bill Hybels

Life

Hybels grew up in rural Michigan as the son of the Dutch vegetable wholesaler Harold Hybels. His father encouraged him by trusting him as a child and by demanding that he act independently. In an Awana youth camp, he found a personal belief and later made the decision not to take over his parents' company. Instead, he studied theology at Trinity International University and graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1975. He was most strongly influenced there by the guest teacher and New Testament scholar Gilbert Bilezikian . This taught in particular about the early Christian community in the Acts of the Apostles and what a current implementation could look like.

Hybels first worked as a youth pastor at South Park Church in Park Ridge, Illinois . It was there that he decided to found his own parish in South Barrington in the northwestern outskirts of Chicago. To do this, he conducted a doorstep survey to find out why people did not visit the local church. With the results of his survey, he then designed a new form of community with the aim of overcoming people's objections. His congregation grew from a youth group to a worship service of over 24,000 participants, making it one of the ten largest churches in the USA .

Hybels is the author of numerous books that have been translated into various languages . In addition to questions of faith and life, he primarily deals with the topic of leadership in Christian communities. His mentors included the founder of the Crystal Cathedral , Robert Schuller , as well as his former teacher at Trinity College, Gilbert Bilezikian. After 1990, John C. Maxwell discovered him and encouraged him to teach on leadership in churches, which resulted in the Leadership Summit.

At the center of its church activities was the service for “seekers”, through which Willow Creek reached not only church members but also many people who were distant from the church. The local church was very important to him, so he kept checking its condition, for example through interviews. The mega-church, which seats around 8,000 people, is deliberately divided into sectors in order to facilitate and improve personal contact and relationships among visitors. An affiliated care center offers practical support for poor and needy people.

Hybels was an internationally sought-after speaker. He also came to Germany regularly as part of the Willow Creek Conferences . In 1992 he founded the Willow Creek Association , a worldwide network of parishes that now includes 11,000 congregations, to learn from one another and to promote church building and development.

In March 2018, the Chicago Tribune published reports from former employees and female parishioners that Hybels had behaved suggestively or sexually molested her; as a result, he resigned on April 10, 2018 - half a year earlier than planned - from his position as senior pastor. As a result of another report by a former secretary, Hybels' successors, Pastor Heather Larson and Pastor Steve Carter, resigned in August 2018, as did the entire Board of Elders of Willow Creek. They apologized for not believing the women concerned and instead defending Hybels without scrutiny and insensitively. Steve Gillen, head of the North Shore Willow Regional Ward, was then appointed interim director to direct the elders elected and the search for a new senior pastor. An independent commission has also been appointed to investigate the allegations against Bill Hybels.

Private

Hybels has been married to Lynne since 1974. They have two grown children, Shauna and Todd, and two grandchildren, Henry and Mac, and live in South Barrington Hills. His daughter Shauna also works with Willow Creek. He is also a passionate sailor.

Works (selection)

Hybels has written numerous books; many of them became bestsellers in America and have been translated into other languages. Most of them were published in German by Gerth Medien in Aßlar:

  • Married life - love marriage. What you can do to ensure that your marriage lasts a lifetime , Projektion J, Wiesbaden 1996, ISBN 3-89490-220-5 (together with his wife Lynne; out of print)
  • What makes families strong , R. Brockhaus , Wuppertal 2002, ISBN 3-417-11255-9
  • Leading courageously - navigational aids for leaders , Gerth, Aßlar 2002, ISBN 978-3-86591-802-4
  • Experience more - enthusiastically collaborate in the community , the employee revolution. Gerth, Aßlar 2006, ISBN 978-3-86591-834-5
  • Together , Willow Creek Gift Edition, Hänssler, Neuhausen 2008, ISBN 978-3-7751-4842-9
  • Successful Christian Leadership - What Makes You an Effective Leader, Leadership Library. 2008, ISBN 978-3-86591-851-2
  • The art of leadership - my leadership principles in a nutshell , Gerth, Aßlar 2009, ISBN 978-3-86591-857-4
  • Departure to silence - On the art of living to have time for prayer , Gerth, Aßlar 2009, ISBN 978-3-86591-861-1
  • Departure to life - On the art of living to implement God's wisdom in everyday life , Gerth, Aßlar 2011, ISBN 978-3-86591-873-4
  • Hear God's quiet voice - The life-changing power of God's quiet voice , Gerth, Aßlar 2011, ISBN 978-3-86591-864-2
  • Easy - Ten steps to a tidy life , Gerth, Aßlar 2015, ISBN 978-3-95734-064-1

literature

  • Rainer Schacke: Learning from Willow Creek? Church Services for Seekers in German Milieu Contexts . Cuvillier Verlag, Göttingen 2009, ISBN 978-3-86955-104-3

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Willow Creek website
  2. ↑ Antje Gerner and Gotthard Westhoff: Formative people in the life of Bill Hybels: Harold Hybels and Dr. Gilbert Bilezikian , Willow Creek Germany 2017
  3. ↑ a b Randall Herbert Balmer: Hybels, Bill . In: Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism . Baylor University Press, Waco 2004, ISBN 1-932792-04-X , pp. 349 (English).
  4. ↑ Gotthard Westhoff: The "John C. Maxwell Concept." The Elder Statesman of leadership in a conversation about leadership quality in churches , Willow Creek Magazine, Giessen 1/2017, pp. 3-11
  5. ↑ Chicago Tribune: After years of inquiries, Willow Creek pastor denies misconduct allegations (accessed on April 11, 2018)
  6. ↑ idea news service: Willow Creek: Hybels resigns prematurely as main pastor (accessed on April 11, 2018)
  7. ↑ Bob Smietana: Bill Hybels Resigns from Willow Creek. Megachurch pastor “accelerates” October retirement weeks after former colleagues went public with misconduct allegations , Christianity Today , April 10, 2018
  8. ↑ He's a superstar pastor. She Worked for Him and Says He Groped Her Repeatedly , New York Times August 5, 2018, retrieved August 9, 2018
  9. ↑ Willow Creek Church's Lead Pastor and Board of Elders Resign , New York Times, August 8, 2018, accessed August 9, 2018
  10. ↑ https://www.willowcreek.de/index.php?id=1015
  11. ↑ Jörg Berger: The 9 × 1 of the character. Discover God's image of me. Francke, Marburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-86827-044-0 , pp. 122–127: Hope- bearers arrive with God
  12. ↑ Bill Hybels: About ( Memento August 1, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  13. ↑ Lynne Hybels: Thank you Bill, ... , Willow Creek Magazine 3/2016, pp. 8-11
  14. ^ Hybels at Gerth Medien
personal data
SURNAME Hybels, Bill
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hybels, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American Evangelical pastor and leader of Willow Creek
DATE OF BIRTH December 12, 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH Kalamazoo , Michigan