What Church Leaders Can Learn From the Bill Hybels Scandal

Once again, a well-known pastor is making headlines across the country. And, as is too often the case, the story is about sexual misconduct and even sexual abuse.

If this is on your church's radar, porn recovery resources for churches is worth a look.

Bill Hybels, the founder of Chicago’s Willow Creek megachurch, was accused by former church employee Pat Baranowski of inappropriate sexual conduct and abuse during the 1980s.

This is not the first time Hybels has been the subject of such claims. In April 2018, Hybels announced to his congregation that he would speed up his planned retirement by six months and resign immediately. In March, Hybels had been accused by several women of inappropriate behavior that occurred several decades earlier.

Two investigations, one by the church and the other by an outside lawyer, cleared Hybels of those claims. But Baranowski’s accounts are more serious and indicate Hybel’s behavior was ongoing and not an isolated incident. In light of these recent allegations, Willow Creek has vowed to conduct another investigation.

It is important to understand that church leaders are human and they face the same struggles as everyone else. Pastors are held to a higher standard than anyone else, so when they fall, they fall hard. Sadly, in many situations where a church leader has a moral failing, they are publicly shamed and shafted by the church.

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This forces leaders who are struggling to keep silent and continue in their downward spiral of destruction. Churches must have in place discipleship to prevent this from happening, and a process of healing for when it does occur.

Sex Scandals

Hybels is just one of many ministers to be accused of sexual misconduct. Since the 1980s, preachers such as Jimmy Swaggert, Andy Savage, and Ted Haggard have been involved in sex scandals.

Catholic priests, including a number of Cardinals, have also been involved in well-known sexual abuse charges around the world.

But it is not just the high-profile stories that are alarming. Many smaller churches have had to deal with similar situations. One denomination reports that in 2016, more than half of minister dismissals involved male pastors engaging in inappropriate sexual behavior.

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Me Too Movement

Women are breaking their silence. On November 21, following in the path of the #MeToo movement, #ChurchToo was started. The hashtag collects stories of sexual abuse, harassment, and other related misconduct by church leaders.

One of Savage’s victims, Jules Woodson, said, “We as a church, of all places, should be getting this right. It’s unfathomable to me that the secular world, Hollywood, are taking a stand. The church should have been the first group to stand up and say, ‘We will not allow this.’”

Bryan Born, president of Columbia Bible College, noted,

“The church should be out ahead on the issue of sexual misconduct, and not lagging behind.”

“Research”

But porn doesn’t have any connection to actual abuse, does it? Actually, it does.

For example, Baranowski mentions porn in her account about Hybels. President Reagan had appointed James Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family, to his anti-pornography commission.

Hybels told Baranowski that Dobson had told him to educate himself on the porn issue. He instructed her to go rent several porn videos, claiming it was for the purpose of research. Hybels insisted that she watch them with him, much to her embarrassment.

According to author Jessica Harris,

“Let’s recognize the movement for what it really is. It is not a war on men, but a call to change a culture shaped by exploitation. To change that, we have to talk about how we view sex. How we consume sex, and how we, ultimately, consume each other. Pornography is very much a part of this conversation. If we ignore that, we’ll be living through a #metoo cycle every 12-15 years.”

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