South Barrington, Ill. (RNS) — David Dummitt, who became pastor of Willow Creek Church at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, announced Sunday (March 23) that he is stepping down as leader of the influential Chicagoland megachurch.
Shawn Williams, the campus pastor of Willow Creek’s South Barrington, Illinois location, will succeed Dummitt as senior pastor starting April 1. Dummitt will remain on staff until July 31 to help with the transition.
“Dave came to Willow during a critical moment in our church’s history, leading through a time of change with wisdom, humility, and a heart for unity,” Willow Creek’s elders said in a statement Sunday. “He has played an essential role in bringing stability and ensuring a strong foundation for the future. We thank Dave and his family for how they have served, and we will have time to celebrate the Dummitts before Dave’s official transition off staff.”
Dummitt’s departure comes as Willow Creek has largely rebounded from the shutdown’s during the COVID 19 pandemic. The church ended 2024 in the black, with its first budget surplus since 2019, according to a church spokesperson. In person attendance for 2024 was up 16% to 9,875 per weekend, with an additional 3,700 people viewing services live online.
The church has also largely recovered after years of turmoil following the 2018 resignation of longtime pastor Bill Hybels, amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Hybel’s handpicked successors and the church’s entire elder board resigned that same year. The church went through several interim pastors before hiring Dummitt.
At its peak, the church drew more than 25,000 worshipers to services at several Chicagoland campuses under Hybels, known for his ambitious, corporate style of management and obsession for excellence. Hybels denied allegations against him and has largely disappeared from public life in recent years. Following his departure, attendance dwindled and giving dropped, leading the church to lay off 30% of its staff in 2022. Last year, the church closed its downtown Chicago campus but still has seven locations in the suburbs.
Dummitt, who had pastored a Michigan megachurch before coming to Willow Creek, told Religion News Service in 2020 that he knew restoring trust and a healthy culture at the church — which for decades was one of the nation’s largest and most influential congregations — would be a long process.
“This is a place where trust has broken down over time,” he said in a 2020 interview. “And I think everybody here wants to be able to believe in each other again.”
During a meeting with key congregants and donors in South Barrington on Saturday (March 22), Dummitt said he and the church had accomplished most of what they had set out to do when he arrived. The church was growing and healthy and Dummit felt it was time for someone else to lead the church into the future.
Drawing on a familiar passage from the book of Ecclesiastes, Dummitt said that in life, there is a season for everything — and that it was time for his season as pastor to end. Mindful of the church’s tumultuous past, Dummitt told about 800 people gathered for Saturday’s meeting that the transition to a new pastor was a healthy change, not a crisis.
“You can relax,” he told attendees, before announcing his departure.
“Let me be clear on what this is not. No one has asked me to step down,” he said, adding that he had approached the elders about resigning last September. “There’s no scandal, no moral failure, no dirt to dig up. I stand here very grateful for the last five years, and grateful to be a part of a very healthy, smooth momentum building transition.”
Dummitt said in announcing his resignation that he had been a senior pastor for 25 year and was “a little tired” and it was time for him to do something new. He said he hopes to do some coaching with pastors and pursue some of his other dreams — and volunteer at church as a greeter in the future.
The tone of the Saturday meeting in Willow Creek’s Lakeside auditorium on a warm and sunny spring morning was mostly filled with gratitude for the church’s recovery and a message that the church is in good hands with Williams, the new pastor.
Harold Engelmann, chair of the church’s elder board, walked congregations through the process of choosing a new leader, which included developing a new job description and then evaluating Williams as well as some potential external candidates against that description. He said that early on, Williams emerged as the right candidate.
Englemann was moved to tears at one point, when acknowledging Dummitt’s time as pastor.
“Dave had come in a moment in our church’s history when — and I think you remember this — we needed a kind, humble, wise, faithful pastor to help us heal and to move forward.”
In an interview, Englemann said the past five years had not been easy. The church had been in sharp decline, staff and congregational morale was at a low, and the church’s future was uncertain.
“He walked into a congregation that was wondering what’s going to happen, what’s the future look like?” Engleman said. “How are we going to stay together?”
Today, he said the church is in a much healthier place and ready to move into the future under William’s leadership. He said the congregation already knows and trust Williams, which will make the pastoral transition easier.
Englemann, who had been a leader at the church during the tumult of 2018, said he had faith the church could be revived and that’s part of why he remained at Willow, despite the hard times.
“I just know God is faithful,” he said. “I’ve seen it over and over and over again. He takes broken people and he redeems them. And he can do the same for a church.”
During the meeting and in the church’s weekend services, Williams expressed thanks to Dummitt, the church’s leaders, and all the volunteers at Willow, saying he could hardly believe he was now the church’s senior pastor.
Like Dummitt, Williams is a graduate of Wheaton College, where he earned a master’s degree in theology. He served at megachurches in the Chicago suburbs and Las Vegas before coming to Willow Creek.
“Since joining the Willow staff in 2020, Shawn has proven to be an effective leader and impactful teacher, leading staff and the South Barrington congregation with authenticity, wisdom, and clarity,” the church’s elder said in their statement.
With Willow Creek’s 50th anniversary approaching this fall, Williams outlined some of his hopes to expand the church’s outreach and discipleship ministries as it moves into the future.
“We fundamentally believe that lost people matter to God,” he said. “And we’re going to be a church that loves people who are far for God and create spaces by which they could come to know the love, grace and the transformational power of Jesus.”
Megan Bagnall, one of Willow’s executive pastors, said she and other staffers had been hoping Williams would be Willow’s new pastor, after learning that Dummitt would be departing. She was glad to see the elder’s affirm Williams in that new role.
“I think that was very helpful for us as we were thinking about what this transition was going to look like,” she said.
Ed Kanthack, a longtime volunteer and small group leader at Willow, said he was saddened to hear the news of Dummitt’s departure, as the pastor had brought stability to the church after a difficult time.
“My first thought was, I’m tired of transition,” he said, with a smile. “But as it sunk in, I truly believe God has a plan. God is still moving. He’s not done with his church, and there’ll be good things in the future.”
