Christianity Today Responds to Hybels Interview

June 17, 2008 in Other Stuff with Comments Off

Recently, I shared the video interview with Bill Hybels, senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church. Hybels responded to recent articles from Christianity Today and the Out of Ur blog.

I contacted Marshall Shelley, the vice president of Christianity Today International the editor-in-chief of the Leadership Media Group, for his reaction to the video. With his permission, here is his response:

Hi Tony:

Thanks for your note. Yes, we’ve posted Bill’s video on our blog www.outofur.com and we’re receiving some good comments. We’re happy to admit to our shortcomings in reporting this story. At this point, we’re confirming that all the quotes we reported were accurate. Yes, our reporting emphasized the changes Willow was talking about at the Leadership Summit and the subsequent Shift conference. We did not highlight the things that were not changing. Journalists tend to do that, I’m afraid—assuming that change is more newsworthy than continuity.

We recognize that this is a story in process. The Reveal study has set a lot of things in motion, and many of the implications are still being worked out. We’re committed to getting the story right—and we told the story as we understood it from Willow sources and others at the time. If we’ve not reported the whole truth, we’ll repent, too, and publish the fuller story as we become aware of it.

We’re certainly not anti-Willow. We’ve learned so much from Bill and the others there over the years. I still remember his article in Leadership on “Reading Your Emotional Gauges,” which was life defining for me. And the recent article about him in CT on his “Justice Journey” with James Meeks was eye-opening and convicting.

Our intent with the Reveal stories was to highlight how a church makes a mid-course correction as research indicates changes are needed. And we’re still learning how those mid-course corrections are made and the complexities that arise.

Marshall Shelley

No Responses to “Christianity Today Responds to Hybels Interview”

  1. Ron Edmondson June 17, 2008 at 2:46 pm #

    Thanks for bringing this article to our attention. Love your blog.

  2. Steven Gibbs June 17, 2008 at 5:47 pm #

    Repent, “too.” That seems to imply that Hybels repented, which is not how I heard the interview. He actually referred to the use of repent as “unfortunate.”

  3. Scott Cheatham June 18, 2008 at 9:05 am #

    I don’t believe Shelley’s use of the phrase “repent too” meant that he was implying that Hybels “repented”. It seems that the flow of his response implied that as the story is “in process”, they are reporting the changes as stated and if their facts are wrong, they will “repent too”. It was added by Shelley as an additional act, not as a tit-for-tat.

    I love Hybels’ stuff too and am not anti-Willow. I think more to the point of what happened here was that Willow indeed pointed to a need in their structure (which they apparently feel is glaring) and that need was focused on by many reporting agencies as opposed to the larger percentage of their ministry.

    Do I think CT is guilty of bad journalism? No, not in the least. As Shelley stated, nobody reads a story to hear that something is staying as is. Reporting that changes are coming from Willow, however minor or major, is newsworthy in the field to which CT reports.

    Thanks for posting this Tony.

  4. Dwight June 19, 2008 at 4:52 pm #

    To me it obvious that CT doesn’t get it or their motive was made very clear. It’s not about journalism – it about getting people to read and buy magazine. They know that a story about Willow saying what every green-with-envy Pastor wants to hear will sell magazines. I’ve read my last CT.