Dear Willow Family,
We are excited to share that after many months of praying, searching, and discerning, we are unified in selecting Dave Dummitt as our new senior pastor. While we wish we could share this news in person, we didn’t want to delay this announcement.
Dave comes to us from Southeast Michigan, where he has served as the founding and senior pastor of 2|42 Community Church for the last 15 years. 2|42 has grown from a 35-member launch team meeting in Dave’s living room to more than 10,000 people meeting at seven different campuses each weekend. Dave has a passion to help people take first and next steps with God. With a commitment to community outreach and radical generosity, the 2|42 church buildings were designed to serve as community centers with indoor sports and fitness facilities, cafes, playscapes for kids, and a school for the arts open to the public throughout the week.
We have spent many hours with Dave and his wife, Rachel, and we are grateful that God has called their family to serve at Willow. Throughout the evaluation process, we continued to see Dave’s ability to lead with humility and strength, as well as his passion to equip and empower strong teams. His vision for the health and growth of Willow Creek and the kingdom at large, his high-caliber teaching ability, his humble and down-to-earth personality, and his willingness to engage in restorative work made it clear that he would be a strong fit for this position.
We are excited to help you get to know Dave and his family through email, video, and social media in the coming weeks! He and Rachel, along with their four children, will be relocating to Illinois in May as Dave transitions into his new role. Dave will teach his first weekend message on June 6/7. Watch a welcome video from Dave here, then be sure to check out his complete bio, links to his messages from 2|42, and additional information about the selection process here.
Thank you for your prayers—we have great anticipation for what God will do in this next chapter at Willow. Please be praying for Dave, Rachel, and their family as they make this transition, and join us in thanking God for His goodness:
Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.
Psalms 100: 3–5 (NLT)
In His service,
The Willow Creek Elder Board
Shoji Boldt
Barb Butz
Jeff Choh
Silvia Escobar
Jeff Mason, Chief Governance Officer
Michael Roth
John Sleeting, Secretary
Mary Square
