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Bill Hybels is the founding and Senior Pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois. Willow Creek's innovative ministries have made it one of the most attended churches in North America, with an average attendance of 17,115 as of 2003 (Dr. John N. Vaughn, Church Growth Today). He is also an author of several Christian books, especially on the subject of Christian leadership. His charismatic personality, coupled with his sincere style, has made Hybels one of the most popular faces of the modern evangelical movement. The Willow Creek Association (WCA) is a not-for-profit ministry of Willow Creek Community Church. The WCA has an estimated 10,500 member churches of 90 denominations in 35 countries. Membership in the WCA (currently $249) offers discounted rates for conferences and Willow Creek resources, a monthly audio journal for church leaders, a quarterly magazine, and more. There are no known controversies surrounding Hybels personally, as is been the case with other well-known religious figures. Criticisms of Bill Hybels, Willow Creek/Seeker Sensitive/Church GrowthMany Christians have expressed concerns with Bill Hybels, Willow Creek, and the Seeker Sensitive/Church Growth movement.
The following essays and articles raise issues with certain aspects of their methods, from their 'Walmart-esque' business model, to their humanist worldview, unconventional worship styles and Eastern influences. The "seeker-friendly" movement which Willow Creek, Bill Hybels and their associations are involved in, have been the subject of much debate. The movement is criticized for being more interested with, and catering to, people's (often self-centred) "wants" rather than their real "need" (the latter representing traditional Biblical preaching). Also, Hybels was heavily influenced by Robert Schuller, considered by some fundamentalists and evangelicals to be a "heretic".- "According to the recent set of essays explaining the business models of the Mega-Churches in the seeker/church growth movement, the church in America is not growing overall. In fact the overall growth of evangelicalism in the US is flat. So what is all the talk about God doing a magnificent work or revival in America, especially as boasted by many of the Rick Warren clones? The reason is similar to when a Home Depot or Walmart moves into a small town. All your needs can be met in one place so the mom and pop shops close up. The same kind of market driven philosophy is taking place in the church." -
- "Worldliness is departing from God. It is a man-centered way of thinking; it proposes objectives which demand no
radical breach with man’s fallen nature; it judges the importance of things by the present and material results; it weighs success by numbers; it covets human esteem and wants no unpopularity; it knows no truth for which it is worth suffering; it declines to be a ‘fool for Christ’s sake’. Worldliness is the mindset of the unregenerate. It adopts idols and is at war with God." - Iain H. Murray
- "Of all the trends I've observed, the explosion of the "seeker"-centered megachurches is one of the most disturbing. Mega-churches in America have become absurd to the point where satire is almost impossible. Starbucks franchises and Christian tattoo parlors are now on church property. Rappers, hula praise dancers, contortionists, acupuncturists, liposuctionists, the side show of evangelicalism has an ever expanding cast of performers. The future of evangelicalism is here and it comes as an Elvis impersonator. Worse, in a quest for what's real, false teaching is entering through the traditions of the East, like meditation and yoga in the new Emergent church movement." -
- by Robert Reymond
- by Nathan Busenitz
- By James Sundquist
- by Mary Fairchild. Why is Willow Creek promoting New Age spirituality and mysticism like "vain repetition" mantras, centering, and listening to "the voice within" in their women's groups?
- by Laura M. Kaczorowski. Distinguished Majors Honors Thesis Paper, University of Virginia, Department of Sociology, May 11, 1997
- by Paul Proctor. "The bottom line is this; Willow Creek is a showboat, sold as a Christian cruise that in time will be remembered as another Titanic."
- Issue 89 - July7/August 2005 by Bob Dewaay
- By Pastor Dan Norcini
- by Chris Carmichael
- by Aaron D. Wolf
- by F.J. Smith
- : Church Growth, Seeker Sensitive, Influence.
- In a radio interview , Rick Phillips discussed how so many Evangelical leaders today are "building worldly empires by suppressing the truth". In the excerpts from a news article, Bill Hybels shows how his empire was built by relegating "truth" to the back seat.
- A sobering look at the church growth seeker-sensitive models by Clay Miller
- By Orrel Steinkamp, The Plumbline, Volume 10, No. 3, November/December 2005
- by Mary Fairchild, March 2003
- by James Sundquist, Rock Salt Publishing There is an epidemic movement which has infected even the most conservative denominations and seminaries, which began in the United States more than a decade ago, and is now being manifested throughout the Church globally. One of the founders of this "seeker-friendly" movement is Bill Hybels, Senior Pastor of Willowcreek Church in the Chicago area.
- by Os Guinness
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