Problems Encountered in Growing ChurchesWillow Creek Community Church and New Hope Missionary Baptist ChurchOverview Willow Creek Community ChurchThe case studies on Willow Creek discussed several problems faced by leadership. Such problems included leadership burnout, overburdened ministries, and the need to expand buildings for growing numbers of members. Willow Creek addressed the issue of leadership burnout by sharing teaching duties among several teaching pastors. The church's explosive growth has brought additional problems such as overburdened ministries and the need for more physical space. Overburdened ministries were relieved by restructuring leadership over ministries. This restructuring led to the organic creation of additional leaders within the ministries themselves. History of New Hope Missionary Baptist Church New Hope Missionary Baptist Church (NHMBC) began in 1987 in the living room of Rev. and Mrs. Leroy Mitchell. After pastoring a church in Sycamore for nine months, Rev. Mitchell and all Dekalb members were excommunicated due to underlying friction between Sycamore's African Americans and those of Dekalb. For the next year, core members held services in numerous locations, eventually settling on a local Seventh-day Adventist church that became New Hope's home for the next twelve years. During this twelve-year period, New Hope purchased dozens of acres of farmland and began developing building plans. In 1998, construction began on the building that New Hope would call home. In 2000, New Hope members moved into their new home without ever missing a Sunday worship service. Time heals and New Hope reconciles with the North Ave Baptists who regularly hang out together. Explosive Growth It is clear that the problems are similar to Willow Creek and New Hope, as both have experienced great growth. They are addressing these issues by adding additional services and assigning small groups or small ministries to meet the needs of their congregation. They were able to address the problem based on the individual needs of each church. Willow Creek has added services to accommodate those seeking service or those who do not attend church. New Hope attempts to meet the needs of congregation members by joining auxiliaries or other ministries of the church. Willow Creek's strategy can be summarized simply in three steps: Plan, Align and Learn. This constant process means that each step supports the next step, but relies on the previous one to move forward. New Hope's strategy is to mentor young people into ministerial leadership positions for the future of New Hope. Willow Creek faces the challenge of keeping up with non-church services and helping integrate the unchurched into the Willow family..