The Day I Fired Myself From Willow Creek
I fired myself last month. Well not exactly, but sort of. Let me tell you the story of my transition off the staff at Willow Creek…
I've been working as an adult in faith-based organizations for 38 years. I've only worked for four organizations. And I only felt "called" to one of those. And it was an undeniable call.
The other two moves felt logical. Like the right next step. In each, I felt my season was complete and I moved to the next things that made sense for me and my family.
But not so in April 2020. My move to Willow Creek didn't make any sense. There was no logical reason to say "yes." It didn't make sense to say yes to something new when the world was shutting down in the midst of a global pandemic. It didn't make sense to leave a place where I loved my job and my team and my work. It didn't make sense to jump into the middle of a place that was a blazing inferno of scandal and mistrust…a place with 495 staff members, so many of them exhausted from carrying the trauma of the recent season. Yet, I knew I had to say yes. I can't explain it, but I was called.
I moved my family from Houston to Chicago during the early days of Covid, and we jumped into the mess. We faced the turmoil of the summer of 2020 after George Floyd was murdered and our multi-ethnic church and staff deeply felt their own pain rise to the surface. We found we were bleeding millions every quarter with no signs of relief. We met a staff that were so exhausted from the previous couple of years when their trust was shattered, their leaders abandoned them, and their hope was lost.
We tried to build trust, but with a state-mandated shut-down, we couldn't even get in the same room with our staff or congregation. It would be 13-months before we could even hold church services again.
My calling is what kept me solid. Even when, on a cold autumn day in October 2020 we found ourselves at an outdoor meeting with more than 500 people gathered, many of them yelling, swearing, and pointing their fingers at our new leadership team. They were angry, and we were an easy target as the cause of their pain. At that particular campus, 27 staff members resigned at the same time a couple weeks earlier -- many of whom went up the street to start another church. It was a deeply painful experience as I watched the worst of humanity I've ever personally seen, and this in the context of a church meeting, while we stood on stage and took blow after blow after blow. And yet I felt such compassion and empathy for those who hurled the insults: Hurt people hurt people -- and these folks had been deeply betrayed.
Those first two years we had to find ways to move hundreds of people off the staff, cut millions of dollars from the budget, and paint a picture for what a thriving local church in Chicago might look like -- not the Willow of the 80's or 90's or 2000's, but a new Willow. A Willow not built around a celebrity culture. A Willow that can learn from others and doesn't have to have the best ideas. A Willow that seeks truth and embraces integrity more than it protects its leaders and its reputation.
We kept at it, focusing on doing the next right thing even when we weren't immediately seeing any fruit. Even when it was unpopular. Even when bloggers were writing daily articles predicting our demise and seemingly cheering for our failure.
It would be two years, but eventually we started seeing bright signs of a turnaround. Fast forward to today. There is so MUCH to celebrate at Willow…
Over 3700 people have gone through a 10-week "Rooted" experience to explore the basics of faith and rhythms of the Christian life.
Baptisms are now happening every week--more than 600 expressing their new life in Christ publicly in the past 18 months.
Our congregational diversity (non-white) increased from 33% when we arrived to over 40% by the end of 2022. Four of our seven congregations now match or exceed the diversity of their surrounding community.
For the first time in a decade, our congregation is trending younger. Our average age has moved down to 39 years old, and 61% of our new attenders are Gen Z or Millennials.
We are effectively reaching the unchurched, with 39% of our new attenders having no recent church experience.
We are growing significantly with more than 20% growth since the end of 2022.
For the first time in more than a decade, our number of giving families is ticking upward, and for the first time in seven years, our giving is no longer in decline.
For a church having absorbed a New York Times front-page-level leadership scandal, these are amazing trends. I think of the churches I've consulted who would LOVE to see attendance, baptisms, volunteering, groups, Bible engagement all increasing, while at the same time growing in diversity, reaching the unchurched, and trending younger.
However, our budget is not yet right-sized. Even with all the work we have done, we still have more work to do. Because we have so many new people, and so many of them are young families and new to church -- they are not yet discipled in their generosity. This will take some time. It will happen…but short-term we still have some work to do.
That's when it hit me. We were too "fat" at the top of the organization based on our size and financial health. Having three executive pastors has served us well since 2020 as we've had to overhaul or create every system from the ground up, and lead through massive organizational change. But now that work was largely done--our staff had been downsized, and it no longer made sense, with our financial realities, to continue to carry that cost.
So on May 26th, I had a meeting with my boss (Dave Dummitt, our lead pastor), and told him I thought it would be best for Willow if he cut my position. I didn't want to leave. But I felt like it would be best for Willow if we trimmed a position at the top of our organization. This will save some money, and also help us simplify our structure.
It was an emotional meeting for me. I felt such a clear call to Willow. But at this moment, it felt like I was being called to initiate this conversation. It felt like the thing I could do to help Willow get to a place of thriving was to raise my hand and offer up my position.
After a few weeks of conversation we all agreed that it made sense. I will be transitioning off the staff at the end of August, with a handful of projects I'll continue to carry for Willow in a remote capacity through the end of the year. My wife and I are not leaving the church. We love Willow and it will continue to be our place of worship and connection.
I absolutely love the team I have been privileged to work with at Willow. I don't think there is a better team on the planet. I'm grieving the loss of being on mission with them in the trenches day in and day out.
At the same time, I'm jazzed about what is next — ramping up LeadingSmart to pour into leaders and churches full-time. I've carried a passion for 20+ years to add value to pastors through my executive pastor coaching network, and have consulted with hundreds of churches across the country. In this new season, I’ll be partnering with leaders to solve problems in areas of succession, staffing and structure, team health and culture, church board dysfunction, and crisis management.
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If you are a leader who sits in a second chair position at your church, I’d love for you join my Executive Pastor Coaching Network that meets virtually every month. It is a fantastic gathering of more than 50 leaders who are building community and learning together.