I came out of Wheaton College, as I know a lot of kids do when youre in a Christian environment and maybe see some disillusioning things and I just, it was really a hard spiritual time for me. Now youre a lawyer. Yeah. Pete Briscoe @petebriscoe 12 Dec 2021. So I was quite taken aback when this scandal came out. You can read about them at their website Teaching the Truth. And where does whats legally expedient for our organization? 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. And Willow just, they got killed because they wouldnt respond and say the truth. Pete Briscoe, our pastor at our church came out in support of the Dyers, which was bold, and it was brave. 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. To me, this was one of the beautiful God moves about the entire situation. Yeah, yeah, I think I think thats a good word to Julie. Pete Briscoe, Stuart and Jills youngest son, was a key contributor to the ministrysteaching team from 2003 to 2021. You feel that they have to have more of a governance more of a hands on role than a lot of them do. I know about the deleted emails. Hes also the chairman of the elder board at a multisite megachurch in Dallas, Texas. Who hasnt given a friend a friendly kiss once in awhile? Pete reminds us that our goal is not to win arguments, but to win people. "For many of you, he was preacher, pastor, mentor or friend. The outside investigation report said something along the lines of, Bill Hybels hundreds or thousands of emails with this woman were, not available. Well, as it turns out my understanding from talking to witnesses, those emails were actually destroyed. Below is a link to a PDF of the article World Magazine did on a sex abuse scandal involving VOM. God is doing a new work both in the lives of the Briscoe's and in the life of Bent Tree. But theres a sense that the Church of Jesus Christ Universal is represented all throughout not just the United States but the world. Theres, theres an advocacy piece to lawyering that needs to be there a little bit, but it doesnt need to be pervasive. And in the few times Ive spoken with him, I found his insights to be profound. Ive asked that question many times. Pete served as the senior pastor at Bent Tree Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas for nearly 30 years, and he now ministers to pastors and organizational executives through personalized, professional coaching. But heres what happened when Scot criticized them publicly. And I could explain why I think thats funny, but you have to have extreme accountability, the larger your platform gets. The Journal Sentinel reported: Elmbrook resignations are the latest to rock evangelical Christian churches. 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 small tape recording process drew the attention of many people who were eager for a copy of the teaching they heard at church to share with friends and neighbors. He was like one of these, I think until Scot decided to speak up, it was, Willow had credulity to say, These are people outside our tribe who are criticizing us. To us, he was Stu, Dad and Poppa and we already miss him achingly." 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 was just trying to build a relationship, or whatever you just go, But I see you for what you are and youre gonna have to go.. 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. Right? I know for a fact that his article was circulated among the staff at Willow, and they crossed the Rubicon of credulity. 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. So to some extent, we all have a measure of hypocrisy. It is simply to feed ourselves. Great! And which really makes me sad because theyve had a change in leadership. Its my understanding that was a watershed moment. Jill WebHi friend, I'm Pete Briscoe. And I think that Bill Hybels created an advocacy structure around him by having that many lawyers on the board. Well, Mitch, this has been read. And now lets put that in the past. Willow did not want to reckon with the deformed culture that had manifested underneath Bills leadership. They didnt have the ability to move quickly. They have a responsibility to the larger church to speak. 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. He has been married to Jill for more than 59 years and has three children and 13 grandchildren. WebPete Briscoe is a podcaster and evangelical pastor. Yeah, were all saints who sometimes sin. And the Nancy Ortberg situation, a hug that lasted too long. At one point, the elder board at Willow became what people call a policy governance board. Briscoe stepped down as senior pastor at the end of 2000 but remained involved in the church and active in overseas missions. And so when I looked at that in the context of James MacDonald going, you know what, thats the type of accountability that man needed and was denied. Gifted with wisdom, discernment, and a bit of English humor, the Briscoe's bring God's Word to life. He has been married to Jill for more than 59 years and has three children and 13 grandchildren. What I do, you know, and what Ministry Watch is doing and what all these independent bloggers are doing, that its bringing accountability. 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. I wasnt throughout the representation. Gifted with wisdom, discernment, and a bit of English humor, the Briscoe's bring God's Word to life. JULIE ROYS 23:38, What I meant by that comment is that unanimity didnt create any problems for the board and senior pastor because everyone agreed with James MacDonald. And I still havent been able to get her to visit with me. 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. So grateful for those who did and Scot McKnight who came out with a just a powerful, I remember when his blog hit and he said, Every elder has to resign. And within what, wasnt it a week, all of them resigned. Hes like, I wasnt trying to protect the man, who by chance was his brother in law. And someone Im extremely glad is serving in church leadership. So when you have a culture thats willing to, you know, exfoliate spoiliate, destroy documents in order to preserve a narrative, theres really very little that the culture will not accomplish at the cost of innocent people. He currently leads a multi-faceted media ministry called Telling the Truth which he shares with his parents Stuart and Jill Briscoe. Pete Briscoe was Senior Pastor of Bent Tree Bible Fellowship in Carrollton, TX for nearly 30 years. So he said something about so and sos clothing. Pete has offered to :), I would strongly urge you to research Voice of the Martyrs. I was the senior pastor of Bent Tree Bible Fellowship for nearly 30 years. Yeah, I just saw you ran a story on MacDonalds massive mansion in Illinois being held in the name of Vanilla Bean LLC. Lets say you have you have six or eight members who are saying, Guys, we need to fire this person. So you caught them before that anything actually happened? Im still waiting for the apology for the public apology for giving. At that age, I had never had someone in spiritual authority lie or manipulate me. Pete Briscoes father, Stuart Briscoe, who I loved dearly, hes not in good health, I wish he was, I wish he could hear this and Id wish him well. This was an excellent interview and elders need to read this interview. Yeah, my understanding of that of the history has come from interviewing witnesses, talking to people who have served in those roles and hearing their stories at Willow. I hope you have a great day and God bless. So Mitch, thank you so much for taking the time to join me today. The thief knows how to how to get through that lock, right? So a young person in our high school ministry. I think the load needs to be shared. Now, I coach pastors and business leaders in communications and self-care. WebPete Briscoe, Stuart and Jills youngest son, was a key contributor to the ministrys teaching team from 2003 to 2021. Yeah, I think youre gonna be waiting a while. Pete is the son of Jill and Stuart Briscoe. That goes to the guarding role that Attorney Mitch shared. And if youd like to find me online, just go to JulieRoys.com. I was just following following lawyers advice. So its okay. Not so much at Willow till after, because I was so wrapped up in the Harvest stuff at that time and the Moody stuff that I didnt really have the capability or the bandwidth to do much reporting about Willow. Well, early on in the process after the Tribune article, we had to make a decision, How are we going to fight a machine of this size that is basically promulgating lies about these women and their families and their supporters? And I reached out to people that I already knew within, you know, the watch blogging community. There was another case that also occurred where he committed oral sex with his assistant. 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. So appreciate. Im against too many lawyers, and I think Im in a position to critique this. I agree, Pastor Bob. God uses the weak things of this world to confound the strong, right? We bought the routine and its shocking. But theres something wrong in the whole business of Church. We were fighting asymmetric warfare, right? Do you understand what Im saying? Yeah, that is super dangerous. These little bitty people, from Willows perspective, who helped win the PR back, its a miracle. Also, major problems. You can read about them at their website Teaching the Truth. Pete reminds us that our goal is not to win arguments, but to win people. Everything started to make sense. Correct? 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. and Im going to butcher the title. So thanks again. And theyre born knowing how to do that. And so when you know from the pulpit, that might be a strength. So your pastor, he chose himself to step down, correct? 1 talking about this. And he came back and said, I cant do this anymore.. Pete reminds us that our goal is not to win arguments, but to win people. 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. If anything has a whiff of impropriety, we would jump on it immediately. Its not okay. As a lawyer whos represented some of Bill Hybels victims Mitch Little has seen a side of Willow Creek that few others have. They made a lot of friends. 1 talking about this. Ive even friended a few. To view their entire showroom online. Again, thanks so much for joining me today. Now, I coach pastors and business leaders in communications and self-care. Do we have a theology of goodness at our church? Theyre not holding anybody accountable then. I know that the original elders of Harvest thought they could keep James accountable despite the knowledge that he had glaring character flaws from the beginning. Just what I call a deformed leadership culture at the church where certain things became acceptable that shouldnt. The Elder Board has accepted Petes decision, and his resignation is effective March 31, 2019. And it had all of these allies not just in the media, but among the angelical industrial complex, other megachurch pastors, everything. Hes one of the good guys. I mean, you dont need to be trying to fit a round peg into a square hole, because it is gonna manifest itself in bad ways. But youre right. I know from hearing from men, that that Bill abused men emotionally, spiritually while they were working there. I was the senior pastor of Bent Tree Bible Fellowship for nearly 30 years. And its like, now someone inside the tribe has said, Something is wrong here and it must be dealt with. And it took someone of Scot McKnights gravitas to be able to shift the discussion at Willow. What is it that causes so many people who know better, to look the other way and allow evil to prosper? Julie, it is great to be with you again. 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. I wonder, I wonder what effect that might have had on them. Would you consider making a tax-deductible donation to help our journalists continue to report the truth and restore the church? But the thing that was so shocking to me, is that Bill Hy Hybels was the first pastor I had ever seen be so vulnerable from the pulpit. Guest Bios Show Transcript Spiritual abuse has become an increasingly hot topic, as more and more stories of bully pastors and hyper-controlling, Guest Bios Show Transcript After years spent in an abusive church, how do you heal? And he realized that he had missed an opportunity to share Christs love with this person, and he didnt even feel worthy to give this message tonight, you know, and he got teared up and, and Im watching this, you know, as a 20, early 20 something right? And that set the course for some of these more severe things to continue happening, and then to even get more and more severe. Talk to me about how you saw this playing out at Willow Creek. Briscoe Hi Julie, my name is Teresa and I was wondering if Voice of the Martyr was a good place to donate. and so I almost feel like the elder boards are there to keep the honest person honest. I am with you in this sad place of justified disappointment in the church. Bent Tree is a multi site mega church in the Dallas Fort Worth area thats had its own share of crises over the past several years. Pete grew up in a home with intelligent and committed parents: both Im good friends with Vonda Dyer, who worked at Willow and was one of the women who bravely came forward with her story about her interactions with Bill Hybels. So, you know, Julie, its really its death by 1000 cuts. 1 talking about this. And I really was hopeful that there was going to be a public apology, and yet, None. I attended Willow for seven years. He now coaches Pete Briscoe | Brookfield WI. And I remember you saying. You formed a nonprofit corporation. Telling another woman, how she looks in a dress and how it accentuates her body, everything up to an alleged affair, to Pat Baronowski, Bill Hybels longtime assistant, stating in the New York Times said Bill Hybels made her obtain pornography and they watched it together. Happened when Scot criticized them publicly their website Teaching the Truth they respond! 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