This week in Christian history: Bill Hybels resigns, Dietrich Bonhoeffer executed
Bill Hybels resigns as leader of Willow Creek Church – April 10, 2018
This week marks the anniversary of when Bill Hybels, founder and senior pastor of the multisite megachurch Willow Creek Community Church of South Barrington, Illinois, announced that he was retiring six months earlier than planned in response to sexual misconduct allegations.
In the months leading up to his planned retirement, Hybels was accused of engaging in sexual misconduct, which allegedly included suggestive comments, unwanted physical contact, inviting women to hotel rooms and a consensual affair with a married woman.
Investigations commissioned by Willow Creek could not substantiate the allegations and the married woman who had accused him of an affair later retracted her claims. Critics claimed the church's investigation was insufficient.
Hybels maintained his innocence and denied the allegations, though he also acknowledged that others may have misinterpreted some of his past behaviors.
"I realize now that in certain settings and circumstances in the past I communicated things that were perceived in ways I did not intend, at times making people feel uncomfortable. I was blind to this dynamic for far too long. For that I'm very sorry," he said at the time.
"I too often placed myself in situations that would have been far wiser to avoid. I was, at times, naive about the dynamics those situations created. I'm sorry for the lack of wisdom on my part. I commit to never putting myself in similar situations in the future."
In 2019, an independent investigation concluded that the allegations that Hybels engaged in "sexually inappropriate words and actions" while pastor were credible.
