Willow Creek Community Church

Infobox church
color =
name = Willow Creek Community Church
fullname =

---

img_size =
img_capt =
landscape =
denomination = Non-Denominational, Evangelical Christian
diocese =
parish =
division =
subdivision =
founded_date = 1975
founder = Bill Hybels
architect =
style =
constructed_date =
dedicated_date =
closed_date =
demolished_date =
bishop =
priest =
archdeacon =
dean =
provost =
rector =
canon =
prebendary =
curate =
chaplain =
vicar =
deacon =
abbot =
minister =
seniorpastor = Bill Hybels
pastor =
address = 67 East Algonquin Road, South Barrington, IL 60010
country = United States
phone = 847.765.5000
website = [http://www.willowcreek.org www.willowcreek.org]

Willow Creek Community Church (or simply Willow Creek Church) is a non-denominational, Evangelical Christian megachurch located in the Chicago suburb of South Barrington, Illinois. It was founded on October 12, 1975 by Bill Hybels, who is currently the Senior Pastor. The church has three weekend services averaging more than 20,000 attendees, making it the second largest church in the United States after Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. The church has been listed as the most influential church in America the last several years in a national poll of pastors. [ [http://www.thecronline.com/mag_article.php?mid=1094&mname=July ChurchReport.com ] ]

History

Willow Creek Community Church started when Bill Hybels and Dave Holmbo [http://www.cmmlink.com/Tribute.htm] were inspired by the success of the South Park Church’s youth ministry, of which they were both leaders (Dave had invited Bill to work with him a few years earlier), and aspired to start a church that used relevant biblical teaching, music, and drama. On October 12, 1975, the church met for the first time, renting Willow Creek Theater in Palatine, Illinois.In 1977, the church purchased 90 acres in South Barrington to build its own building. The first service was held in the new building in February 1981. Since then, the building has been doubled in size and the property expanded to convert|155|acre|km2. There are now nearly 100 ministries that are designed to serve a variety of needs for different age and people groups. [cite web |url=http://www.willowcreek.org/history.asp |title=History - Willow Creek Community Church]

Beliefs

Willow Creek Community Church states that its mission is to, “Turn irreligious people into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.”The church bases its belief on the Bible, asserting it to be inspired by God, innerant, infallible, and the final authority on matters which it covers.Based on its understanding of the Bible, the church then draws the following conclusions:
*There is one God, eternally existing in three persons— Father, Son, and Holy Spirit— each possessing all the attributes of Deity.
*Humans were created by God to have fellowship with Him, but due to their rejection of God, they need His saving grace, which must be received by repentance and faith, in order to end the separation from Him.
*Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth and then voluntarily paid for the sin of humans with His death on the cross. This offers salvation for those who trust in Jesus. He rose from the dead and is the mediator between us and God. Christ will return to the earth to consummate history.
*The Holy Spirit draws sinners to Christ and equips believers for personal growth and service to the church.
*The church's role is to glorify God and serve those in need.
*At the end, everyone will experience bodily resurrection and the judgment. Those forgiven through Christ will enjoy eternal fellowship with God.

Church organization

Willow Creek Community Church's leadership is divided into four sections:
*Teaching Pastors
*Board of Elders
*Board of Directors
*Leadership Team

Willow Creek has several “regional congregations” around the Chicago area:
*McHenry County
*North Shore
*DuPage County
*Downtown Chicago

Willow Creek has different ministries depending on the age of the person:
*Promiseland (Infants-grade 5)
*Elevate (Junior high)
*Student Impact (High school)
*Axis (18 to 20-somethings "young adults")
*Main service (adults)

The church holds three weekend services and one midweek service on Wednesday. The weekend services are specifically designed to reach the unchurched, while the midweek (New Community) services are designed with the believer in mind. Once a month, Willow Creek includes FX services. FX stands for Family Experience designed for families with children from kindergarten through Grade Five.

The slogan for Willow Creek and their regional congregations is “One Church. Multiple Locations.” The regional congregations each have their own worship team, student ministry, children’s program, and campus pastoral team. The main message is videocast from the South Barrington campus for the weekly services.

Aside from the suburban congregations, beginning October 1, 2006, the church has held one Sunday service before matinee performances at the Auditorium Theatre just south of the Chicago Loop. The church will also use its downtown presence to develop its ministries for the homeless and prostitutes. [cite news |title=Suburban megachurch readies expansion to Chicago |publisher=Chicago Tribune |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/newsroom/chi-060731willowcreek,1,7994566.story?coll=chi-news-hed |author=Brachear, Manya A. |date=2006-07-31 |accessdate=2006-07-31 ]

Willow Creek Association

In 1992, the Willow Creek Association was created as a way to link together churches for the purpose of “Reaching increasing numbers of lost people." The WCA develops training and leadership conferences and resources for its member churches. The Willow Creek Association is often confused with Willow Creek Community Church, or mistaken for a denomination. However, it is a distinctly separate organization which has close affiliations with Willow Creek Community Church.There are more than 13,000 member churches, which come from 90 denominations, and 45 different countries.There is an annual membership fee of $249 which gives the member church access to discounts on Willow Creek Resources and conferences, as well as a magazine, an audio journal, several web-based ministry tools, and a variety of Select Service Providers. Select Service Providers are ministries and organizations that provide products and services to member churches for a discounted price. Examples and more details about WCA Membership can be found on their website: [http://www.willowcreek.com/membership/member_benefits.asp WCA Membership]

To be a member of WCA it is a requirement that the member church, ministry, or leader hold to an “historic, orthodox understanding of biblical Christianity.”

Since 1996, Willow Creek Association has held an annual Leadership Summit. Speakers at the Leadership Summit have included President Bill Clinton [cite news |url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2000/134/54.0.html |title=Clinton Visit Provokes Church Members |author=Cutrer, Corrie |date=2000-08-25 |publisher=Christianity Today] , Karen Hughes, who is the Special Advisor to President George W. Bush, Lady Vols' women's college Basketball coach Pat Summitt, Dallas, Texas pastor Bishop T.D. Jakes, University of Southern California president Steven Sample, Yahoo!'s Tim Sanders, business author and leadership consultant Marcus Buckingham, and Rick Warren, pastor and author of The Purpose Driven Life. The 2005 Leadership Summit had over 53,000 attendees in over 100 locations across North America. [cite web |url=http://www.willowcreek.com/events/leadership |title=Leadership conference overview] The 2006 Leadership Summit featured Bill Hybels interviewing U2 frontman Bono.

The 2007 Leadership Summit served 80,000 leaders in over 130 cities. Speakers included Colin Powell, Jimmy Carter, John Ortberg, Richard Curtis, Carly Fiorina, Michael E. Porter, Marcus Buckingham and Willow Creek Community Church's Senior Pastor, Bill Hybels. [cite web |url=http://willowcreek.org.au/gls07speakers |title=GLS07 Speaker Lineup |publisher=Willow Creek Australia |accessdate=2007-10-14]

Worship Center

Willow Creek's state-of-the-art Worship Center (completed in 2004 at an estimated cost of $73 million) [cite news|author=Stokes, Jim|title=Willow Creek Redefines Worship|publisher="Sound & Communications"|url=http://www.meyersound.com/news/in_media/willow_creek.pdf|date=2005-04-18] seats over 7,200 people, making it over twice as large as the Kodak Theater in Hollywood and the largest theater in the United States. [Rybczynski, Witold. "An Anatomy of Megachurches: The new look for places of worship," "Slate" October 10, 2005.]

It is the first church in the world to make use of two Mitsubishi "Diamond Vision" LED screens 14'x 24' in size, usually seen in new sports stadiums. Each screen is movable on its own track systems and can be combined into one giant screen. (The approximate cost per screen is $750,000.) The Worship Center also has innovative dual, stacked-deck balconies.

Wheelchair seating has a "1 person to 1 LCD ratio" for disabled attendees. Back rows have convert|62|in|m|sing=on LCD screens at an approximate "10 seats to 1 LCD ratio." Every TV broadcasts the service across the room utilizing 8-12 standard definition cameras. Although the room is HD ready, only one HD camera is currently used for weekly services. It is estimated that the auditorium cost more than $50 million dollars to construct, though several key components were donated to the building.

Notable Members

The formation of the Christian rock/Contemporary Christian music group BarlowGirl is associated by Willow Creek. The Barlow sisters' father, Vince Barlow, created youth CDs at Willow Creek. His work gained exposure throughout the United States, and he was hired to perform at events. [ [http://music.yahoo.com/library/default.asp?i=310014&m=bio&add=& BarlowGirl Biography at yahoo.com] , Retrieved March 24 2008] He brought his daughters as his backup band in the late 1990s. [ [http://www.yourmusiczone.com/go/ymz/music_artist_more/barlowgirl/ BarlowGirl Biography at YourMusicZone.com] , Retrieved July 16 2007]

Another notable former member is Shane Claiborne who did an intership at the church. He is the author of The Irresistible Revolution - living as an ordinary radical (by Zondervan ISBN 0-310-26630-0) and Jesus for President: politics for ordinary radicals (by Zondervan ISBN 978-0-310-27842-9).

References

External links

Willow Creek websites

* [http://www.willowcreek.org Willow Creek Community Church] - South Barrington, IL, USA
* [http://www.willowcreek.com Willow Creek Association] - resources for churches of various names and denominations across North America and the world
* [http://www.willowcreek.com/news/story.asp?id=NF01082004 Recap of the 2004 WCA Leadership Summit]
* [http://www.willowchicago.org] Willow Creek Downtown Chicago Campus

Perspectives and analysis

* [http://journal-of-young-adult-ministry.org/axisreport.html No One Stands Alone: Gen X Assimilation in the Axis Ministry of Willow Creek Community Church]
* [http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2000/013/5.62.html Willow Creek's Place in History]

Books about Willow Creek Community Church

*
*