Reflecting on My First 18-Months at Willow

Last year, our sister ministry, Willow Creek Deutschland, asked me to write about our first 18-months. It resulted in a 3-part series. This is adapted from part one that was published in September 2021.

I lived in the midwest in the United States, and heard about a church nearby that was focused on reaching people far from God. It had started in a movie theater -- and in fact was still holding services in that theater when I first attended. My work at the time gave me the opportunity to personally work in more than 500 churches, but this was unlike any church I had ever visited. They weren’t going after the “already convinced.” Instead, they were focused on people who were uncomfortable with the idea of church. The language was different, the music was more current and upbeat, the signage and design of the space felt very familiar--like visiting a store or music venue more than a house of worship.

Before I continue, let me correct what you are thinking. No, this wasn’t Willow Creek in the 1970’s. This was the early 90’s at a church a couple hours away from Chicago in northern Indiana. At Granger Community Church, we had never heard about Willow when we first launched in 1986. But a few years later someone told us about a church in the suburbs of Chicago that had a similar history and focus. We took our first of what would be scores of trips over the next couple of decades to South Barrington to learn from Willow Creek Community Church.

Learning from Willow was like drinking from a water fountain in the desert. We couldn’t get enough. With our close proximity, every year we would take dozens, or sometimes hundreds, of people to the Church Leadership Conference to learn about a new way to do church. We’d send leaders to small groups conferences, worship conferences, and strategic planning workshops. When the Willow Creek Association formed and began having “member churches” — we were one of the first to sign up. Later, when the Global Leadership Summit began to consider additional locations — we were in early conversations and became one of the first host sites.

At the time, it seemed like there was a special favor upon Willow unlike anything that had ever happened in the Church throughout history. God’s hand seemed to bless everything Willow tried, and as we entered the 90’s and early 2000’s, the internet made it possible for the entire world to tune in as it was happening. 

Over the years, I met dozens of leaders and staff members from Willow, and I do not recall any negative interactions. I found the staff to be open-handed and available. I imagined them to be unbelievably busy--and yet they seemed to be very generous with their time. Willow hosted conferences for “departmental” areas such as small groups, children’s ministry and worship -- yet I never felt the attitude of “This is the only way to do it” or “You should do it like we do.” It always felt like, “This is what we do. It works for us. If it works for you, then let us help.”

As a pastor working with a team to build a prevailing local church, I was so impressed with every resource, every conference, every leader from Willow that I spent time with. You’ve read the Bible verse in the Old Testament that describes Joseph in this way:

“The LORD was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did…”  (Genesis 39:2, NLT). 

For me, Willow was the church-equivalent of Joseph. “The Lord was with Willow, so they succeeded in everything they did.”

I eventually left that church in Indiana and spent the next several years working with churches all over the United States and Canada. I found hundreds of churches just like mine--that had been impacted deeply by the ministry and generosity of Willow Creek and the Global Leadership Network. Later I learned it was actually thousands of churches, and not just in North America, but all over the world.

My heart was shattered in 2018 when, with the rest of the Church world, I saw the stress fractures begin to emerge, then be exposed, and then watched the implosion from within at Willow that would go public over the next several months. Like many, I sat in disbelief, then anger, then sadness. I lived with the question, “How could this happen?” for quite awhile. One of my heroes had fallen, and hundreds of thousands of believers would have their faith shaken as a result. We soon learned the story of scores of lives that had been ruined through the sinful choices of a few.

What would take place at Willow over the next two years would be nothing short of a complete leadership lobotomy.

The void of leadership is what reconnected me with Willow in mid-2019. The core of my consulting work was helping search committees and elder boards find new pastors. I did this hundreds of times--sometimes with megachurches, other times with congregations as small as a few dozen people. I loved it all.

You might think the big churches were more fun -- but there is nothing like being in the fellowship hall of a tiny rural church in the middle of a field eating corn casserole at a potluck (hello Pella, Iowa!), and breathing hope into a weary congregation that has been without a pastor for years.)

When we were invited by Willow to help with the senior pastor search, we were so grateful. Our entire leadership team at Vanderbloemen had a similar experience with Willow--so we were honored to walk alongside the church in this difficult season with this crucial decision. 

I wasn’t sure what to expect when meeting the new Willow Creek elder board for the first time in May 2019. But I can tell you, what I found was not what I expected. This was a group of men and women who loved Jesus with all their hearts, who loved Willow Creek and were hopeful about her future, who were deep believers in the power of prayer, and who led through their humility. They knew they weren’t perfect and didn’t pretend to be so. Being around them breathed life into my soul. 

Without this sounding too sappy, I fell in love with this group of leaders. I had never lost hope for Willow. But with every interaction with the elders over the next nine months, my hope would grow. 

Every few weeks, I would get on a plane from Houston to Chicago to meet with Willow’s elder board. Some of these meetings extended late into the night. These weren’t easy meetings, but I loved my job, and it was fulfilling work. Even when, in December 2019, the elders decided to pass on the final two individuals that we had presented as candidates--and the work needed to continue--I was not discouraged. I knew God was doing something special at Willow. He was writing a new future...and I felt like I had a front row seat to what was emerging.

At the end of January 2020, we presented six additional candidates to the elders. It was a good meeting, and they seemed excited to dive in and begin the hard work of interviewing and vetting.

I was grateful for the meeting, but also was aware that something was beginning to happen inside my mind and heart. I had not experienced this before with any other church I’d been working alongside. I was beginning to feel my heart pulled toward this group of elders, and toward Willow, in ways I couldn’t explain. 

I flew home to Houston, and on a walk with my wife, said, “Something is happening inside me about Willow.” She asked me a dozen questions (if you know Faith, you aren’t surprised), and I couldn’t answer any of them. I couldn’t put words to it (if you know me, you aren’t surprised by that either!), I just knew something was stirring in my heart. It felt like God was saying I was supposed to play another part in Willow’s future, beyond the search for the senior pastor, but that didn’t make sense to me. At the time, I had no interest in going back on staff at a local church. I loved my role of serving lots of churches in a consulting role--I was thriving in my work.

In addition to my wife, I told two mentors, and the three of them said they would pray with me about it. I committed to say nothing to anyone at Willow. If God wanted my life to cross paths with Willow in some other way, He would have to make it clear. 

It took the elders about 60-days to work through the candidates and choose Dave Dummitt as the next senior pastor. Dave and I had met one time about three years earlier, but I did not know him outside of my work. So I was shocked when Dave called me after that decision and said, “What would you think about coming and helping me build Willow into a thriving local church?”

As shocked as I was by the call, my heart was there. As I jumped in to get to know Dave better in the next few days, I learned our hearts had the same desire. Neither of us had any interest in making Willow great again...or returning her to a glorious past. Rather, we agreed the strength of Willow Creek in the future lies in the hearts and souls of men and women, some who have been attending for decades, and others who are just now exploring faith at one of the campuses. It depends on discovering a new vision—the right vision for the next season. It isn’t reliant on reviving what once was.

Willow Creek is not broken and limping. I’ve met with many of the women and men devastated by the past, so I don’t want to minimize the wounds that many have experienced, or the healing that is still happening, but in my short time I’ve seen some bright spots of life and community and impact happening right now through our congregations spread across Chicagoland. I’ve been hearing stories of people taking steps in their faith, of the church being the church and meeting the needs of the hungry and unemployed and emotionally distraught. I’ve heard stories of people meeting Jesus for the first time, and we’ve seen hundreds of new believers baptized.

Join Tim for Monthly Virtual Coaching Network

I haven’t heard people around Willow talking about rebuilding the church into “what it once was.” Rather, how about we take much of what has been good in the DNA, and together build Willow into a local church that pleases the heart of God?

We are about 18-months into a new season at Willow Creek. There truly is a growing sense of hope and excitement about the future. Pulling from the good DNA in our history, we are also seeing God work in new ways.

There is an increasing focus on and movement toward prayer like never before-- especially among the staff. There is a move away from top-down leadership to a more collaborative team approach. Without sacrificing excellence, there is a move toward a more authentic experience in our worship services. Rather than needing to be the creator or originator of every resource, we have a desire to partner with others who are doing good kingdom work. Our leaders are putting an emphasis on health more than metrics — while believing that healthy things grow.

The story is still being written. The future won’t look like the past. But at least for me, in my first 18-months, there is a lot to celebrate.

The next article, published in November 2021, will dive into our work to surface God’s mission and vision for Willow in this next season. I’ll post that here in the coming weeks.