A2 Session One: Bill Hybels

Session Title: Acts 2 Today I've heard Bill Hybels speak many times and this is his favorite topic, and I'm not anticipating much new stuff for me here, so let me take a second to explain the format of this conference. Oh, by the way...Erwin McManus is sitting in the row behind me about 5 seats down...I don't want to be a dork about it, but maybe I'll meet him! ______________ This session is the exception, but most of the sessions are a "case-study" format, where different model churches will present how they do church. Then there is a follow-up "bullpen" discussion where several pastors, leaders, etc., will ask them questions and interact with the various models. We can email our questions in and those will be added to the mix. Like I said before...because I just like to strategize and think through stuff, it has the potential to be very interesting. ______________ Bill is really challenging people that come to Willow Conferences to not just copy a ministry model. He's emphasizing that leading a church is all about change, and yet it's not just "see a model, copy a model." This is a the heart of this conference -- thinking, wrestling, praying, struggling, and in the process figuring out what God wants you to do IN YOUR CONTEXT!! (My how Willow has changed over the years!) This is a cool thought: Bill is tallking about the passion in his life to be about a "balanced church." He's talking about a pastor that he interacted with who described his church as a "niche" church -- they did worship really well, but didn't really put much energy into anything else. Bill is passionate about challenging churches to be balanced -- seeker, believers, worship, service, crossing racial divides, reaching children, etc. (I'm making this sound like it's about ministries...it's not. It's more about reflecting the priorities of Acts 2:42-47.