Visit to Willow Creek – Departing England Part One

A number of months ago I received an invitation to an ‘invite-only’ event at Willow Creek Community Church, Chicago. The event is called ‘Partnering to Prevail’, (you can find out more about it here ) and is a five-day advanced leadership development program that gives Senior Pastors and Church Leaders an opportunity to be in a group of no more than 75 people, taught by a world class ‘faculty’ including some of the senior leaders of Willow Creek. As soon as the invite was in my hands I knew I’d been given a rare and incredible opportunity that the Elders of PBC supported me going to. Training is essential for anyone, whatever their role. For Pastors, training is crucial because of the particular and unique demands of our role. If we want to see churches that can respond faithfully to the seismic changes and challenges of our world, and be communities of faith that live out Acts 2:42-47 and bring hope to our world, it’s leaders need to be continually growing. Bill Hybels really believes that if you can change a leader, you can change a church; and if you change a church, you can change a community; and if you can change enough communities, you can change a city, a county, a country.

15 years ago, when I started attending church for the first time in my life, the church was experimenting with using more drama and creativity in its services because a creative church in America that few people had heard of, including me, called Willow Creek, had inspired it. One of the key leaders noticed that I had experience and gifting in writing and acting, and empowered me to perform dramas in their services that painted a picture visually about the message that was being preached. Willow Creek’s innovative drama team had often written the dramas that we used that we didn’t write ourselves. Little did I know that a relationship had begun between a church and I that would continue for many years. By inviting me to contribute to their drama, the church in Worthing was actually connecting me as a brand-new Christian more widely into the family of the church, and was the beginning of some of its leaders empowering and encouraging a leadership gift that was in me that I didn’t even know I had. It’s impossible to say, but without that connection that began my relationship with a church in such a healthy way, would I be where I am today? Willow Creek’s passion to use the Arts had motivated a church in Worthing that had then invited me to take part. Why am I saying all this? Willow Creek is the story of literally thousands of changed lives, and in a very real way, they’ve contributed to the beginning of my Christian life, and they’ve empowered me in these later stages as I seek to grow as a leader and Pastor.