Because they were required to move by unanimity. When I came onto our board, the terms that Pete Briscoe used were, guide, govern and guard. And I think policy governance has the governing part. Now, I coach pastors and business leaders in communications and self-care. At the urging of a friend working in the radio industry, the Briscoes followed God's leading and used the tape sales proceeds to purchase local radio time, which launched Telling the Truth's radio outreach. I dont think that he caused the elder board to resign. As I was working through the Willow Creek representation with these women, the thing that kept cropping up to me was the Milgram experiment. Right? I was the senior pastor of Bent Tree Bible Fellowship for nearly 30 years. Let the Briscoes help you experience Life in all its fullness! If you go back and you look at Bill Hybels books in retrospect, Im amazed at some of the things that are contained in his books that people became okay with. WebIt is with heavy hearts that the Elders of Bent Tree announce that Pete Briscoe has submitted his resignation as Senior Pastor. I Stuart and Jill Briscoe have always had a passion for teaching God's Word and speaking Truth into people's hearts and moving them toward God. To me, Bill did not come across as a predator, flirty or suggestive with women. Pete reminds us that our goal is not to win arguments, but to win people. And I still havent been able to get her to visit with me. Posted by Jonathan Deatherage on Apr 02, 2019. Jill I appreciate you so much and look forward to visiting with you again soon. 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. And I think theres a kind of an old guard of megachurch pastors and leaders that think that theyre above accountability and theyre beginning to realize theyre not. I encourage you to start praying again and trust God to open doors for you in godly and meaningful fellowship. Hybels at one point had a major conflict with a woman who was serving on the elder board, who was trying to hold him accountable and essentially used a reconciliation process involving some other big names in evangelicalism to essentially run her off, put her under an NDA. The other thing I wanted to talk to you about in you mentioned this in earlier discussion we had about the identity of elders and how so often, and I dont think its just elders, I think its a lot of the senior pastor leadership and staff that their identity tends to become enmeshed with the success or failure of the organization theyre a part of. And yet here we see a church thats ostensibly about serving God, and its about proclaiming the gospel and yet this is happening within the church. Its biblical. And gratitude is where we must go in this time, as Kurt Baxter reminded us on Sunday. Is that correct? Multiple services, being able to do it on cue, proves Hybels theatrical abilitiesI look back and feel sick, given all the details we now know from behind the scenes. You know, Hybels daughter had her own book on Oprahs book club. We see this is the third article this month youve found worth reading. So I was really struggling with my faith. Their board operated by unanimity as well. I dont think that theres anything at a mega church that innoculates it from being good. Great question. Im wary of the theatrical, evangelical stars that are so prevalent now. Who hasnt given a friend a friendly kiss once in awhile? For that we are forever grateful. Yeah, apparently its not going to happen. Julie, thats whats so interesting about this story to me as I got deeper into it, I started to understand That, you know, when you go to the movies, and you see a story, you expect, okay, that guys the villain. Its a serious analog for what happened at Willow. This is Chicago Tribune. This is people who are dissillusioned, who wanted big jobs at Willow and didnt get them. But when Scot, the the intra tribal dissenter steps up and says, This is wrong, things shifted. Yes, I have be disillusioned many times by churches and some leaders. Briscoe stepped down as senior pastor at the end of 2000 but remained involved in the church and active in overseas missions. The church is literally a collection of people. As a lawyer whos represented some of Bill Hybels victims, Mitch Little has seen a side of Willow Creek that few others have. Im Julie Roys. I mean, its an accurate criticism of people within the church. I was a member of WCCC for many years. Yes, I would view it far differently today. May God lead your next steps and may you find ways to use your gifts from a place of health. Its so HARD today to know who to donate to. Pete grew up in a home with intelligent and committed parents: both Well, to answer your question, very bad. A man who "dedicated his life to sharing Gods Word with the world" has died at the age of 91. In this Milgram experiment, they found that people are willing to do things under collar of authority and that they would not probably otherwise do. Pete Briscoe was Senior Pastor of Bent Tree Bible Fellowship in Carrollton, TX for nearly 30 years. And if youd like to find me online, just go to JulieRoys.com. That is not a matter of policy. Great! Thank God I have Jesus. Right. Briscoe says that he wants Bent Tree to be a place where people can agree to disagree over this issue. Do you understand what Im saying? Julie, it is great to be with you again. But before we begin, I just want to take a minute to thank the sponsors of this podcast, Judson University, and Marquardt of Barrington. Okay. He makes sure the good things stay in the church and the bad things go out. Well, Mitch, this has been read. At the same time. Heres my belief, Julie, I think the church at large, the big leaders in evangelicalism, we can name names if we want to, and Im sure that people have names on their mind when theyre hearing this, Why were they silent? You formed a nonprofit corporation. 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. So thank you. And some of it also involved a culture that was willing to cover for wrongdoing. But this certainly raises red flags. He is with us today to talk about growing communication skills to improve preaching as well as how we can find deeper fulfillment in our work and lives. And so, you know, as a lawyer on the board, youre not absolved from the obligation of complying with the mandates of Scripture. To us, he was Stu, Dad and Poppa and we already miss him achingly." It is not a building. He currently leads a multi-faceted media ministry called Telling the Truth which he shares with his parents Stuart and Jill Briscoe. This is just the way things are in Corinth. And so when you see behaviors that look like grooming, you know, John Calvin, Im not a Calvinist. Because it was lawyers advice, you know, and its like, where does the word of God play into our decision making? And which really makes me sad because theyve had a change in leadership. The church is nondenominational and has woman pastors and elders. Give a gift of $30 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you will receive a copy of Escaping the Maze of Spiritual Abuse by Dr. Lisa Oakley and Justin Humphreys. And you you actually refer to it as multi-level marketing. Yeah, without using any names. Your browser does not support JavaScript. WebLearn More About Pete Today - Pete Briscoe God loves you to distraction, There is nothing you can do to make Him love them more or less, And, that Life with this Lover God is rich beyond description, regardless of your performance. And it had all of these allies not just in the media, but among the angelical industrial complex, other megachurch pastors, everything. Serving in the role of elder is a huge responsibility. Thats a bad default state. What eventually broke the culture of secrecy and protection? Welcome to the Roys report, a podcast dedicated to reporting the truth and restoring the church. At that age, I had never had someone in spiritual authority lie or manipulate me. Your tax-deductible gift helps our journalists report the truth and hold Christian leaders and organizations accountable. This was an excellent interview and elders need to read this interview. Today were talking with Pete Briscoe, who served as the senior pastor for nearly three decades at Bent Tree Bible Fellowship in Carrollton, Texas, and now consults with and coaches pastors. And thankyou for all you do in the NAME of JESUS! But youre right. For more information just go to JudsonU.edu. The fact that, I dont know. Why didnt others support them? He has been married to Jill for more than 59 years and has three children and 13 grandchildren. I appreciate your feedback. But now my faith in the whole institution is shattered. And these men are good actors. Lawyer for Bill Hybels Victims Shares Inside Story. It was the summer of 2000, and I was a college student on staff at Pine Cove Christian Camp. But we dont have time on this podcast. Thats what he was. Well, and I hope there are Christian leaders listening to this who take note because is the time of just being silent and thinking that because youre silent, nothing will come back on you, thats past. How do we deal with claims of sexual abuse? Like so many of you, I love Pete. They show up, they sell books. I hope someday I can overcome this cynicism because I need Church as it should be. Pete reminds us that our goal is not to win arguments, but to win people. So Im guessing youre not against lawyers being on board. Although theres been some. One of those is that you had your senior pastor resign kind of suddenly. Pete Briscoe, Stuart and Jills youngest son, was a key contributor to the ministrysteaching team from 2003 to 2021. And to do that, we must avoid falling into the trap of our Christian beliefs being pitted against culture in the public sphere of debate. I dont agree with a lot of his views, but he said something and it is true, we need to have, you know, church leader needs to have two voices, one for gathering the sheep and one for scaring away wolves. I was the senior pastor of Bent Tree Bible Fellowship for nearly 30 years. Its about serving God. When the when the mans lying on the side of the road, naked and bleeding, theyre the priests who cross the street. Frankly I find church to be excruciatingly lonely. I know about the deleted emails. Likewise. Get new articles and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Jill 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. If you want to know what grooming looks like in the context of church, every elder at a church of any size should read this book. I will always have my faith in Jesus but church especially WCCC has been a huge disappointment. I think it took courage. These are people that may be in the cubicle next to you at work, who have an acuity for blending in to normal life. But then its my understanding too, that when these women met with the elders, the level of bullying and abuse that they were subjected to, was such that I know Vonda told me there were elders in tears at the end of this, of how pervasive the abuse was, I dont know how specific you can be but can you give people an idea of, of what actually happened to these women that were abused? Its M-I-L-G-R-A-M the Milgram experiment, but basically American researchers were trying to figure out after World War II, why so many in German society were willing to go along with the Nazis or go along with their leadership, do incalculably horrible things to people. If anything has a whiff of impropriety, we would jump on it immediately. and Im going to butcher the title. You can read about them at their website Teaching the Truth. You know, I think, Julie, the other thing that was really whacked out about Willows elder board, and I didnt find this out until very late in the representation was they operated by design out of unanimity. They had so many churches, thousands of churches coming on board and being a part of those. But what happens when there is a sheep within the flock who needs to be defended? So disappointed in ECFA. Also, make sure you subscribe to The Roys Report on Apple podcasts or Google podcasts. It is a collection of people that we are to care for. The immense audio, video, and written teaching resources on our website help people who are seeking answers about God to know Christ and experience Life in all its fullness. Well, since you brought it up, youre gonna youre gonna have to address the Vanilla Bean. WebPete Briscoe answers that question by pointing us to Paul as the perfect example of one who speaks with tender boldness. 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