And in the few times Ive spoken with him, I found his insights to be profound. Im still waiting for the apology for the public apology for giving. So Im very much looking forward to our time together today. The thing that is so terrifying is that someone who has been a senior pastor in an organization like that is not beyond it. 1 talking about this. And so when you see behaviors that look like grooming, you know, John Calvin, Im not a Calvinist. Mike is a dear friend and Im sad this day has come. The fact that, I dont know. This is a calling. I encourage leaders to research their selection criteria carefully before they recruit for their next vacancies. This is Chicago Tribune. This is people who are dissillusioned, who wanted big jobs at Willow and didnt get them. But when Scot, the the intra tribal dissenter steps up and says, This is wrong, things shifted. May God lead your next steps and may you find ways to use your gifts from a place of health. The Journal Sentinel reported: Elmbrook resignations are the latest to rock evangelical Christian churches. The cover up of his behavior manifested at the elder board level. Friends are important! I would love to see Chicago experience revival. At one point, the elder board at Willow became what people call a policy governance board. I wasnt throughout the representation. I think its incredibly dangerous. I have plenty of authentic friends just not at church. But when we look at it from some practical ways that God used people to undo this, explain what you see as being the key forces. This person or these people were hurt as a result, you have a pride problem. Board members selected in such a way are unlikely to honor their fiduciary duty ahead of their desire to please the board chairman or senior pastor. I hear you say that and I believe in accountability really strongly. Thankyou in advance. I think that he lost that. As a lawyer whos represented some of Bill Hybels victims Mitch Little has seen a side of Willow Creek that few others have. Dear anonymous. Now, I coach pastors and business leaders in communications and self-care. Jill At that age, I had never had someone in spiritual authority lie or manipulate me. WebHi friend, I'm Pete Briscoe. Their board operated by unanimity as well. They need accountability. Today were talking with Pete Briscoe, who served as the senior pastor for nearly three decades at Bent Tree Bible Fellowship in Carrollton, Texas, and now consults with and coaches pastors. Interestingly enough, during the interview, he seemed extremely angry and resentful. These are people that may be in the cubicle next to you at work, who have an acuity for blending in to normal life. So you can go to Amazon and enter in Boz Tchividjian and his book will pop up but you need to know what youre looking for because people who are sexual predators, they have an acuity for blending into society in ways that they dont stand out like this is not like, you know, the sexual predator in your church is not some, you know, grease ball sitting outside your kids ministry just kind of looking for a way to get at, like, thats our common image of what a sexual predator is. Yet Mitch isnt just the lawyer whos seen megachurches as an outsider bringing accountability. Subscribe Sign up for my daily email devotionals and to stay in touch! And thats not what this is about. Lets say you have you have six or eight members who are saying, Guys, we need to fire this person. This is the kind of thing that you would expect from someone whos cruel and not in relationship with Jesus. How does our elder board navigate things differently with that Pastor? And you mentioned to me that there were some stop signs along the way. WebBriscoe says that he wants Bent Tree to be a place where people can agree to disagree over this issue. How did that all happen? And I remember you saying. But at 22, I completely bought it. So I want you to think about this while you know Bill Hybels is being accused of doing awful things by a dozen women. But this is the beauty of I think whats arisen is an independent media. I mean, you dont need to be trying to fit a round peg into a square hole, because it is gonna manifest itself in bad ways. Thats a bad default state. Telling another woman, how she looks in a dress and how it accentuates her body, everything up to an alleged affair, to Pat Baronowski, Bill Hybels longtime assistant, stating in the New York Times said Bill Hybels made her obtain pornography and they watched it together. Youre absolutely right. And gratitude is where we must go in this time, as Kurt Baxter reminded us on Sunday. These are people that are in your country club. What is it was Chicago? Its a calling of God. Now, God is leading our friend and leader Pete away from these walls, and we look on with sadness the sadness that comes when a season you love is passing. So appreciate. So thanks again. My personal belief, not speaking on behalf of anyone else, my personal belief is that that structure is designed to fail, because elders cant elder in that structure. WebBriscoe says that he wants Bent Tree to be a place where people can agree to disagree over this issue. That goes to the guarding role that Attorney Mitch shared. Heres my belief, Julie, I think the church at large, the big leaders in evangelicalism, we can name names if we want to, and Im sure that people have names on their mind when theyre hearing this, Why were they silent? I think that they were scared of what Ill call the Christian Industrial Complex that had risen up around Bill, the economic consequences of speaking out on a topic of high consequence. Get new articles and breaking news delivered to your inbox. The news of Petes resignation landed heavy on my heart. So since youve seen a lot of this kind of up close and personal through talking to witnesses and elders and staff people, how bad was the abuse at Willow Creek? A person whos not walking in the Spirit is susceptible to that type of behavior, even a senior pastor. Honestly, without being a part of the Willow family at any time, I saw Bill as the best Christian leader I had encountered, by far. That way, youll never miss an episode. Hes also the chairman of the elder board at a multisite megachurch in Dallas, Texas. For that we are forever grateful. Pete reminds us that our goal is not to win arguments, but to win people. And so when I looked at that in the context of James MacDonald going, you know what, thats the type of accountability that man needed and was denied. Pete Briscoe @petebriscoe 12 Dec 2021. I am with you in this sad place of justified disappointment in the church. Well, and thanks so much for listening to The Roys Report, a podcast dedicated to reporting the truth and restoring the church. But you lose the guarding mechanism, which I think in todays in todays cultural moment, its probably the most important aspect of eldering. Yeah. Yes, in the course of representing these women, it became obvious that this was not what Ill call an echelon or tier leadership problem, just at Bill Hybels level. Pete Briscoe @petebriscoe 12 Dec 2021. Today were talking with Pete Briscoe, who served as the senior pastor for nearly three decades at Bent Tree Bible Fellowship in Carrollton, Texas, and now consults with and coaches pastors. And Ive been a critic of megachurch multi-site model. With distinctly different teaching styles, you'll be moved by the emotional appeal of Jill and the compelling logic of Stuart, as they boldly proclaim God's sovereignty, grace, and love. I totally agree with you Julie on how I viewed the Clergy and Church growing up. Pete has offered to Yeah, were all saints who sometimes sin. Theyre not holding anybody accountable then. Thank you so much. Also I want to let you know that Judson University is planning to resume in person classes this fall for traditional transfer and adult students and its still not too late to apply. Please note, our website requires JavaScript to be supported. You know, I believe in spiritual strongholds and things like that. Keep in touch with Julie and get updates in your inbox! And I realized that as we were discussing this, that there might be some people who have heard about what happened at Willow Creek, but somewhat superficially, through the headlines and dont really know beneath the surface. I WebIt is with heavy hearts that the Elders of Bent Tree announce that Pete Briscoe has submitted his resignation as Senior Pastor. Boy, and if more churches did that, how much pain and heartache among the sheep would have been spared? To view their entire showroom online. But I had limited contact with him. Pete reminds us that our goal is not to win arguments, but to win people. Not sad or contemplative, but agitated and very irritated. Bent Tree family and friends of Bent Tree, we invite you to post here (or on social media) your comments of encouragement, gratitude, blessing, remembrance, and tribute to the many long years our brother Pete and sister Libby have poured out their lives for the building up of Christs church. Can I talk about Scot McKnight for a second? Mike is a dear friend and Im sad this day has come. And if you think its not, you know, go and look in your church building right now, if youre quarantined under COVID, or youre not gathering. What I do, you know, and what Ministry Watch is doing and what all these independent bloggers are doing, that its bringing accountability. Whats our theology? Hybels at one point had a major conflict with a woman who was serving on the elder board, who was trying to hold him accountable and essentially used a reconciliation process involving some other big names in evangelicalism to essentially run her off, put her under an NDA. You know, when you have somebody like Bryan Loritts, who when hes talking about why when he was at a former church, he didnt disclose to the church that they had a sexual predator among them for six months. He makes sure the good things stay in the church and the bad things go out. So when you have someone who is trusted, whos supposed to be an expert, you know, like a pastor, like a longtime senior pastor whos supposed to be a theological expert, and someone whos in authority like a senior pastor, people are willing to do things to satisfy that person that they would not otherwise do, even if those things seem harmful to another person. I know from hearing from men, that that Bill abused men emotionally, spiritually while they were working there. And its so important, I think, for any of us who are doing any kind of ministry at all, if we get our identity wrapped up in what were doing, then what were doing is no longer ministry, its no longer service to the Lord. Literally thousands of people have come to know Jesus under Bill Hybels teaching and yet, he was morally bankrupt at the same time. And someone Im extremely glad is serving in church leadership. Then, I did what all good Christian college students did at that time I acquired a boot-leg copy of the drama and listened to it several times on my own. I think there were a few major events. That was my upbringing. :), I would strongly urge you to research Voice of the Martyrs. Well, Mitch, this has been read. Likewise. Everything started to make sense. Okay. The small tape recording process drew the attention of many people who were eager for a copy of the teaching they heard at church to share with friends and neighbors. 1 talking about this. I dont agree with a lot of his views, but he said something and it is true, we need to have, you know, church leader needs to have two voices, one for gathering the sheep and one for scaring away wolves. We were talking a little bit about the elder board. I think the load needs to be shared. That has been documented and proven through therapy notes. I was blown away. I hope you have a great day and God bless. Hes a complex character. Then, I did what all good Christian college students did at that time I acquired a boot-leg copy of the drama and listened to it several times on my own. And what lessons can we learn from Willow Creeks mistakes? Because it was lawyers advice, you know, and its like, where does the word of God play into our decision making? Yeah, without using any names. And theres a lot of people asking, Is that just too great a burden to ever put on one person? How do you respond to that? And that that was something that taught you an awful lot about how elder board should deal with sexual impropriety or sexual abuse within their own walls. Vonda was at one time the director of Willow Creeks vocal ministry, and she was one of the first women to come forward and speak publicly about Bill Hybels alleged sexual misconduct. And really, I came back to the Lord at Willow and He used that church to help me reestablish my relationship with Him and with His church. The immense audio, video, and written teaching resources on our website help people who are seeking answers about God to know Christ and experience Life in all its fullness. It is also the church in which Pete Briscoe, my former wonderful pastor, grew up in. You know, I think, Julie, the other thing that was really whacked out about Willows elder board, and I didnt find this out until very late in the representation was they operated by design out of unanimity. Well, I want to turn our discussion to what youve experienced at your own church, which is a multi-site mega church there in the Dallas Fort Worth area, because those are things where youve been able to apply some of these lessons that youve learned from watching the negative example maybe of Willow Creek, youve learned an awful lot from going through crisis at your own church. Heres to better days and better church health. Theres, theres an advocacy piece to lawyering that needs to be there a little bit, but it doesnt need to be pervasive. I think ultimately, we are still kind of under the inertia of a culture that was fomented by Pete Briscoe, which was a culture of goodness, a culture of grace and its still carrying forward under that momentum. Growing up in a ministry family, Pete watched and learned from his parents and witnessed the reach and power of Telling the Truth 's media outreach. I heard an elder once describe his role as a glorified sanitation engineer. And Willow just, they got killed because they wouldnt respond and say the truth. which Hybels assented to including you know, repenting for his behavior and not talking about politics and some other things as well. And if youd like to find me online, just go to JulieRoys.com. But he had the emotional and spiritual fortitude to say, You know what? We have an open listing for a lead teaching pastor in a what I believe is a healthy church environment. They made a lot of friends. In the early 2000s, as Stuart and Jill transitioned into minister-at-large roles and spent more time traveling to serve the global church, an additional voice was added in order to bless the supporters ofTelling the Truth. Continue Reading The Upper Room: John 15 Posted by Nate Murray Its the biblical admonition, you know, to hold a knife to your throat lest you desire the Kings delicacies. So I was quite taken aback when this scandal came out. I was just following following lawyers advice. So its okay. Pete Briscoe was Senior Pastor of Bent Tree Bible Fellowship in Carrollton, TX for nearly 30 years. Hmm. I know about the deleted emails. All the times something didnt seem right. He now coaches Pete Briscoe | Brookfield WI. Toward that end, the site requires that people use their full name when commenting. 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