After a full day of breakouts on Friday, October 17, we'll head back to the main auditorium on Saturday morning for more worship, drama... and Bill Donahue! We can't even mention the title of session four without cracking up:

Session 4 - Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time
Bill Donahue, Executive Director of Group Life, Willow Creek Association (South Barrington, IL)

Why do some community initiatives fly and others fall flat? Bill Donahue investigates how certain strategies flounder, the missing essentials that led to their failure, and how you can avoid making the same mistakes — or if you’ve made them already, how you can get back on your feet.

Bill will use video clips submitted by conference guests as illustrations of the Best, Worst stories from their experiences leading Group Life. You can submit video entries for this (and win fabulous prizes!) when the details are announced right here in a few days.

Bill Donahue’s passion for helping churches develop leaders through small groups led him to Willow Creek in 1992. Bill is currently the Executive Director of Group Life for the Willow Creek Association. Prior to that, he served on the staff of Willow Creek Community Church for six years, helping launch and develop the church-wide small group ministry. He was also leader of the Couples Ministry, Director of the Willow Creek Institute, and headed the Leadership Training Department. Bill has a Ph.D. in Adult Education from the University of North Texas, a Master’s in Biblical Studies from Dallas Seminary, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Princeton University.

The Group Life Conference 2008 "Essential for the Human Heart" opens on Thursday, October 16, 2008 at the Willow Creek campus in South Barrington, IL.  For details and early registration visit the Conference Information page. The full conference web site goes live late in May.