Willow Creek Community Church Hosts Annual Celebration of Hope

On Saturday, April 14, Willow Creek Community Church kicks off their 13th annual Celebration Of Hope, aimed to shed light on global concerns, unite the local community in support of some of the world’s most impoverished countries and bring hope to the corners of the world that need it most.

“Celebration of Hope was developed more than a decade ago to mobilize our compassion and justice ministry and share the love of Jesus globally. It’s a way for our congregation and the local community to learn about imperative world issues and positively impact those who need it most,” says Executive Pastor, Heather Larson. “This initiative shows how powerful the local church can be. You can’t help but be changed by what transpires in these two weeks.”

The Chicagoland church donates $3.5 million dollars annually to support key causes in some of the world’s most economically disadvantaged countries, centralized in Central America and the Caribbean, Southern and Central Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Funds are used to fight poverty through refugee support, education programs, clean-water initiatives, health care, microenterprise efforts and more. Celebration of Hope not only informs the congregation of these programs, but provides a way for people to tangibly get involved.

Throughout the initiative, Willow Creek will host partners and distinguished leaders who are positively changing the world and provide opportunities for individuals everywhere to give back and make a lasting impact.

Seed Packing for Africa

Beginning Friday, April 20 through Sunday, April 22, Willow Creek invites anyone and everyone to be among the 20,000 volunteers who will fill more than one million seed packs at each of their eight Chicagoland locations, which will be distributed to their partners in Africa. Local schools will seek to fill an additional 100,000 packs, empowering the youth in the community. Each pack will supply a family with enough seeds to grow a garden that will produce a sustainable source of food and income for their household. Seed packing times and church locations can be found at WillowCreek.org.

Willow Creek 5K

To put hope into action, on Saturday, April 28, at 9 a.m., Willow Creek hosts the family-friendly 5K race at the South Barrington location where more than 3,000 participants will spark change. Proceeds from this year’s USATF-certified race will build and equip classrooms for kids in the Dominican Republic, Cambodia and Zambia. Interested participants can register at WillowCreek.org.

Celebration of Hope Guest Speakers Series

Each weekend throughout Celebration of Hope, Willow Creek will host a distinguished speaker who will share a message about their global compassion work to challenge, encourage and educate those in attendance. Services at the South Barrington location take place on Saturdays at 5:30 p.m. and Sundays at 9:00 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. The full list of speakers can be found online at WillowCreek.org. Those who can’t attend can tune in to willowcreek.tv.

“We hope and pray that Celebration of Hope is an eye opening experience for the local community. We want people to learn how they can make a difference globally, and take action with us at Willow Creek and beyond,” says Director of Global Compassion and Justice, Mark Haugen.

More information about Willow Creek Community Church and its locations can be found at willowcreek.org and on social media @WillowCreekCC.

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Willow Creek Community Church, now in its 42nd year, is a non-denominational Christian church with weekly attendance of more than 24,000. The main campus is located at 67 E. Algonquin Road, South Barrington, Illinois. Seven other campuses are located throughout Chicago.

67 E. Algonquin Road, South Barrington, IL 60010-6143 • 847.765.5000 • willowcreek.org