Willow Creek Community Church is an Evangelical non-denominational, multi-site megachurch. Its largest campus is located in the northwestern Chicago suburb of South Barrington, Illinois. It was founded on October 12, 1975 by Dave Holmbo and Bill Hybels, who was its longtime senior pastor. the church averaged 18,000 attendees each weekend at seven locations, down from a high of 25,000 in 2015. Willow Creek has seven locations in the Chicago area, and their Spanish-speaking congregation, Casa de Luz, meets at the South Barrington campus. In 2018, the church's entire senior leadership and elder board resigned, admitting to having mishandled abuse allegations against Hybels. Steve Gillen, the longtime pastor of the church's North Shore campus, was named interim senior pastor in August 2018. 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. Dave Dummitt became senior pastor in June 2020. History Willow Creek Community Church started when Bill Hybels and Dave Holmbo were inspired by the success of the South Park Church's 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 a church that used relevant biblical teaching, 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, the church purchased in South Barrington 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 . The changes included a new worship center with more than 7,000 seats, which replaces the 4,500-seat Lakeside Auditorium. On April 10, 2018, following allegations of sexual abuse, Bill Hybels announced his immediate resignation 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 January 2020, it was announced that Gillen would step down in March and