The Seekers' Service/Believers' Worship Movement

A central feature of the seekers' service/believers' worship movement is the clear distinction it makes between outreach services (called seekers' services) and services designed for believers (believers' worship). This approach to renewal, pioneered by Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, now commands a worldwide following.

Willow Creek Community Church began with a vision for a new relevance for God's church today. It originated from a small youth group in South Park Church in Park Ridge, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago. This high school group was called Son City. Bill Hybels, a student at Trinity College in Deerfield, Illinois, in the early 1970s, began developing Son City for unbelievers and Son Village for believers. With him was a core of committed students who shared his vision for reaching their friends with the gospel in new ways. Within a few years, the ministry numbered in the hundreds. After his graduation from college, Hybels, in conjunction with Dr. Gilbert Bilezikian, who at that time taught at Trinity College, and the group of men and women that led Son City, developed the Willow Creek Church. Their aim was to expand the outreach to include the parents of the young people with whom they ministered in Son City. Their larger purpose and approach was threefold. First, they wanted to create and maintain a biblical community similar to what the church originally experienced, as recorded in the book of Acts. Hybels and the others did not want to "reinvent the wheel," but to make it roll more smoothly. Second, they aimed to reach the unchurched seekers, who realized there was something more to life than they had experienced. This could not be done, they felt, using the same worship format most churches used; innovation was required. Third, they were committed to the view that the cause of Christ is worthy of full devotion. This involved not only a commitment to win lost souls to Christ and make disciples of them, but also a commitment to doing these things in attractive and polished ways. From the very beginning, Willow Creek's music and drama ministries—the backbone of its outreach to seekers, along with Hybels' practical and down-to-earth teaching—were marked by high professional standards. For several years the church met in a suburban movie theater (from which it derived its name "Willow Creek"), an ideal environment for avoiding the "churchy" feeling that might intimidate the very group Hybels and his associates were trying to reach. During this time the leadership made a basic distinction between nontraditional seekers' services on weekends and "new community" services for believers in midweek. The team surveyed their suburban target group to assess what was essential, and what was not, in attracting new believers. They wanted to remove any social or traditional church barrier which would keep people away. Today Willow Creek Church continues to create a "safe" atmosphere in which to challenge and confront the seeker concerning his or her need for God's salvation. Weekend worship continues to be something of a stage production, with minimal congregational involvement in singing or other liturgical actions. The large congregations and the theater format enable new attendees to slip into the crowd in more comfortable anonymity, until they come to feel more "at home" with the Christian faith. When the offering is received, the leader emphasizes that visitors are the church's guests and should not feel obligated to contribute. A more intense worship session, attended by the growing body of believers who form the core group of the church, is held in midweek. Over the years, as attendance grew from hundreds to thousands, a "campus" was erected in South Barrington, Illinois, not far from where the church started, on land donated by an enthusiastic supporter. The church structure has no overt Christian symbols; from the outside it looks like a corporate headquarters or a large high school, and the auditorium has the ambiance of a theater. There are six services a week, with a total of more than 20,000 in attendance. Many of the original leaders still play an important part in Willow Creek Church. Nearly 300 full- and part-time staff members work with hundreds of volunteers involved in almost ninety different ministries. A variety of events take place every day and on most evenings. Another unarticulated goal has been reached: the church certainly is lived in.