Willow Creek Hires Search Firm to Help Find Next Senior Pastor

Willow Creek Community Church has retained Vanderbloemen to assist them in their search for a new senior pastor.

Vanderbloemen will begin work with the search committee in early June. Based on the firm’s experience working with other large churches, Vanderbloemen is prayerfully optimistic that Willow’s new senior pastor will be in place by the end of 2019.

“This search only succeeds through prayer and discernment, and we need all the prayers we can get,” Vanderbloemen founder and CEO, William Vanderbloemen, said.

“We have done a whole lot of searches over the last decade. All of them are different and all of them important. But I don’t know that there’s a church we have served that has had such a deep impact on the kingdom. We are humbled that a place like Willow would ask us to help guide them to the pastor God is raising up. This church changed tens of thousands of lives in Chicagoland over the last 43 years. It changed and shaped my ministry when I was as a senior pastor. And it paved the way for a new ministry in countless churches in the U.S. and around the world. I think it’s now our turn to pray for the new chapter of ministry God is writing for Willow.”

Steve Gillen has served as acting senior pastor during this season in the life of Willow Creek.

In a letter released from the elder board of Willow Creek, the church commended him on the way “he has provided caring leadership and a stabilizing presence during a time of significant and unforeseen change. We recognize the sacrifice he and his family have made in service to God and our church, and we are grateful for their example. We affirm Steve’s leadership and are pleased to share that Steve has agreed to continue as acting senior pastor during the search for our next senior pastor.”

Vanderbloemen serves teams with a greater purpose by aligning their people with solutions for growth: hiring, compensation, succession and culture. Through its retained executive search and consulting services, Vanderbloemen serves churches, schools, nonprofits, family offices and Christian businesses in all parts of the United States and internationally. The firm has worked in 47 of the 50 states and in seven countries around the world.

Though Vanderbloemen can staff any position at any size organization, the bulk of the firm’s work is made up of searches for senior level staff. Searches involving senior pastor succession are an area of particular expertise. In addition to executive search work, the firm also provides services in staff consulting, succession planning, culture and compensation analysis.