Mars Hill Church (Mark Driscoll)
Founded by one of the worlds top Evangelical leaders, who became caught in a web of scandals
1996 - 2015
Throughout the 2000s, Mark Driscoll was one of the leading Evangelical pastors in America. He was a hip young leader in the Emerging Church movement and preached with a fiery, tough love attitude as he delivered blunt conservative teachings.
However, in 2013, Driscoll began to face opposition from former members who accused him of abusive practices and an authoritarian attitude. As these concerns were being voiced, the church also found itself in the middle of financial scandals when it was revealed that Driscoll had plagiarized his books and had paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to artificially inflate sales numbers. Initially, the church responded by firing those who criticized Driscoll, but as pressure from Evangelicals grew, church leaders acknowledged abuse of power. They created an accountability plan that Driscoll must go through before returning to ministry, but Driscoll rejected the plan, resigned, and started a new church.
Today, Driscoll continues preaching at his new church, but members continue to leave over similar concerns that were raised at Mars Hill Church.
Religion: Christianity
Denomination: Evangelicalism
Founder: Mark Driscoll
Founded: 1996
Ended: 1 January 2015
Location: Based in Seattle, Washington, United States (had locations in 4 states)
Size: 6,500 members; 12,000 in weekly attendance
In 2007 members were shunned or silenced for criticizing the church. Driscoll asserted that they were "sinning through questioning" and that the idea of breaking the noses of stubborn members was "brilliant" (source)
In May 2013, a former elder formally charged church leaders with "mistreatment" and claimed that Driscoll was "domineering, verbally violent, arrogant, and quick-tempered" and, therefore, not qualified for church leadership. The church investigated these accusations but determined that the charges were non-disqualifying (source)
In March 2014, four additional former elders apologized for the hurt they caused in the church for their complicity with Driscoll's autocratic management style. One elder said that, under Driscoll's leadership, "success was to be attained regardless of human and moral cost" and claimed that Driscoll used "swearing and abusive language" toward the staff every day (source)
In July 2014, Driscoll said that he could not address many of the complaints because they were allegedly anonymous. This statement resulted in protests and the creation of a Facebook group called "Dear Pastor Mark & Mars Hill: We Are Not Anonymous" (source)
In August 2014, Acts 29, a major organization that Driscoll founded, removed Driscoll and Mars Hill Church from membership due to the accusations against him. They advised Driscoll to "step down from ministry for an extended time and seek help" (source)
On August 14, 2014, nine Mars Hill pastors signed a letter accusing Driscoll of plagiarism, misuse of church funds, and abuse of power. The letter asserts that Driscoll "must step down not only from the pulpit but from all aspects of ministry and leadership" (source)
In response to the August 14 letter, eight of the nine pastors resigned or were terminated for reasons including "rebellion against the church," and the remaining elder was demoted to an unpaid lay elder (source, source)
In the fall of 2014, Mars Hill Church published a report that affirms Driscoll's "bullying," "patterns of persistent sinful behavior," "quick temper," "harsh speech," and "domineering manner." They created a "restoration plan" for Driscoll, but he declined it, resigned from his position, and started a new church (source)
Members of Driscoll's new church are leaving over similar concerns that were raised against him at Mars Hill (source)
In 2021, 41 church leaders who have worked with Driscoll had publicly called for his resignation from ministry, citing his unrepentant behavior and continuing misconduct (source)
Driscoll claims that abstaining from alcohol can be a sin (source)
Mars Hill Church hired a company to manipulate sales numbers for their book Real Marriage for the to get it on bestseller lists. The apparent success of this book was used as leverage to negotiate a multi-book deal with a major publishing company (source)
Mark Driscoll and the Mars Hill Church were the subjects of a national scandal in 2013 when their book A Call to Resurgence was accused of plagiarism, as well as several other books written by Mark Driscoll (source)
In response to the plagiarizing scandal, Ingrid Schlueter, the producer of the show that first revealed the plagiarism, resigned from her job and said, regarding Driscoll, "All I can share is that there is an evangelical celebrity machine that is more powerful than anyone realizes. You may not go up against the machine. That is all." (source)
In 2000, Driscoll posted a vulgar "pussified nation" rant on the Mars Hill website, under the pseudonym "William Wallace III," in which he used profanity and hateful language concerning homosexuality and women. In this rant, he asserts that the sin of Adam was listening to his wife and calls for a return to Old Testament gender roles. He also gave harsh responses to people who opposed him, such as "I also do not answer to women. So, your questions will be ignored", and "please hike up your skirt and come to my house. I'll bake you something and pretend like I care." (source)
When pastor Ted Haggard was caught in a scandal involving a male prostitute, Driscoll wrote, "A wife who lets herself go and is not sexually available to her husband in the ways that the Song of Songs is so frank about is not responsible for her husband's sin, but she may not be helping him either" (source)
Driscoll wrote that "women are unfit [to be church leaders] because they are more gullible and easier to deceive than men." (source)
Driscoll claims that stay-at-home dads are "worse than unbelievers" (source)
Driscoll claims that a wife needs to keep herself "sexually available" to her husband (source)
Driscoll said that oral sex is "biblical," and a wife is sinning if she does not perform oral sex on her husband (source)
Driscoll criticized women for having sex without trying to get pregnant (source)
Driscoll asserted that "masturbation can be a form of homosexuality because it is a sexual act that does not involve a woman" (source)
Other info:
Mars Hill Church leaders crashed a major conference that was critical of them and falsely claimed that the conference confiscated their books (source)
After two pastors expressed disagreement with church leadership decisions, they were both fired in 2007 for refusing to submit to authority. Afterward, Driscoll urged his congregation to shun one pastor and to stop giving to a charity that the other pastor was involved in, causing an 80% drop in donations (source)
Driscoll criticizes mainstream evangelical churches for “singing prom songs to a Jesus who is presented as a wuss who took a beating and spent a lot of time putting product in his long hair” and claims the mainstream church has transformed Jesus into “a Richard Simmons, hippie, queer Christ,” and a “neutered and limp-wristed popular Sky Fairy of pop culture that . . . would never talk about sin or send anyone to hell” (source)
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Mark Driscoll preaching at while a pastor at Mars Hill Church
Mark Driscoll preaching at while a pastor at Mars Hill Church
John Piper, a prominent Christian leader, sharing his thoughts on the controversies surrounding Mark Driscoll