As a lawyer who's represented some of Bill Heibel's victims, Mitch Little has seen a side of Willow Creek that few others have.

Why did so many look the other way for so long?

What eventually broke the culture of secrecy and protection?

And what lessons can we learn from Willow Creek's mistakes?

Welcome to the Roy's Report, a podcast dedicated to reporting the truth and restoring the church.

I'm Julie Roy's.

And today I'm excited to be speaking with Mitch Little.

Mitch is an attorney, a church elder, and an advocate for abuse victims.

He represented two women involved in the sex abuse scandal involving Bill Heibel's.

One of those women is Vonda Dyer. Vonda was at one time the director of Willow Creek's vocal ministry,

and she was one of the first women to come forward and speak publicly about Bill Heibel's alleged sexual misconduct.

The other woman that Mitch represented will remain confidential, but both these

cases enabled Mitch to peek behind the curtain at Willow Creek and view up close some of the

dysfunction that led to that scandal. Yet Mitch isn't just a lawyer who's seen megachurches as an

outsider bringing accountability. He's also the chairman of the elder board at his own church,

Bent Tree Fellowship. Bent Tree is a multi-site megachurch in the Dallas-Fort Worth area that's had

its own share of crises over the past several years. So Mitch has a very unique perspective,

and in the few times I've spoken with him, I've found his insights to be profound. So I'm very much

looking forward to our time together today. But before we begin, I just want to take a minute

to thank the sponsors of this podcast, Judson University and Markort of Barrington. If you're

looking for a car, I encourage you to visit my friends at Markport of Barrington. My husband and I

actually bought our last car from

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