Nancy Ortberg is an American speaker, author, and leadership consultant who spent eight years as a teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church, one of the largest congregations in the United States. She’s spent the decades since building a career at the intersection of faith and organizational leadership, first as a founding partner of the consulting firm TeamWorx2 and later as CEO of Transforming the Bay with Christ, a Bay Area nonprofit focused on gospel-centered community impact. She is married to author and pastor John Ortberg, though her own career, in ministry, healthcare leadership, and consulting, stands well outside his shadow.
[IMAGE: Nancy Ortberg speaking at a leadership conference]
At a Glance
| Personal | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Nancy Ortberg |
| Nationality | American |
| Current residence | San Francisco Bay Area, California |
| Spouse | John Ortberg, author and pastor |
| Children | Three: Laura Turner, Daniel M. Lavery, and John Ortberg III |
| Ministry and Career | |
| Former role | Teaching Pastor, Willow Creek Community Church (8 years) |
| Ministries led | Network (spiritual gifts ministry); Axis (young adult ministry) |
| Consulting firm | Founding Partner, TeamWorx2 |
| Current role | CEO, Transforming the Bay with Christ |
| Prior career | Over 20 years in healthcare administration, sales, and marketing leadership (1991–2003 in senior roles) |
| Books | |
| Titles | Unleashing the Power of Rubber Bands: Lessons in Non-Linear Leadership; Looking for God: An Unexpected Journey Through Tattoos, Tofu, & Pronouns |
Early Career: Healthcare and Business Before Ministry
Before Nancy Ortberg became known as a pastor, she spent years building a career far from a church staff. She worked in hospital and healthcare administration, providing leadership and team development inside large medical organizations, then moved into sales and marketing leadership roles from 1991 to 2003. By the time she stepped into full-time ministry, she’d already logged more than two decades of experience managing teams and organizations, a background that later shaped how she taught and consulted.
Ministry Career
Teaching Pastor at Willow Creek Community Church
Nancy Ortberg served eight years as a teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, alongside her husband John, who also taught there. During her tenure, she led two significant ministries: Network, which helped congregants identify their spiritual gifts and find a place to serve within the church, and Axis, a weekly gathering built specifically for people in their late teens and twenties. Both ministries reflected a consistent theme in her work: helping individuals connect what they believe to what they actually do with their time and talents.
[IMAGE: Willow Creek Community Church campus in South Barrington, Illinois]
Menlo Park and TeamWorx2
After Willow Creek, Nancy also served on staff at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, later renamed Menlo Church, where John became senior pastor in 2003. Around this period, she co-founded TeamWorx2, a business and leadership consulting firm built to help businesses, schools, nonprofits, and churches strengthen organizational effectiveness and teamwork. The firm let her apply her healthcare and ministry background to a broader range of clients outside the church world entirely.
CEO of Transforming the Bay with Christ
In 2016, Nancy Ortberg was named CEO of Transforming the Bay with Christ (TBC), a coalition of business leaders, venture capitalists, pastors, and nonprofit leaders working to catalyze grassroots gospel-centered impact across the San Francisco Bay Area. She succeeded an interim CEO and brought her combined healthcare, sales, and ministry leadership experience to an organization built around cross-sector collaboration rather than a single congregation.
Books and Speaking
Nancy Ortberg has written two books: “Unleashing the Power of Rubber Bands: Lessons in Non-Linear Leadership,” which applies her leadership philosophy to organizations and teams, and “Looking for God: An Unexpected Journey Through Tattoos, Tofu, & Pronouns,” a collection of personal essays on finding faith in unlikely places. She’s a regular contributor to “Rev!” magazine and has been a featured speaker at national events including the Catalyst Conference and Orange Conference, alongside international speaking engagements on leadership and organizational culture.
Personal Life
Nancy Ortberg is married to John Ortberg, a fellow former Willow Creek teaching pastor who went on to lead Menlo Church for 17 years. The couple has three children: Laura Turner, a writer; Daniel M. Lavery, a writer and columnist; and John Ortberg III. The family relocated from Illinois to Northern California in the early 2000s and has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area since.
The Menlo Church Situation
Nancy Ortberg’s public record includes a serious institutional failure that came to light in 2019 and 2020, and it deserves a direct, factual account rather than a vague mention.
According to Daniel M. Lavery, one of the couple’s sons, he went to Menlo Church’s Elder Board in November 2019 to report that a family member had disclosed, sixteen months earlier in July 2018, a lifelong sexual attraction to children. Lavery said he had confirmed with his father that both John and Nancy Ortberg had been told about this disclosure at the time, and that the family member had continued to volunteer with children and youth at the church, unsupervised, for more than a year afterward.
The church suspended John Ortberg from his role as senior pastor in November 2019 and hired an independent investigator. As pastor, John Ortberg was legally a mandated reporter, required to report suspected risk of abuse to authorities. He acknowledged he did not do so, saying at a March 2020 town hall that he had personally questioned the family member and believed there was no risk of harm. He was reinstated after an initial investigation, then resigned from Menlo Church in July 2020 following renewed public scrutiny once Lavery made the situation public. In a resignation statement, he called it “poor judgment” and said he had not properly balanced his responsibilities as a father with his responsibilities as a church leader.
It’s important to state plainly what investigators found and didn’t find: the family member involved has never been accused, arrested, or convicted of any misconduct, and separate local reporting turned up no police reports or formal accusations against him. The failure identified by the church and by outside reporting was one of disclosure and oversight, specifically, not reporting a known risk to church leadership and authorities as required, not an established instance of abuse having occurred. Nancy Ortberg has continued to serve as CEO of Transforming the Bay with Christ throughout and after this period, with John serving as an adviser to the same organization.
A Note on John Ortberg
Because Nancy and John Ortberg’s careers have run so closely together, readers searching for Nancy often have questions about John specifically. Here’s a quick reference:
- Who is John Ortberg? An American author, speaker, and pastor born May 5, 1957, in Rockford, Illinois. He holds an M.Div. and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Fuller Theological Seminary, making him a trained psychologist as well as a pastor.
- What religion is John Ortberg? He is an evangelical Christian who has worked across nondenominational (Willow Creek) and Presbyterian (Menlo Church, part of the ECO Presbyterian denomination) contexts.
- Who was John Ortberg’s mentor? The late philosopher and spiritual formation teacher Dallas Willard, author of “The Divine Conspiracy,” was a close friend and mentor to Ortberg for years, and much of Ortberg’s teaching on spiritual formation draws directly from Willard’s influence.
- What does John Ortberg do now? As of 2026, he leads a ministry called Become New, offering daily Bible teaching and community content, and continues speaking at Christian events including the Global Leadership Summit and Catalyst.
Influence and Legacy
Nancy Ortberg’s clearest contribution has been widening the lane for women in evangelical teaching and leadership roles, holding a teaching pastor title at one of the country’s largest churches at a time when that wasn’t common for women in similar nondenominational and evangelical spaces. Her later pivot into cross-sector consulting and nonprofit leadership through TeamWorx2 and Transforming the Bay with Christ extended that influence beyond the church building into business, healthcare, and nonprofit leadership circles.
Interesting Facts
- She spent more than two decades in healthcare and business leadership before her ministry career even began.
- She led Willow Creek’s Axis ministry for young adults at the same time her husband taught from the church’s main stage.
- Her book title, “Looking for God: An Unexpected Journey Through Tattoos, Tofu, & Pronouns,” reflects her willingness to write candidly about unconventional territory for a Christian author.
- She was chosen to lead Transforming the Bay with Christ after a lengthy search process, succeeding an interim CEO from the Luis Palau Association.
Timeline of Key Events
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1991–2003 | Holds leadership roles in healthcare, sales, and marketing |
| 1995–2003 | Serves as teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church, leading Network and Axis |
| 2003 | Family relocates to Northern California as John becomes senior pastor at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church |
| 2018 | A family member discloses a lifelong attraction to children to John and Nancy Ortberg |
| 2019 | Daniel M. Lavery reports the situation to Menlo Church’s Elder Board; John Ortberg is suspended |
| 2020 | John Ortberg resigns from Menlo Church following renewed public scrutiny |
| 2016 | Nancy Ortberg is named CEO of Transforming the Bay with Christ |
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Nancy Ortberg?
Nancy Ortberg is an American author, speaker, and leadership consultant who served eight years as a teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church and now leads Transforming the Bay with Christ, a Bay Area nonprofit.
What books has Nancy Ortberg written?
She has written “Unleashing the Power of Rubber Bands: Lessons in Non-Linear Leadership” and “Looking for God: An Unexpected Journey Through Tattoos, Tofu, & Pronouns.”
Was Nancy Ortberg a pastor at Willow Creek?
Yes. She served as a teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church for eight years, leading the Network and Axis ministries.
What is Nancy Ortberg’s connection to the Menlo Church situation?
According to her son Daniel M. Lavery’s public account, Nancy and her husband John were told in 2018 that a family member had disclosed a sexual attraction to children. The family member continued volunteering with children at Menlo Church until the situation was reported to church leadership in late 2019. John Ortberg resigned as senior pastor in 2020. Investigators found no evidence the family member had harmed anyone.
What does John Ortberg do now?
As of 2026, John Ortberg leads a devotional ministry called Become New and continues speaking at Christian leadership and faith events.
Is John Ortberg a psychologist?
Yes, in terms of training. John Ortberg holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Fuller Theological Seminary, in addition to his Master of Divinity and pastoral career.
