Willow Creek Church pastors, elders resign

Willow Creek Church pastors, elders resign

CHICAGO — Both lead pastors and the entire board of elders of Willow Creek Community Church have resigned following new allegations of sexual misconduct against founding pastor Bill Hybels.

Pastor Heather Larson and the nine elders resigned Aug. 8, saying they had made a mistake in failing to believe the women who had come forward with sexual harassment claims. Pastor Steve Carter resigned Aug. 5 following publication of an article in The New York Times in which a former assistant of Hybels, Pat Baranowski, said Hybels allegedly touched her breasts repeatedly and rubbed against her, had oral sex with her on one occasion and once asked her to watch pornography with him as a research project. Baranowski is the tenth woman to accuse Hybels of misconduct.

In an e-mail, Hybels told the Times that the allegations were not true. (TAB)