CHICAGO (RNS) — Steve Carter was supposed to be in front of his congregation interviewing Ira Glass, the famed NPR journalist and host of “This American Life.” Instead, the lead teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church was throwing up backstage. Carter, 38, had become physically ill that Sunday, Aug. 5, after reading an article published that morning in The New York Times about the church’s founding pastor, Bill Hybels. The newspaper reported allegations from Hybels’ former assistant Pat Baranowski, who said that Hybels had fondled her breasts, rubbed against her and once engaged her in oral sex. For months, the evangelical Christian megachurch in the Chicago suburbs had been rocked by allegations of sexual misconduct against Hybels. Reading Baranowski’s story was “a breaking point,” Carter said. “I felt like my body was shutting down,” Carter told Religion News Service. While church leaders scrambled to respond to the Times report, Carter walked out the … [Read more...]

CHICAGO (RNS) — Jo Anne Lyon, general superintendent emerita of The Wesleyan Church, and Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, will lead a new investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against Bill Hybels, the retired founding pastor of Willow Creek Community Church. Lyon and Anderson will co-chair the four-person Willow Creek Independent Advisory Group, according to an announcement Tuesday (Sept. 18) from Willow Creek and the Willow Creek Association. The association, a worldwide network of churches, runs the annual Global Leadership Summit hosted by Willow Creek Community Church. The group will consider allegations against Hybels in his former roles both as pastor of the nondenominational evangelical Christian megachurch and chair of the board of directors of the association, according to the announcement. It also will review the organizational culture of the church and the association and make recommendations to both for future … [Read more...]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (RNS) — Half of Protestant pastors say they preach to their churches about domestic and sexual violence, an increase from four years ago, when only a third said they raised the issue, a new survey shows. LifeWay Research took a detailed look at Protestant clergy’s attitudes toward abuse and harassment and what they’ve done about it, surveying 1,000 pastors by phone during the summer of 2018 as the #MeToo and #ChurchToo movements dominated the news. The research results were announced during the annual conference of the Religion News Association and released Tuesday (Sept. 18) by We Will Speak Out U.S., a partnership including the social justice organization Sojourners and IMA World Health, an interfaith health agency, both of which co-sponsored the research. Surveyed in June and July, 51 percent of Protestant pastors said they speak to their congregation about the issues at least several times a year, compared with 34 percent in 2014. Almost two-thirds of the … [Read more...]