I appreciate you so much and look forward to visiting with you again soon. And yet, they lost the PR battle, which is unbelievable. Im doing well but probably not as well as you because youre on vacation in Florida. They have to be theyre incredibly convincing. Yet Mitch isnt just the lawyer whos seen megachurches as an outsider bringing accountability. And we need to start on the work of reconciliation and repentance now. And you have two or three board members who go, I dont think so, they did nothing. And where does whats legally expedient for our organization? And we need to apologize. Basically, theyre a rubber stamp., Julie, I have a different take on what happened at WCC. Yeah, they eventually did. They wont produce any vanilla beans. So its more than flirty words or suggestions. Frankly I find church to be excruciatingly lonely. The Elder Board has accepted Petes decision, and his resignation is effective March 31, 2019. I understand that the desire to have elders dealing with what Ill call Echelon or tier level, theological topics: What does the church think about, you know, for example, racial reconciliation? At one point, the elder board at Willow became what people call a policy governance board. Powerful ministry at some points. If you want to know what grooming looks like in the context of church, every elder at a church of any size should read this book. John and Nancy Ortberg had been at Willow Creek as pastors. Your browser does not support JavaScript. At least, thats how I saw it. So when you have a culture thats willing to, you know, exfoliate spoiliate, destroy documents in order to preserve a narrative, theres really very little that the culture will not accomplish at the cost of innocent people. WebPete Briscoe, Stuart and Jills youngest son, was a key contributor to the ministrys teaching team from 2003 to 2021. And they were no friends of ours during the Harvest investigation either. Jill So, and youre the chairman of your board. 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. Inside their system, they need to be guarded, governed, guided. To me, Bill did not come across as a predator, flirty or suggestive with women. So thank you. About Stuart and Jill Briscoe WebPete Briscoe is a podcaster and evangelical pastor. The news of Petes resignation landed heavy on my heart. I It manifested at the Human Resources level. Or what is the church think about Calvinism? something along those lines. I do. Briscoe stepped down as senior pastor at the end of 2000 but remained involved in the church and active in overseas missions. Bent Tree is a multi site mega church in the Dallas Fort Worth area thats had its own share of crises over the past several years. And another womans situation, theyre in an elder board meeting, and Bill Hybels, you know, has his hand on a womans leg, and no one else can see. And Ive been a critic of megachurch multi-site model. Theres a lot of church boards that operate that way. Like so many of you, I love Pete. God showed him through that sermon how his trip was actually isolating and began a process of transformation. WebHi friend, I'm Pete Briscoe. So appreciate. And heres what we have to do as people leading churches, okay, you have to understand what the signs of grooming are so one of the things that I did that really helps me, my good friend, Boz Tchividjian, put out a book through his organization G.R.A.C.E. Well, and that is one aspect of the story that I wanted to explore together because I know that what happened at Willow from my understanding of speaking with Vonda and several victims is that it was far worse, the abuse there and far more pervasive than most people know, and thats one of the frustrations I know of a lot of the victims is that Willow hasnt publicly acknowledged that or publicly said how bad it was. It is also the church in which Pete Briscoe, my former wonderful pastor, grew up in. I know the owners Dan and Kurt Marquart personally, and I can say without reservation that they truly run their business with honesty, integrity and transparency. And Willow just, they got killed because they wouldnt respond and say the truth. It is also the church in which Pete Briscoe, my former wonderful pastor, grew up in. But before we begin, I just want to take a minute to thank the sponsors of this podcast, Judson University, and Marquardt of Barrington. He even cites a conversation with Darrell Bock, a member who disagrees with the elders but who also says it is not an issue worth dividing over. WebBriscoe says that he wants Bent Tree to be a place where people can agree to disagree over this issue. So Mitch, thank you so much for taking the time to join me today. And that set the course for some of these more severe things to continue happening, and then to even get more and more severe. WebLearn More About Pete Today - Pete Briscoe God loves you to distraction, There is nothing you can do to make Him love them more or less, And, that Life with this Lover God is rich beyond description, regardless of your performance. It is not a program is not a set of services. And theyre born knowing how to do that. I think it took courage and boldness on his part to be able to do that. They show up, they sell books. You know, Hybels daughter had her own book on Oprahs book club. But it just has not really looked like true repentance in so many ways. Please know you are not alone. But I guess this is the question so many are asking is, Can anybody be in those kind of jobs with the kind of responsibility that is put on one human, one person to lead thousands of people? And so many looking to him for vision for leadership for everything. Yeah, without using any names. I mean, I Timothy 5:20 says that we should publicly expose elders who are sinning so that others may take warning. But it was after a period of I dont know the details, and I dont know how much youre at liberty to say them, but its my understanding he went away for a period of time to kind of reflect and assess how he was doing and how he was handling things. Yeah, thats right. But you have seen the the worst of it. And you made the statement that if you have the character to lead, you dont need a manual. And I could explain why I think thats funny, but you have to have extreme accountability, the larger your platform gets. 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. You feel that they have to have more of a governance more of a hands on role than a lot of them do. Absolutely. He now coaches Pete Briscoe | Brookfield WI. But I had limited contact with him. He has been married to Jill for more than 59 years and has three children and 13 grandchildren. I think it took courage. So I was quite taken aback when this scandal came out. Theres, theres an advocacy piece to lawyering that needs to be there a little bit, but it doesnt need to be pervasive. And he committed sex acts with her. Yeah, yeah, I think I think thats a good word to Julie. We bought the routine and its shocking. You have to have unity among your vocational staff at the church about, you know, key issues like how do we treat other people? Hes a complex character. Pete Briscoe, our pastor at our church came out in support of the Dyers, which was bold, and it was brave. Many organizations that have a board of directors consisting of yes men or yes women who are inclined to go along with the board chairman and/or are friends with them. So, while I have strong feelings about this, as you can imagine being a lawyer, but at all points, legal advice has to be subservient to Scripture. Well, one thing I did want to cover, and our time is getting to an end, but I know that you have dealt with having a sexual predator within your church. and so I almost feel like the elder boards are there to keep the honest person honest. Much has been written on establishing criteria for board member selection. This person or these people were hurt as a result, you have a pride problem. So a young person in our high school ministry. The outside investigation report said something along the lines of, Bill Hybels hundreds or thousands of emails with this woman were, not available. Well, as it turns out my understanding from talking to witnesses, those emails were actually destroyed. WebHi friend, I'm Pete Briscoe. So as we part ways, let us make the departure sweet. Youre its just not its not a matter of if its a matter of when. At the same time. They didnt have the ability to respond to new issues as they arose. Please contact us or click here to learn more about how to enable JavaScript on your browser. Because it was lawyers advice, you know, and its like, where does the word of God play into our decision making? Yep, thats rooted in pride. And unless theyre pollinated by hand, on the one day that the bloom opens, they wont make anything. 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. Again, thanks so much for joining me today. I was just following following lawyers advice. So its okay. WebSince that time he has ministered on every continent, written more than 40 books, pastored a church for 30 years, and founded a media ministry called Telling the Truth which now broadcasts daily worldwide. Theyre not holding anybody accountable then. That nonprofit corporation and its bank accounts, thats not what the biblical church is. It is what manifests. Because they were required to move by unanimity. And yet, when these issues started being raised about Bill Hybels, the larger church, other than you know, a few people you mentioned the Ortbergs, for example, they came forward and spoke. Their board operated by unanimity as well. Thank God I have Jesus. Well, and I hope there are Christian leaders listening to this who take note because is the time of just being silent and thinking that because youre silent, nothing will come back on you, thats past. Gifted with wisdom, discernment, and a bit of English humor, the Briscoe's bring God's Word to life. Not so much at Willow till after, because I was so wrapped up in the Harvest stuff at that time and the Moody stuff that I didnt really have the capability or the bandwidth to do much reporting about Willow. You have to have a strong culture of accountability. I will always have my faith in Jesus but church especially WCCC has been a huge disappointment. And there was also a service at WC where the board interviewed him and was he was questioned about an affair. This is the kind of thing that you would expect from someone whos cruel and not in relationship with Jesus. But he had the emotional and spiritual fortitude to say, You know what? Lawyer for Bill Hybels Victims Shares Inside Story. Its a calling of God. This was an excellent interview and elders need to read this interview. Youve youve created a fiction when you organize church, what is a church organization but a legal fiction, right? Jill and Stuart came to the States from England. He even cites a conversation with Darrell Bock, a member who disagrees with the elders but who also says it is not an issue worth dividing over. Boy, and if more churches did that, how much pain and heartache among the sheep would have been spared? He, Becky and their kids have been part of the fabric of BT for so long, it is He gave me a few new friends here and there, people to pray with, to share with, to be coworkers in some small ministry, etc. As a lawyer whos represented some of Bill Hybels victims Mitch Little has seen a side of Willow Creek that few others have. I think one of the things that happens in churches, from a deformed leadership standpoint, is requiring boards to operate in unanimity or using unity as a cudgel against people who have firm convictions about things. I mean, that is just huge. But as you say its Gods grace that despite all that hes used these men to bless many, despite everything. However, whenever he would do that quavering voice, etc., I would wonder how he could do that for all three identical services? I think they can do it effectively. The vanilla bean is incredibly hard to harvest. But you lose the guarding mechanism, which I think in todays in todays cultural moment, its probably the most important aspect of eldering. Id like to share a few things as we navigate this loss together. Yeah, right. There was a period of time, Ill call, The Great Loneliness after that Chicago Tribune article came out, where they were radioactive. Posted by Jonathan Deatherage on Apr 02, 2019. Its scripturally rooted. 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