Willow Creek remembers ‘outstanding Christian’ Colson
Members of the South Barrington-based Willow Creek Community Church mourned the passing of Charles Colson, who went to prison for his role in Watergate and later founded a ministry to help prison inmates.
“Chuck was a friend of mine and a friend of our church for 25 years,” said Bill Hybels, Willow Creek’s founding and senior pastor.
“Chuck was one of the most outstanding Christian leaders I’ve ever known,” Hybel continued. “Christianity has lost a fantastic leader and an advocate for those in prison. Our hearts go out to his wife, his children and his grandchildren.”
Colson, 80, died Saturday in Virginia.
He spent seven months in prison for his role in the Watergate scandal under then-President Richard Nixon.
Colson, a born-again Christian, founded Prison Fellowship Ministries, which has operations in more than 1,000 prisons in the United States.
The ministry runs work-release programs, marriage seminars and other classes to help felons after they are released from prison.
Colson visited Willow Creek several times, most recently during a leadership summit two years ago and last summer for a weekend fishing event for special needs children.
One of Colson’s grandchildren has special needs.
Longtime Willow Creek member John Tofilon, whose wife Charlotte is a church elder, said Colson was a man of high integrity, a master of critical thinking, as well as compassionate, Christian thought.
The fact that Coslon went to prison for his crimes and changed his life for the better was an example of how people get second chances and an opportunity for redemption and forgiveness.
“He really made a difference with his life. Sometimes, when you hit bottom, you make a choice and this guy made a choice,” said Tofilon, a South Barrington resident. “He was a man of strong conviction and beliefs. Chuck Colson was one of my heroes, period. And I don’t use that word lightly. He loved God and he loved his county. I think our country will miss him.”