Lael ArringtonGrieving with Willow Creek Church, Bill Hybels, and the Women Whose Stories Should Concern Us All – Lael Arrington https://laelarrington.com Faith and Culture: Live Wisely Love Well Thu, 19 Jun 2025 12:15:37 +0000 en-US hourly 1 73081510 Grieving with Willow Creek Church, Bill Hybels, and the Women Whose Stories Should Concern Us All https://laelarrington.com/2018/08/grieving-with-willow-creek-church-bill-hybels-and-the-women-whose-stories-should-concern-us-all/ https://laelarrington.com/2018/08/grieving-with-willow-creek-church-bill-hybels-and-the-women-whose-stories-should-concern-us-all/#comments Wed, 22 Aug 2018 12:30:06 +0000 admin http://laelarrington.com/?p=6646

“Love one another…weep with those who weep.” image c/o Story Blocks

 

Few Christian leaders have impacted me as deeply as Bill Hybels. As a pastor’s wife, Bill’s vision for the power and nobility of the local church changed my understanding of what my life was about: “The Church is the hope of the world.” “There’s nothing like the local church when the local church is working right.” His contagious passion energized me to be more creative and invest more deeply in the church Jesus loves.

So along with tens of thousands of others I groaned at the news that several women have accused him of sexual sin. And not just any women. Extraordinarily gifted women leaders that I watched him encourage and elevate in his own church ministry: Nancy Beach. Nancy Ortberg. Vonda Dyer.

What follows is a summary with links of this sad business and a bit of my own struggle to come to grips with these accusations.

While the accusations were brought to the Willow Creek Church elder board four years ago, after two investigations that found no evidence they broke publicly in the Chicago Tribune newspaper on March 23rd:

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