Willow Creek Closing Chicago Campus
The megachurch announced closing of its downtown Chicago campus as financial tensions grow
Willow Creek Community Church will be shutting the doors of its downtown Chicago location due to growing financial insecurity, the senior pastor announced via video last week.
Willow Creek Senior Pastor Dave Dummitt / Video screenshot
The non-denominational megachurch introduced the location in April 2018 on South Street near Grant Park in the heart of Chicago. However, because of “significant changes” the campus will host its last service February 25 before closing permanently.
“Over the last couple of months, we have come to the difficult decision to close [the downtown Chicago] location,” Senior Pastor Dave Dummitt said in a video announcement. “While Chicago was a growing congregation, we were faced with an unsustainable financial scenario.”
Dummitt explained that the church met in a rented theater until—“after a successful capital campaign,” Dummitt noted—Willow Creek Chicago purchases a permanent facility.
“We had pledges to fund almost the entirety of its purchase with a plan to carry a responsible level of debt in line with the size and budget level of the campus at that time,” an announcement on the website said. “Since then, Willow Chicago and Willow at large went through significant changes, and the amount of debt being carried for the Chicago facility was too large.”
While Willow Creek blames the economy and growing interest rates for its financial situation, the “significant changes” mentioned refers to the abrupt resignation of Bill Hybels, the founding pastor of Willow Creek, also in April 2018. Hybels stepped down amid a series of sexual misconduct claims against him, all of which he claims are false.
Dummitt and Willow Creek claim to have tried to keep the location afloat by renting out spaces or potentially moving it, but all efforts were deemed unfeasible and could not satisfy the large debt.
Dummitt praised the Chicago staff for cultivating a “beautiful, multi-ethnic, growing congregation” and reassured his congregation that no other locations are planned to close down.
TO OUR READERS: Do you have a story idea, or do you want to give us feedback about this or any other story? Please email us: [email protected]
