I came accross this article on the web.  It was interesting to see that they focus of this meeting was to discuss:

"...dynamics of church growth - what is working and what is not, and gaining from his experience,"

What do you think?

Lisa

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Church approaching Crossroads
Temperance congregation starts to build

By DAVID YONKE
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR

The senior pastor of CrossRoads Community Church in Temperance, Mr. Teal decided to accept a standing offer from the Rev. Bill Hybels to speak to his church, which is beginning a $6.5 million building project.

Mr. Hybels, founder and senior pastor of the Willow Creek Community Church near Chicago - the megachurch that draws 20,000 people to four services per weekend - kept his promise and came to Toledo last weekend to speak to about 400 CrossRoads' members in an invitation-only gathering at the Stranahan Theater Great Hall.

Mr. Teal met Mr. Hybels in the early 1990s when the Willow Creek founder was leading a five-day training session for a dozen ministers.

"It was pretty low-key, nothing extravagant, mostly spending time with Bill in that setting talking about the dynamics of church growth - what is working and what is not, and gaining from his experience," Mr. Teal said. "When we were done, he said he appreciated all the guys who came and hoped in the future he would get a chance to come to our church and thank us. I was waiting for the right time."

CrossRoads Community, formerly known as Temperance Free Methodist Church, is a member of the Willow Creek Association, a global organization of about 10,000 churches. For a nominal membership fee, the association provides resources to help churches grow and reach people with the gospel. More than 25 churches in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan, from independent to mainline Protestant churches, belong to the association.

CrossRoads has purchased a 38-acre site just north of Toledo along U.S. 23 at Sterns Road. The church now accommodates about 400 people per service and holds four services per weekend and plans to build a sanctuary for 1,100 people, scheduled to open in the fall of 2005.

At the Stranahan Great Hall last weekend, Mr. Hybels stood in front of a banner that proclaimed "Forward Together" and lauded CrossRoads for its vision of building a new church.

He said he came to offer four "commendations" to the church: first, for being "unashamedly outward focused"; second, for realizing that "in church work, facilities matter"; third, for moving ahead in uncertain economic times, and fourth, for "raising your resources in a God-honoring way."

Wearing a V-neck blue sweater over a white open-collar shirt, the 51-year-old megachurch pastor gave a folksy, hourlong motivational talk without pushing for any specific financial commitments to CrossRoads' building fund.

He talked about how he started as a youth pastor in the 1970s in the Chicago suburb of Park Ridge.

The first service he led had about 25 teenagers in attendance, Mr. Hybels said.

"I came out of the business world and it freaked me out that kids would listen. I could tell God was at work," he said.

The services soon were drawing 75 teens and young adults but suddenly stopped growing. Mr. Hybels said he asked a 15-year-old boy why he thought attendance had leveled off.

"He said, 'Well, we don't have room, man,'�œ" Mr. Hybels recalled with a chuckle.

He moved the youth service to a larger room and attendance climbed again, and ultimately they began meeting in the church's main sanctuary with about 550 youngsters.

"Same ministry, more room," Mr. Hybels said. "It's not that complicated."

Three years later, he started a new church in a 900-seat movie theater called Willow Creek.

Today, Willow Creek Community Church seats 4,400 in its main sanctuary and regularly draws more than 20,000 people to its weekend services.

The "seeker sensitive" church - designed to be welcoming for people who rarely go to traditional church services - is located on a 155-acre "campus" in South Barrington, Ill., and is winding up a three-year, $100 million building project that will include a 7,200-seat sanctuary, scheduled to open this fall.

Mr. Hybels said it is so easy for churches to withdraw into their comfort zones and not take the steps or the risks necessary to reach more people for Christ.

Using an anecdote to illustrate the church's need to reach out, he said he met a man at a banquet in Atlanta whose life had been changed by someone who had made an effort to reach out.

The person whose life was changed told Mr. Hybels that he attended cocktail hours on business and, after passing out business cards, typically ended up alone in a corner.

One day, he made eye contact with a man who was chatting with a group of friends. The stranger left the cozy circle for friends, walked across the room, and introduced himself to the guy in the corner. After establishing a friendship over the next few weeks, the man

shared the gospel message and led the lonely businessman to a spiritual rebirth.

"How do you change the world? One person at a time," Mr. Hybels said.

He also praised CrossRoads for not being deterred by the nation's weak economy. He said Willow Creek began its $100 million building project just before the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the collapse of the stock market.

The church forged ahead despite the economic downturn and is now experiencing record attendance.