Willow Creek Pastor Announces Independent Probe Into Hybels

SOUTH BARRINGTON, IL – An independent investigation lead by an advisory council of Christian leaders from across the U.S. will look into allegations of sexual harassment against Willow Creek Community Church founder Bill Hybels, lead pastor Heather Larson wrote in an e-mail to members on Monday. Larson wrote church leaders were working on finalizing “the key group of people” who would handle the investigation, according to the Daily Herald. An outside donor will pay for the investigation to “ensure there is no undue influence on the process and the conclusions."

“This council will have fullautonomy and authority to pursue and investigate any and all allegations,” Larson wrote.

On Sunday, the mega church’s lead teaching pastor, Steve Carter, announced he would be stepping. The decision came following a Sunday New York Times article, which detailed allegations by Hybels' former executive assistant, who told the newspaper she was sexually harassed by Hybels for two years.

Carter called the new allegations "horrifying." He wrote in a letter posted on his blog Sunday afternoon that he had offered his resignation to the church "many weeks ago" but was asked to delay the announcement and to continue in his duties until "leadership determined how to make the decision public."

When the recent allegations surfaced, he said he decided to step down – effective immediately.

"...I cannot, in good conscience, appear before you as your Lead Teaching Pastor when my soul is so at odds with the institution," he wrote Sunday.

He added that he has not agreed with how the church has handled allegations against Hybels.

"After many frank conversations with our elders, it became clear that there is a fundamental difference in judgment between what I believe is necessary for Willow Creek to move in a positive direction, and what they think is best. That is not to say that I am right and they are wrong. But I must follow the path that I believe God has laid out for me to live with integrity, and that path now diverges from Willow Creek," Carter wrote.

Larson, in a Sunday e-mail to church members, said she washeartbroken over the latest allegations, according to the Daily Herald.

The allegations published by the New York Times on Sunday detail Pat Baranowski's account of her time working as Hybels' executive assistant. Barnowski also lived with Hybels' family for a period in the 1980s. Now 65 years old, she told the New York Times how Hybels first crossed the line in 1986. While his wife and children were away, she said he offered to give her a back rub and straddled her, unhooked her bra and touched her near her breasts.

Over the next several months, she told the New York Times he fondled her breasts and rubbed against her several times. There was also one occasion of oral sex.

In an email to the New York Times, Hybels denied the allegations.

The Chicago Tribune first reported of allegations surrounding Hybels' inappropriate behavior with women in his congregation, which "ran afoul of church teachings," this past March. In that article, the Tribune reports Hybels has been cleared of inquiries by the church after women reported inappropriate behavior, which included lingering hugs, an unwanted kiss, suggestive comments and an invitation to a hotel room.

In Sunday's New York Times article, the newspaper explains how the allegations against Hybels, who was a spiritual adviser to President Bill Clinton and led the church for 42 years before stepping down, stayed buried for so long:

In many evangelical churches, a magnetic pastor like Mr. Hybels is the superstar on whom everything else rests, making accusations of harassment particularly difficult to confront. Such a pastor is seen as a conduit to Christ, giving sermons so mesmerizing that congregants rush to buy tapes of them after services.
In the evangelical world, Mr. Hybels is considered a giant, revered as a leadership guru who discovered the formula for bringing to church people who were skeptical of Christianity. His books and speeches have crossed over into the business world.
Mr. Hybels built a church independent of any denomination. In such churches, there is no larger hierarchy to set policies and keep the pastor accountable. Boards of elders are usually volunteers recommended, and often approved, by the pastor.
But the most significant reason sexual harassment can go unchecked is that victims do not want to hurt the mission of their churches.

Willow Creek is one of the nation's largest mega churches and has a regular weekend attendance of over 20,000 worshipers. The church's main campus is in South Barrington but Willow Creek also has locations in Chicago, Lincolnshire, Wheaton, Crystal Lake, Huntley and Glenview.

More via the New York Times

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