Willow Creek Community Church

Willow Creek Community Church started when Bill Hybels and Dave Holmbo were inspired by the success of the South Park Church of Park Ridge, Illinois' youth ministry, Son City, of which they were both leaders (Holmbo had invited Hybels to work with him a few years earlier), and aspired to start an evangelical church that used music and drama. On October 12, 1975, the church met for the first time, renting Willow Creek Theater in Palatine, Illinois. Gilbert Bilezikian was Hybels' theological mentor. Bilezikian has been "credited with Willow Creek’s inclusion of women in its highest levels of leadership".

In 1977, Willow Creek purchased 90 acres (360,000 m2) in South Barrington, Illinois to build its own building. The first service was held in the new building in February 1981. Since then, the building has been doubled in size and the property expanded to 155 acres (0.63 km2).

In September 1978, Hybels learned that Holmbo "had been involved in a pattern of behavior that threatened the stability of the staff member's personal life and the integrity of the rest of the staff". He shared this with the elders, who decided to keep it secret from the rest of the church, and allowed Holmbo to stay in ministry provided he sought professional counseling and submitted to accountability and monitoring from the church's elders. In September 1979, the elders confronted Holmbo with his "ongoing pattern of behavior and his apparently unrepentant spirit". Holmbo then resigned from his position. This resignation was presented to the church as due to "differing philosophies of ministry". This led to disruption among the congregation, and over the next six months, multiple board members and nearly half the staff left. Insiders came to call this time "The Train Wreck".

In 2004, the church inaugurated a new 7,200-seat auditorium on its South Barrington campus. In 2015, the church's weekly attendance was 25,000 people.

On April 10, 2018, following allegations of sexual misconduct, Hybels announced his immediate early retirement as senior pastor of the church; he had previously planned to retire in October of that year. Hybels, who denied the allegations, received a standing ovation from the church upon making this announcement. In August 2018, Steve Gillen—the longtime pastor of the church's North Shore campus—was chosen as interim senior pastor.

In November 2018, CBS News listed Willow Creek Community Church as the fifth largest megachurch in the United States with about 25,743 weekly visitors.

In January 2020, it was announced that Gillen would step down in March and that the two candidates who were being considered for the role of senior pastor had been "released" from the search process. In April 2020, the Elder Board of Willow Creek named Dave Dummitt as the new Senior Pastor. In 2026, Pastor Dummitt stepped down in a planned transition. Shawn Williams, the campus pastor of Willow Creek’s South Barrington, Illinois, was named as the new senior pastor.

As of February 2020, the church averaged 18,000 attendees each weekend at seven locations. In 2024, in person attendance was reported to be 9,800 and remote viewing was 3,700.