CHICAGO (RNS) — Dave Dummitt said “no” to Willow Creek Community Church twice.
When the Chicago-area megachurch first reached out to him about stepping into the role of the senior pastor, Dummitt worried it was “not an environment that I felt like I could serve very well.”
The church hadn’t had a full-time senior pastor in nearly two years, ever since founding pastor Bill Hybels resigned amid allegations of abusing power and sexual misconduct. Though Hybels has denied those allegations, an independent group of Christian leaders found them credible.
Hybels’ successors and Willow Creek’s entire elder board later resigned over the church’s handling of the allegations.
Dummitt thought the new elder board might try to micromanage the next senior pastor.
He thought the church might need a “shepherding, relational leader,” which isn’t what he called his “unique gift.”
In the end, he said, the people of Willow Creek, based in South Barrington, Illinois, drew him to the church.
“Once you get to know the people of Willow Creek, it’s hard not to love the people of Willow Creek,” he told Religion News Service in a recent interview.
Dummitt, who recently preached his first message online as senior pastor of Willow Creek, talked to Religion News Service last week about stepping into his new role amid pandemic and protests, rebuilding trust at Willow Creek and his…
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