Profile: Bill Hybels

Bill Hybels is a Pastor, author and prominent believer in the power of local churches. He is the founder of and a Pastor at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois.This article focuses on his personal life.

Personal life

Overview His church is extremely popular, with almost 24,000 people attending up to 2011, making his church one of the most attended churches in North America. Bill Hybels’s personal life consists of his wife, Lynne Hybel, who he married in 1974. He later had two children named Shauna and Todd, and has recently become a grandfather.
His wife is just as passionate about the church as Bill himself is, and she has also been involved in the churches partnerships aiding the Latin American population of America and also helped those suffering from HIV/AIDS in Africa.
Hybels also has a Bachelors Degree in Biblical Studies and an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

Willow Creek Association

The basics His church, which was voted as one of the most influential churches in America from a national poll of pastors, is apart of the WCA (Willow Creek Association).
Bill Hybels founded this association and is currently a chairman on the board of the WCA.
Its aim is to bring like-minded churches together and create a international link that transcends continents.
Its success is shown in the amount of members, with more than 9,000 churches joining from 45 different countries.

Global leadership summit

Summit Bill Hybels is also accredited for the creation of the Global Leadership Summit.
This started in 1995 and was created to help church members, including ministry leaders, sharpen their religious knowledge and skills.
This is hosted annually and is transmitted Live from WillowCreek Church, allowing for a worldwide audience.
In 2010, the event attracted 122,000 leaders, who together serve five million individuals.

Books and publications

Other features
Bill Hybels books have proven to be extremely popular. These include Axiom, Just Walk Across the Room, The Volunteer Revolution and Courageous Leadership. His most recent publication is The Power of a Whisper: Hearing God and Having the Guts to Respond.
His books act as spiritual guidance for the followers of his church and other similar churches, and tackle the modern day issues experienced in the lives of his followers. His wife, similarly, is also a writer and has published a book named Nice Girls Don't Change the World, a book aimed at spiritually empowering the female churchgoer.