Dr. Gilbert Bilezikian

Dr. Bilezikian's professional life began in his native city of Paris where he taught seven years at the European Bible Institute while serving, for part of that time, as Minister of Christian Education at the American Church in Paris. He came to the United States in 1961 to serve for five years as pastor of the Loudonville Community Church in Albany, N.Y. He then joined the Wheaton College faculty where he taught for twenty years until his retirement. Dr. Bilezikian interrupted his tenure at Wheaton to assume for three years the presidency of Haigazian University in Beirut, Lebanon, and to teach two years at Trinity College in Deerfield, Ill.

Born and raised in France, Dr. Bilezikian was drafted in the French army where he served as a medic in North Africa during the Algerian liberation conflict. He is fluent in several languages. He received a B.A. from the University of Paris, a M.Div. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and a Th.D. from Boston University. He also pursued a seven year post-doctoral program at the Sorbonne in Paris under Professor Oscar Cullmann.

In addition to numerous articles, Dr. Bilezikian is the author of The Liberated Gospel (1977), Beyond Sex Roles (1985), Christianity 101 (1993) and Community 101 (1997), all of which have gone into multiple printings and been translated in several languages. In French translation, Community 101 was awarded the Prix Littéraire Evangélique 2001, an award similar to an American Book of the Year award. Beyond Sex Roles obtained a similarly prestigious award fifteen years earlier from the periodical Eternity.

Dr. Bilezikian is a member of several professional theological societies. In 1972, he was a scholar with the Institute for Advanced Christian Studies. He is an approved speaker for the Staley Distinguished Scholar Lectures.

He became Professor of Biblical Studies Emeritus in 1992. Having been designated Senior Teacher of the Year in 1981 and again in 1992, he is the only faculty member in the history of Wheaton College to have received this distinction twice within the short span of a decade.

Dr. Bilezikian was a founding leader of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Ill., one of the fastest-growing and most innovative churches in the nation. As a professional theologian and a church growth expert, Dr. Bilezikian is frequently called to lead seminars and to lecture in the USA and abroad. He has been called the "most forceful advocate of the church as community on the current religious scene." His background and expertise have made him a popular lecturer at churches, denominational conventions, colleges and seminaries worldwide.

Dr. Bilezikian and his wife Maria live in Wheaton, Ill. They have four adult children and two grandchildren, John-Michel and Sophie.