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Later he was sent to a hospital in Algeria. "They told me they needed doctors, and they saw that I had a doctorate. When I explained that my doctorate was in theology, the officer said, 'I don't know what theology is, but if it's a disease, we've got it here.' "

Bilezikian's superior at the field hospital was a wonderful man who was usually drunk, he says. During sober moments, he showed Bilezikian how to bandage and cut, disinfect, and medicate. While the medical doctor was sleeping off his hangovers, the theology doctor was healing soldiers. "So, God sent me there for a purpose," Bilezikian says.

After teaching for a few years in France, Bilezikian returned to upstate New York, where he pastored a church for two years before plunging back into the academic life. From there he went to Wheaton, and from Wheaton to Lebanon, where he became the president of a university.

"I was meant to be there for six or seven years, but I had to come back after two." His son Lionel needed special medical attention. Bilezikian has never blamed God for his son's medical problems, but he has praised God for bringing goodness out of pain. It was then that Bilezikian secured a post at Trinity.

"I was only there for two years—the very two years Hybels was there as a transfer student," Bilezikian says. "So God builds great things out of suffering. Lionel has suffered because of his health, but out of that suffering God built the relationship between Hybels and me, and out of that he built Willow Creek."

Lauren Winner is a staff writer for CT.

Visit the Willow Creek Community Church homepage.

One of Willow Creek's largest controversies has been its endorsement of women as elders and pastors. To learn more about Bilezikian's influence on the gender equality debate within evangelicalism read World's "Femme Fatale " or visit the Christians for Biblical Equality homepage.

Gilbert Bilezikian's books are available from Worthybooks.com: Beyond Sex Roles: A Guide for the Study of Female Roles in the Bible, Christianity 101: Your Guide to Eight Basic Christian Beliefs, and Community 101: Reclaiming the Church as a Community of Oneness.

Other articles about Willow Creek's growth and influence include:

Willow Creek's growth came by word-of-mouth, not advertising —The Baptist Standard (April 17, 2000)

Network's management style puts an unlikely mix of congregations on the cutting edge —The Dallas Morning News (June 20, 1998)

Commonly Asked Questions About Willow Creek Community Church —The Atlantic Monthly

Previous Christianity Today articles about Willow Creek include:

Repentance or Propaganda? | At Willow Creek conference, President Clinton reviews his moral failures, details his spiritual recovery. (Aug. 11, 2000)

Willow Creek Church Readies for Megagrowth | New auditorium will seat 7,000. (May 5, 2000)

Willow Creek's Methods Gain German Following | (April 26, 1999)

Hybels Does Hamburg | Will Willow Creek's model float in Germany? (January 6, 1997)

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November 13 2000, Vol. 44, No. 13