Let me thank Pastor Hybels from near my hometown in Chicago, who took time off his vacation to be here today.

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For a lesson in marketing, religious leaders would do well to study the success of Bill Hybels and his Great Barrington, Ill.

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"Hybels really showed that churches can use marketing principles and still be authentic, " says Michael Emerson , a Rice University sociology professor who has studied megachurches.

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Hybels then crafted his services to address their concerns, becoming one of the first pastors to use video, drama and contemporary music in church and encouraging a more casual dress code.

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James Meeks, founder and senior pastor of Salem Baptist Church, a predominantly black congregation, has been engaged in worship with another predominantly white mega-church, Willow Creek, led by its founder and senior pastor, Bill Hybels.

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