Hybels described four different phases of succession that were planned for Willow Creek and said the first phase that was the planning phase, which took about a year, had already been completed.

Willow Creek Community Church Pastor Bill Hybels, speaking during the opening session of a global leadership summit, took the occasion on Thursday to say that he and his church elders were formally engaged in a succession process.

“The elders at Willow Creek are quite aware that I turned 60 this last year … They know my family history of heart disease. They know that I travel into high risk areas so they brought the subject matter of succession several times in recent years,” Hybels explained to several thousand in attendance at his church in South Barrington, Ill., and a huge online audience watching the Willow Creek Association Global Leadership Summit.

“They finally asked me if I would be willing to enter more formal conversations about my potential transition out of this church. They assigned one elder that I know well and that I trust deeply and I said sure, why not.”

Hybels, who founded the association and created the global summit, introduced the topic of his succession about half way through his talk on leadership to help other pastors and churches understand the process, he said.

The elders at Willow Creek Church chose someone who is personally close to Hybels to begin having the important conversations as to how the transition would occur.

“Our early conversations were a little awkward. We both knew what we were supposed to be talking about, but my leaving Willow is not the easiest subject matter,” Hybels said. “But Mike (did not give full name) was extremely sensitive to my feelings to over the course of a full year as we talked about the future.”

Hybels described four different phases of succession that were planned for Willow Creek and said the first phase that was the planning phase, which took about a year, had already been completed.

“Now, I’m a stoic Dutch guy and can take pretty difficult conversations, but had Mike tried to rush these conversations it would have been very hard for me,” he said. “The first phase has been pretty well worked out.”

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