Im Julie Roys. Now, I coach pastors and business leaders in communications and self-care. And I saw this at Harvest Bible chapel when I was doing reporting there. WebBriscoe says that he wants Bent Tree to be a place where people can agree to disagree over this issue. And Im like, Ive never seen a spiritual leader ever, ever have that sort of self disclosure in front of the church before he preaches. Yes, I totally agree. How do you get people to come to church when there are more authentic people in the bars? I am with you in this sad place of justified disappointment in the church. And I think Christian leaders need to start stepping up. Manipulative theatrics. I would probably have been among those who defended Bill saying, He couldnt have done these things; Hes too strong of a Christian leader. I see this culture as similar to the Corinthian church with the man who was involved with his fathers wife. The thief knows how to how to get through that lock, right? 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. And thats one of the things that I just come back to is that the word hypocrisy in the Greek the word that comes from that means actor. 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. 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. The cover up of his behavior manifested at the elder board level. These little bitty people, from Willows perspective, who helped win the PR back, its a miracle. Im wary of the theatrical, evangelical stars that are so prevalent now. I did live it. So a young person in our high school ministry. At one point, the elder board at Willow became what people call a policy governance board. In the late 1990s, Telling the Truth was blessed with opportunities to expand the broadcasts overseas with a newly formed Christian radio station in London, Premier Christian Radio, which today remains the only Christian station across the entire United Kingdom, with 1.2 million weekly listeners. It is simply to feed ourselves. It took a variety of forms. 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. And he offers keen insights that are desperately needed as many churches today struggle to be healthy and to avoid the mistakes other megachurches have made. This was something that was very deeply ingrained in their culture. John and Nancy Ortberg had been at Willow Creek as pastors. He is with us today to talk about growing communication skills to improve preaching as well as how we can find deeper fulfillment in our work and lives. Because they were required to move by unanimity. Absolutely horrible. Pete Briscoe was Senior Pastor of Bent Tree Bible Fellowship in Carrollton, TX for nearly 30 years. Thats one of the things that attracted me to it is that he would admit something that he had failed, like, I remember one Wednesday night at a midweek service, and he got up and he said how that day he had seen somebody who was, you know, he could tell that they were upset and in need, and he just walked right by the person and totally blew them off. I just want to say this was not someone who acted on any behavior at our church, but had someone who was in the process of grooming someone else. Why didnt others support them? It was a huge fixture in evangelicalism. Vanilla orchids are actually pollinated by hand in most places. And I can only imagine what the economic forces are behind the scenes for that, but it really disappoints me, that that hasnt happened. Because they, I mean, they had a massive PR machine they had, they hired Mark DeMoss, his firm to come in and try to resolve things from a PR standpoint. He said, Pete, you should have one lawyer on your board but not more than one. And I believe that there is some really sound wisdom in that. It was the summer of 2000, and I was a college student on staff at Pine Cove Christian Camp. Theres, theres an advocacy piece to lawyering that needs to be there a little bit, but it doesnt need to be pervasive. And its designed to be acretive, right that they gain strength over time. I think one of the ways that Willow tried to reckon with the situation was to permit Bill Hybels to retire from his role at the church. I think it took courage and boldness on his part to be able to do that. I hear you say that and I believe in accountability really strongly. Later Telling the Truth began airing in several countries in southeast Asia and across 10 countries in southern Africa. But this certainly raises red flags. And while youre at it, wed really appreciate it if you help us spread the word about the podcast by leaving a review and then please share the podcast on social media so more people can hear about this great content. And Hybels said, essentially, Yeah, well, well do it that way. And Clinton showed up and then didnt comply with anything that the board had said. 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. Please contact us or click here to learn more about how to enable JavaScript on your browser. Senior pastors dont need advocates. Well, again, Joining me today is Mitch Little a partner with Scheef & Stone in Frisco, Texas. They had so many churches, thousands of churches coming on board and being a part of those. God showed him through that sermon how his trip was actually isolating and began a process of transformation. Glad that Jesus is still our anchor! 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. But you lose the guarding mechanism, which I think in todays in todays cultural moment, its probably the most important aspect of eldering. Like so many of you, I love Pete. Stuart Briscoe died on August 3 "of natural causes unexpectedly" according to a tweet from his son, Pete Briscoe. And sadly, I think they have still. 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. And something else that you mentioned about the board, which I found fascinating was that the Willow Creek board had an awful lot of lawyers on it. As I was working through the Willow Creek representation with these women, the thing that kept cropping up to me was the Milgram experiment. If you go back and you look at Bill Hybels books in retrospect, Im amazed at some of the things that are contained in his books that people became okay with. There was another documented case where he had oral sex with his assistant back in the 90s at WC. So, thanks for taking the time and you know, anybody whos willing to take a few minutes out of their vacation for a podcast, I just really appreciate it. May you and your family be richly bleSSed!!! But it really had the tone has to be set by leadership for a culture of goodness. 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. So Mitch has a very unique perspective. So there were more than 10 women that came forward and said that there was sexual misconduct by Bill Hybels. Yeah, right. We were fighting asymmetric warfare, right? And this is a huge problem in the Evangelical Church in the southern baptist church, I mean, just absolutely massive problem where so often the predators covered up instead of brought to justice. And my understanding was the elder board set some boundaries for Clinton to be able to come and speak. 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. Absolutely. He currently leads a multi-faceted media ministry called Telling the Truth which he shares with his parents Stuart and Jill Briscoe. And that was how Bill deformed his accountability structure. Their board operated by unanimity as well. You can choose from more than 60 majors and learn in a Christian environment known for its spiritual values, leadership opportunities, and strong financial aid. Its one of the beauties and the deformities of social media is social media is agile. I was just following following lawyers advice. So its okay. Happened so often, I quit altogether. Thank you so much. How do you recommend searching worth while places to donate too? Just what I call a deformed leadership culture at the church where certain things became acceptable that shouldnt. The thing that is so terrifying is that someone who has been a senior pastor in an organization like that is not beyond it. It is also the church in which Pete Briscoe, my former wonderful pastor, grew up in. So, and youre the chairman of your board. But I had limited contact with him. What eventually broke the culture of secrecy and protection? So whos supposed to hold whos supposed to hold the leaders accountable in that structure? And if you are not willing to as an organism, or as an organization say, We messed up. The vanilla bean is incredibly hard to harvest. This is a calling. As a lawyer whos represented some of Bill Hybels victims, Mitch Little has seen a side of Willow Creek that few others have. At the urging of a friend working in the radio industry, the Briscoes followed God's leading and used the tape sales proceeds to purchase local radio time, which launched Telling the Truth's radio outreach. Subscribe Sign up for my daily email devotionals and to stay in touch! My husband and I actually bought our last car from our court and we had a great experience. So he said something about so and sos clothing. Fellowship, Church family, Community. So as we part ways, let us make the departure sweet. 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. WebHi friend, I'm Pete Briscoe. I think its Pat Baranowskis story that ran in the New York Times that actually caused that. Pete Briscoe, our pastor at our church came out in support of the Dyers, which was bold, and it was brave. I have been a child of God since I was four and in ministry most of my life. Stuart and Jill Briscoe have always had a passion for teaching God's Word and speaking Truth into people's hearts and moving them toward God. We are egalitarian and sophisticated, and we are Gods chosen church to show how ministry is supposed to be done. James MacDonald was friends with Ed Stetzer. And he committed sex acts with her. Pete was preaching from Hebrews, and he was making the New Covenant come alive before all of us. Stuart Briscoe died on August 3 "of natural causes unexpectedly" according to a tweet from his son, Pete Briscoe. And yet, they lost the PR battle, which is unbelievable. And I remember you saying once that you had gotten a manual, I think it was from the ECFA, and boy, we could talk about them. WebPete Briscoe answers that question by pointing us to Paul as the perfect example of one who speaks with tender boldness. You know, people like Dee Parsons, Julie Anne Smith, Julia Dahl, and people who I knew would not stop talking about it and would not stop talking about it for months. I mean, I Timothy 5:20 says that we should publicly expose elders who are sinning so that others may take warning. Pete grew up in a home with intelligent and committed parents: both And they were no friends of ours during the Harvest investigation either. Gifted with wisdom, discernment, and a bit of English humor, the Briscoe's bring God's Word to life. When you think about the economic reach of an organization that was that size within evangelicalism, my goodness, even Christianity Today was scared to run articles about it. 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. God uses the faithful and generous support of people like you to continue to change lives through the ministry of Telling the Truth. 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. If youre looking for a car I encourage you to visit my friends at Marquardt of Barrington. May God lead your next steps and may you find ways to use your gifts from a place of health. However, whenever he would do that quavering voice, etc., I would wonder how he could do that for all three identical services? 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. Get new articles and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Pete reminds us that our goal is not to win arguments, but to win people. Gifted with wisdom, discernment, and a bit of English humor, the Briscoe's bring God's Word to life. Hes a complex character. And to do that, we must avoid falling into the trap of our Christian beliefs being pitted against culture in the public sphere of debate. 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. And I still havent been able to get her to visit with me. 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. Its all a Business and Power tool and stage for Virtue Signaling. Yeah, totally agree. I appreciate your taking time again away from your vacation to spend time with us. About Stuart and Jill Briscoe The news of Petes resignation landed heavy on my heart. 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. Theres a lot of church boards that operate that way. WebPete Briscoe, Stuart and Jills youngest son, was a key contributor to the ministrys teaching team from 2003 to 2021. So its more than flirty words or suggestions. Briscoe stepped down as senior pastor at the end of 2000 but remained involved in the church and active in overseas missions. Do you understand what Im saying? 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