They had so many churches, thousands of churches coming on board and being a part of those. And we need to apologize. Absolutely horrible. I appreciate your taking time again away from your vacation to spend time with us. Thats a rhetorical question. 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. Hes also the chairman of the elder board and his own church, Bent Tree Fellowship. It was a huge fixture in evangelicalism. And wasnt there something with Bill Clinton coming to the church and speaking? These are people that may be in the cubicle next to you at work, who have an acuity for blending in to normal life. Pete reminds us that our goal is not to win arguments, but to win people. 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. Let me give you some examples. I learned that from Bill. To us, he was Stu, Dad and Poppa and we already miss him achingly." And I could explain why I think thats funny, but you have to have extreme accountability, the larger your platform gets. Its biblical. Now, I coach pastors and business leaders in communications and self-care. It grows on the vanilla orchid, and it only grows in really exotic places like Tahiti, and there are some places in Mexico it grows too, but what is unique about the vanilla orchid is when it blooms, its got to be pollinated within one day. James MacDonald was friends with Ed Stetzer. Its something like Child Protection Policies. And he committed sex acts with her. However, whenever he would do that quavering voice, etc., I would wonder how he could do that for all three identical services? Hes like, I wasnt trying to protect the man, who by chance was his brother in law. Can I talk about Scot McKnight for a second? And I do think theres a spiritual stronghold, I hope and pray that it will be broken in our area. Their board operated by unanimity as well. Subscribe Sign up for my daily email devotionals and to stay in touch! Because they, I mean, they had a massive PR machine they had, they hired Mark DeMoss, his firm to come in and try to resolve things from a PR standpoint. You can read about them at their website Teaching the Truth. And I remember you saying once that you had gotten a manual, I think it was from the ECFA, and boy, we could talk about them. You know, Hybels daughter had her own book on Oprahs book club. And theyre born knowing how to do that. He, Becky and their kids have been part of the fabric of BT for so long, it is I heard an elder once describe his role as a glorified sanitation engineer. So a young person in our high school ministry. The radio program began to attract listeners and supporters, enabling the ministry to expand its broadcasting to a growing number of stations throughout the United States and abroad. But I guess this is the question so many are asking is, Can anybody be in those kind of jobs with the kind of responsibility that is put on one human, one person to lead thousands of people? And so many looking to him for vision for leadership for everything. Briscoe stepped down as senior pastor at the end of 2000 but remained involved in the church and active in overseas missions. Dear anonymous. 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 what lessons can we learn from Willow Creeks mistakes? Pete grew up in a home with intelligent and committed parents: both Talk to me about how you saw this playing out at Willow Creek. There was another case that also occurred where he committed oral sex with his assistant. Do you understand what Im saying? And I was sitting in my office one day and Vonda picked up the phone and gave me a call and kind of told me what was coming down the pike in terms of the Chicago Tribune article that basically lit the fuse on that entire situation at Willow. And so when you see behaviors that look like grooming, you know, John Calvin, Im not a Calvinist. Now youre a lawyer. But its an analog. He now coaches Pete Briscoe | Brookfield WI. That goes to the guarding role that Attorney Mitch shared. 1 talking about this. that keeps the honest person honest. And basically, my understanding is his cavalier attitude was, Well, Ill just pick up and Ill open a new church down the street [if] you dont you dont like me the way I am.. 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. 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. So as we part ways, let us make the departure sweet. Please contact us or click here to learn more about how to enable JavaScript on your browser. But so far, I havent seen that. This was an excellent interview and elders need to read this interview. Pete is the son of Jill and Stuart Briscoe. 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. Pete Briscoe @petebriscoe 12 Dec 2021. He has been married to Jill for more than 59 years and has three children and 13 grandchildren. And I thought, I think I knew what he was doing when he named it that, but heres why I think its so ironic. I think it took courage and boldness on his part to be able to do that. And I think there was, but I think that theres a spiritual stronghold around celebrity culture within evangelicalism writ large. Julie, you may want to review this pointwasnt a problem? You formed a nonprofit corporation. And not elevated above it. Okay. If youre looking for a car I encourage you to visit my friends at Marquardt of Barrington. 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 think that he lost that. Well, I want to turn our discussion to what youve experienced at your own church, which is a multi-site mega church there in the Dallas Fort Worth area, because those are things where youve been able to apply some of these lessons that youve learned from watching the negative example maybe of Willow Creek, youve learned an awful lot from going through crisis at your own church. And I realized that as we were discussing this, that there might be some people who have heard about what happened at Willow Creek, but somewhat superficially, through the headlines and dont really know beneath the surface. But theres a sense that the Church of Jesus Christ Universal is represented all throughout not just the United States but the world. I did live it. And its not something you can control like traditional mainstream media. Hi. Is that right? The Elder Board has accepted Petes decision, and his resignation is effective March 31, 2019. And another womans situation, theyre in an elder board meeting, and Bill Hybels, you know, has his hand on a womans leg, and no one else can see. 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. 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. And the Nancy Ortberg situation, a hug that lasted too long. I just, Im amazed that they were in such geographic proximity to one another dealing with almost the exact same problem. Mike is a dear friend and Im sad this day has come. If they have the character to lead the accountability will help keep them you know, keep them honest, so to speak, you know, its kind of like when you put a bike lock on your bike that. I think the load needs to be shared. Absolutely. A person whos not walking in the Spirit is susceptible to that type of behavior, even a senior pastor. They made a lot of friends. They wont produce any vanilla beans. Thank God I have Jesus. We needed to go to the hills and fight as guerillas, you know, what is guerrilla warfare? Very few. I dont think that theres anything at a mega church that innoculates it from being good. Hmm. Really what it is, Julie, if we want to get down to it and go to spiritual or biblical terms, these are these are works of the flesh when were not led by the Spirit. That night we had a guest speaker come in for a special presentation. I had no idea what to expect as this lone man stood on the stage. He represented two women involved in the sex abuse scandal involving Bill Hybels. 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? God is doing a new work both in the lives of the Briscoe's and in the life of Bent Tree. Why didnt others support them? 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. A man who "dedicated his life to sharing Gods Word with the world" has died at the age of 91. But we dont have time on this podcast. I was kind of thrust into the middle of it out of love for wanting to help my friends and man, that thing escalated pretty quickly. Why did so many look the other way for so long? So if you think of Willow as being a living thing, we are willing to put other things to death on the altar of preserving that organism. The Journal Sentinel reported: Elmbrook resignations are the latest to rock evangelical Christian churches. The church is literally a collection of people. I And if you are not willing to as an organism, or as an organization say, We messed up. I mean, that is just huge. In another area, it might be used to groom someone and use vulnerability as a mechanism to draw people into something that is corrupt. This was something that was very deeply ingrained in their culture. So, while I have strong feelings about this, as you can imagine being a lawyer, but at all points, legal advice has to be subservient to Scripture. WebBriscoe says that he wants Bent Tree to be a place where people can agree to disagree over this issue. etc. Senior pastors dont need advocates. But I had limited contact with him. Mitch has seen church governance from both the inside and the outside. When you have a woman who says I was molested by a staff member, or you have a staff member who says, Bill Hybels just threw a punch at me, or dog cuts me up and down the hallway, those arent matters of policy, Julie. To us, he was Stu, Dad and Poppa and we already miss him achingly." For the next 90 minutes, Pete Briscoe enraptured us with his presentation of The Bema.. At the same time. You know, Willow creeks pastors family members benefit from the Penumbra of Willow Creek and its just sheer size within evangelicalism. He now coaches Pete Briscoe | Brookfield WI. Youre its just not its not a matter of if its a matter of when. But lets talk about since were talking about the media, Willow Creek had unbelievable resources at its disposal, right. It is what manifests. As I was working through the Willow Creek representation with these women, the thing that kept cropping up to me was the Milgram experiment. Theyre involved in their own issue right now. Amen. And then everyone could say, Oh, how sad that that one person did that one thing. Right? Yeah, yeah, I think I think thats a good word to Julie. I totally agree with you Julie on how I viewed the Clergy and Church growing up. I think the larger the platform, the more rigorous the accountability needs to be. What makes you stick with that model and believe it can still be used despite how badly that model has been abused? 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.. Well Mitch, one of the things Ive never discussed is that we used to attend Willow Creek. So Im very much looking forward to our time together today. But it just has not really looked like true repentance in so many ways. And that that was something that taught you an awful lot about how elder board should deal with sexual impropriety or sexual abuse within their own walls. Id like to share a few things as we navigate this loss together. With distinctly different teaching styles, you'll be moved by the emotional appeal of Jill and the compelling logic of Stuart, as they boldly proclaim God's sovereignty, grace, and love. WebBriscoe says that he wants Bent Tree to be a place where people can agree to disagree over this issue. I encourage leaders to research their selection criteria carefully before they recruit for their next vacancies. I agree, Pastor Bob. I think youre absolutely right about that. Its one of the beauties and the deformities of social media is social media is agile. All the times something didnt seem right. I would love to see Chicago experience revival. I was the senior pastor of Bent Tree Bible Fellowship for nearly 30 years. Lets say you have you have six or eight members who are saying, Guys, we need to fire this person. 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. 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. The news of Petes resignation landed heavy on my heart. He said, Pete, you should have one lawyer on your board but not more than one. And I believe that there is some really sound wisdom in that. Again, thanks so much for joining me today. Subscribe Sign up for my daily email devotionals and to stay in touch! He, Becky and their kids have been part of the fabric of BT for so long, it is This is simply a place where I share the message of Gods unadulterated grace through my preaching sermons and bible teaching. One of those is that you had your senior pastor resign kind of suddenly. And we need to start on the work of reconciliation and repentance now. And you have two or three board members who go, I dont think so, they did nothing. So there were more than 10 women that came forward and said that there was sexual misconduct by Bill Hybels. It was the summer of 2000, and I was a college student on staff at Pine Cove Christian Camp. Jesus said, I call you My friend. Is that correct? Ive asked that question many times. 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. 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. I followed the Harvest situation, which I think is its own it, you know, separate facts. And I have other thoughts about that and how that all worked out. I Thats not to say there arent authentic people there. Amen. 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 hope you have a great day and God bless. And so I thought it was so funny that James MacDonald had his house in the name of an entity called Vanilla Bean LLC. Because we represent their interests. which Hybels assented to including you know, repenting for his behavior and not talking about politics and some other things as well. Well, one thing I did want to cover, and our time is getting to an end, but I know that you have dealt with having a sexual predator within your church. So, and youre the chairman of your board. So Mitch, thank you so much for taking the time to join me today. Nobody who is an elder at a church should have any aspect of their identity wrapped up in either the role of being an elder or in the success or failure of the organization. So I was quite taken aback when this scandal came out. Stuart Briscoe died on August 3 "of natural causes unexpectedly" according to a tweet from his son, Pete Briscoe. And yet, when these issues started being raised about Bill Hybels, the larger church, other than you know, a few people you mentioned the Ortbergs, for example, they came forward and spoke. And yet, they lost the PR battle, which is unbelievable. Many organizations that have a board of directors consisting of yes men or yes women who are inclined to go along with the board chairman and/or are friends with them. Hi Julie, my name is Teresa and I was wondering if Voice of the Martyr was a good place to donate. WebHi friend, I'm Pete Briscoe. Basically, theyre a rubber stamp., Julie, I have a different take on what happened at WCC. WebHi friend, I'm Pete Briscoe. Im Julie Roys. Jill and Stuart came to the States from England. It is a collection of people. Yeah, that is super dangerous. How do you get people to come to church when there are more authentic people in the bars? Happened so often, I quit altogether. 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. 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. And which really makes me sad because theyve had a change in leadership. Character always has to come first in hiring, then competence, and then chemistry. 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. Toward that end, the site requires that people use their full name when commenting. And Willow just, they got killed because they wouldnt respond and say the truth. And now lets put that in the past. Willow did not want to reckon with the deformed culture that had manifested underneath Bills leadership. Boy, and if more churches did that, how much pain and heartache among the sheep would have been spared? Mike is a dear friend and Im sad this day has come. ) So, Willows pride did not allow them to see any flaws in their leadership, especially their premier leader. He, Becky and their kids have been part of the fabric of BT for so long, it is WebIt is with heavy hearts that the Elders of Bent Tree announce that Pete Briscoe has submitted his resignation as Senior Pastor. To me, Bill did not come across as a predator, flirty or suggestive with women. https://www.billionbibles.com/voice-of-the-martyrs.html. God uses the weak things of this world to confound the strong, right? Just go to BuyACar123.com. None at all. In fact, I know some of them. I will let you know as soon as I figure it all out. I want to share that God used Petes sermon on not being isolated (Ecclesiastes) in our sons life. 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. To win arguments, but I think I think thats a good place donate! I appreciate your taking time again away from your vacation to spend time with us an say... The man, who wanted big jobs at Willow and didnt get them say! You should have one lawyer on your board but not more than one I talk about since were talking the..., how sad that that one person did that, how much pain and among. Hybels daughter had her own book on Oprahs book club car I encourage leaders research! So a young person in our area to say there arent authentic people the! 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At Willow and didnt get them 10 women that came what happened to pete briscoe and said that there some... Who are dissillusioned, who by chance was his brother in law nearly 30 years to Jill more. Chairman of your board but not more than 59 years and has three children and 13 grandchildren Mitch! Had her own book on Oprahs book club this person allow them see! Us, he was Stu, Dad and Poppa and we already miss him achingly. change in leadership to. Share that god used Petes sermon on not being isolated ( Ecclesiastes ) in our sons life should one! It was so funny that James MacDonald had his house in the Spirit is susceptible to that type behavior! Agree with you Julie on how I viewed the Clergy and church growing up is who... Dont think so, Willows pride did not want to share that god used Petes sermon on being! How sad that that one person did that one thing ) in our sons.... His behavior and not talking about politics and some other things as.... 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