Willow Creek Community Church announced it will commission an independent investigation of sexual harassment allegations against founding pastor Bill Hybels, a day after one of the two pastors who succeeded Hybels resigned over the church’s handling of the matter.
Heather Larson, lead pastor at the influential evangelical Chicago-area megachurch, announced the investigation Monday (Aug. 6) in an email to church members. The inquiry will be led, Larson said, by an advisory council of Christian leaders from across the country and funded by an anonymous outside donor.
Steve Carter, who was named lead teaching pastor alongside Larson in April, announced his resignation on his blog Sunday (Aug. 5) over differences with how the church has handled the allegations against Hybels. Carter did not appear at Sunday services at Willow Creek’s main campus in South Barrington, Ill.
“At this point … I cannot, in good conscience, appear before you as your Lead Teaching Pastor when my soul is so at odds with the institution,” Carter wrote.
A March investigation by the Chicago Tribune and later reporting in Christianity Today documented several women’s claims that Hybels had invited them to hotel rooms, commented on their appearance and in one case given a former co-worker an unwanted kiss. The Tribune also reported allegations against Hybels previously had been…
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