Upcoming Midweek Classes @ Willow

On April 2, 2008, Senior Pastor Bill Hybels announced an upcoming change in New Community, Willow Creek's midweek services.  These changes will provide unique learning opportunities for the congregation.
 
When Willow Creek Community Church began over thirty years ago, it was made up primarily of seekers and new Christians.  New Community was developed to address the needs of these young Christians in the early stages of spiritual development, and for many years this served them well. 

Over the years, however, Willow has become a highly diverse community, with people scattered all along the spiritual spectrum.  Data collected from surveys during the past two years has revealed a clear picture of the varied needs of the church’s diverse congregation.

This degree of spiritual diversity has made it increasingly difficult to serve the entire congregation in one large midweek gathering.  Therefore, Willow has decided to provide multiple, mid-sized opportunities that will allow individuals to chart an appropriate pathway of learning.  Rather than a single worship and teaching experience, Wednesday nights will soon offer a wide variety of classes designed specifically to inspire spiritual growth.  Classes will be offered in Bible/Theology, Spiritual Practices, Ministry Training, and other topics that will help learners integrate faith into everyday life. 

Starting June 18, attendees will be able to choose from 15-20 different learning opportunities.  Registration will begin in May.  In order to provide diversity in topic and content, Willow will draw faculty from within the church, as well as from local colleges and seminaries, including world-class experts who will address themes that could not be addressed in a large group gathering.

Willow has always recognized the importance of corporate worship and will continue to do so.  In the early years of Willow, spiritual seekers appreciated the anonymity of a non-participatory learning experience, so times of corporate worship took place at New Community rather than at weekend services.  Culture has changed, however, and seekers today appear eager to join fully into the corporate experiences of the Christian community.  Our recent increase in worship during weekend services has been an intentional response to this cultural shift. 

Willow Creek hopes to provide additional options for worship and will welcome the congregation’s feedback regarding this.  In order to better inform our decisions, a link to a survey regarding additional worship options is included below.

As Bill Hybels mentioned in his address to the April 2 New Community,  Willow intends to follow this new approach through the end of 2008, assessing its effectiveness along the way.  The goal is to provide opportunities that will help every individual at Willow move forward along the pathway of spiritual growth.