At last… a website that clearly outlines the reasons for the demise of Mars Hill Church.

• 

In classic “Inspector Clouseau” style, here is a gift of a website for you if you are still wondering why one year ago Mark Driscoll predicted that 2014 [could be] the biggest year we’ve ever had,” concluded the comment to Mars Hill Church with his new sign-off “With a father’s heart,” and yet less than a year later the pastor abandoned his “children” and the church is no more.

Someone has kindly put a website together that outlines all the problems in one handy location. The site is http://realmarshill.us

In a brilliant move that at face value appears to defend the church that Paul Tripp called “The most abusive and coercive church” that he had ever worked with, while it cleverly and clearly shows the numerous scandals that have surfaced – including the numerous former and current elders that have raised their voices.

You will have to look past the glaring spelling errors and poor grammar. But if you read the document carefully, many of the problems are made quite clear.

With apologies to Peter Sellers, I slam my “pointing stick” while drawing careful attention to the following FACTS:

1. Mars Hill’s Executive Elders are facing a likely civil RICO lawsuit. After reading this you may want to donate to the mediation fund.
2. Plaugerism [sic] – I presume the writer is referring to the plagiarism in many of Mark Driscoll’s books, or could mean Mars Hill Church is plagued with issues.
3. ResultSource, where Mars Hill Church executives spent $210,000 of donor money to deceptively buy a spot on the New York Times Bestseller list. Here is copy of the contract.
4. Mars Hill Church financials and its total lack of transparency.
5. Mars Hill Church insisting the leaving employees and elders sign NDA and non-compete agreements. Also here.
6. Mark Driscoll’s resignation, where the man who was trying to create the image of a father walked away from Mars Hill Church rather than face the discipline and reconciliation that true repentance affords the church.
7. The terrible decision to change the by-laws in 2007, including the unfair firing and trial of Paul Petry, events that 15 of the 22 elders that participated have recently repented of. Even The Stranger got the significance of this decision.
8. Rob Smith, who was placed under church discipline for asking for a fair trial, and who, along with his ministry to African orphans, was slandered and shamed – as he has been libeled repeatedly on this website as well.
9. Warren Throckmorton, the trustworthy scribe of the actual facts behind the events that lead to the collapse of the church.
10. Adam Wygle and Shawn Nickerson, both men who have called attention to the serial abuse emanating from Mars Hill Church, and both whom are libeled on this site.
11. Welovemarshill.com a website that ex-members put together to try to call Mars Hill Church to make the changes that would save the church.
12. 18 former pastors apologize to Paul Petry and Bent Meyer and declare their firings wrong and their trials invalid.
13. Dave Kraft charged Mark Driscoll in 2013 with multiple offenses against the elders of the church.
14. Tim Gaydos, lead pastor of Mars Hill downtown, whose story is yet to be told, resigns. It turns out that he was one of many stories of outright disregard by the Mars Hill Church Executive pastors of the effort of its elders and the opinion of its members.
15. Phil Smidt (spelled Schmidt in the post) whose firing moved members and ex-members to raise $50,000 in 48 hours a robust statement of disgust of his treatment. This bold statement resulted in Mars Hill Church throwing out its NDA policy which was replaced by a “covenant” (which was an NDA in sheep’s clothing).
16. Lief Moi, co-founder of Mars Hill Church, a man who Mark Driscoll often refered to as his closest friend, was removed as a Mars Hill Church elder in a most brutal and humiliating way. I am so grateful this website draws attention to the despicable treatment of a dear man. Mars Hill completely scrubbed any reference to Lief Moi on their website.
17. The charges that were brought against Mark Driscoll by the Noble Nine elders. These were men that brought charges while elders in good standing at the church.
18. The charges that were brought by twenty-one former elders, with an additional twenty-one willing to bear witness to establish the veracity of the charges.

So, dear reader who is still wondering what brought Mars Hill Church to its knees, this site should help you get a full synopsis.

Advertisement