ILLINOIS
Christian Post
By Leonardo Blair , Christian Post Reporter | Apr 27, 2018
Citing the event’s “high identification” with Willow Creek Community Church founder Bill Hybels, who has been accused by several women of sexual misconduct, an Illinois megachurch pastor announced that his church will no longer serve as a host site for Willow Creek Association’s annual Global Leadership Summit set for this summer.
In a statement cited by the Daily Herald, Daniel D. Meyer, senior pastor of the multi-campus Christ Church Oak Brook and Downers Grove, said the church was “taking a purposeful pause” from the two-day leadership-building event set to attract nearly 500,000 participants globally, as a result of the multiple allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct that forced Hybels into early retirement this month.
“Both the Christian and the American traditions have seen the value of stopping normal activities to observe a moment of silence … or to lower a flag to half-staff … or to issue a collective cry of lament — in the face of significant crisis, turmoil, or loss,” Meyer said in his statement.
“We believe that the stories of the women that are now being told are deserving of this pause to listen, reflect and change,” he continued. “We feel that unless we stop to listen, some stories that need to be heard will not be told and we as a community will lose the opportunity those voices can give us to become more compassionate, just and holy.”
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