On Wednesday, I asked Willow Creek Association how many churches had dropped out of their Global Leadership Summit due to allegations of sexual harassment against Bill Hybels. Two days later, WCA answered the question in the Christian Post yesterday saying 111 host sites dropped out as a “direct result of sexual misconduct allegations” which led to Bill Hybels’ resignation from Willow Creek Church and related ministries.
In contrast to more confident comments made to the Daily Herald in early July by WCA president and CEO Tom DeVries, WCA’s statement yesterday said attendance will be affected. According to the July 2 report, DeVries said that attendance was not expected to suffer due to the controversy over Hybels.
Just 111?
Yesterday, I demonstrated how in Jaunary of this year WCA had advertised 700 host locations for the simulcast of the GLS. Currently, WCA is advertising 600 plus on the front page of the conference website and “over 500 locations” on their location search page. However, the actual number has fluctuated between 494-497 during the past week. Thus, it appears the drop in venues is over 200 venues (almost 29%) since the beginning of the year. Perhaps some have dropped out without giving a reason or for reasons other than the Hybels’ controversy.
Some church leaders have declined to issue a detailed statement simply saying they want to pause their involvement due to the allegations. Others, such as the Vineyard in Cincinnati have posted statements on their website. Here is the opening part of the Vineyard’s statement:
Many of you know that we have been a host site for Willow Creek’s Global Leadership Summit for 14 years. Some of you may have heard that the pastor of Willow Creek Church, Bill Hybels, has recently resigned amid allegations of misconduct with women perpetrated over many years. (See CHRISTIANITY TODAY ARTICLES)
After much thought and prayer, we have decided that Vineyard Cincinnati Church will not be a host site of the Global Leadership Summit this year.
We are reminded from Scripture that God calls us to defend the vulnerable — the orphan, the widow, the oppressed and those who suffer under the misuse of power.
In short, God cares deeply how those who possess power use that power. We pray that women everywhere who have suffered would see that God’s people stand with them and love them and care for them.
If you are associated with a church/venue which has canceled and have a comment please get in touch with me. Likewise, if you are associated with a church/venue and plan to go ahead with the event, let me know why you are doing so.
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Photo: By Ianphilpot at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18726346
“We are reminded from Scripture that God calls us to defend the vulnerable — the orphan, the widow, the oppressed and those who suffer under the misuse of power. In short, God cares deeply how those who possess power use that power.”
Good lord, how is the Vineyard Cincinnati Church working that out in relation to the current president?
“We are reminded from Scripture that God calls us to defend the vulnerable — the orphan, the widow, the oppressed and those who suffer under the misuse of power. In short, God cares deeply how those who possess power use that power.”
Good lord, how is the Vineyard Cincinnati Church working that out in relation to the current president?
I’d be interested in hearing about that, too.
I’d be interested in hearing about that, too.
Do we know that they support him?
That was basically my question, that and do they rebuke him if not.
I don’t think we can assume Vineyard Cincinnati is particularly pro-Trump. Yes, Cincy is a conservative city, but the Vineyards I’m familiar with are remarkably diverse politically and consistent advocates for justice.
As I said in my reply below, I was asking the question, not making an assumption. If they feel it necessary to make that public statement over accusations against Hybels, one would expect at least the same concerning the current president and administration. The latter has exponentially more power and has demonstrated the willingness to abuse it. I couldn’t find anything definitive, so I’m still curious as to whether anyone else knows.
I’m not sure I agree. They explicitly endorsed Bill Hybels and his leadership conference, so it makes sense that they would explain why they are retracting their endorsement. I’m assuming they didn’t explicitly endorse the president or host any of his campaign events on their premises. If they have some obligation to rebuke the president, it’s unrelated to their decision regarding Bill Hybels and the conference.
I disagree. Their original endorsement may indeed give them an additional reason to speak out, but the primary reason can be found in that statement, which in turn is sourced from scripture:
“We are reminded from Scripture that God calls us to defend the vulnerable — the orphan, the widow, the oppressed and those who suffer under the misuse of power. In short, God cares deeply how those who possess power use that power.”
There is no qualifier in there about doing so only when one has previously endorsed those misusing power (or anything else). I’m not trying to single out Vineyard Cincinnati Church, it’s just that they made a crystal clear statement which I think leads directly to my inquiry.
If there were ever a time in our history that the Church should speak with one loud voice in rebuke of our leaders, it would be now. Seriously, if not now, how can they speak up about anything else in the future? Yet we rarely hear rebuke, but agreement and even praise!
The more power the Church gains from money and politics, the weaker it gets spiritually. This is why the separation of church and state is also so important for the Church itself. If the God of the Bible is real, and any of this is true, then the only genuine power the Church has is in service to others, to show the love of God through mercy, kindness, and being different, not in aligning itself with the same passions and agenda as those outside it.
Forget not being salty, it doesn’t even smell so good anymore.
Well said.