Seattle’s Mars Hill Church, announced the closing of three locations and warned that another would be closed if donations fail to increase. The church also laid off around 40 of their 100 church staff, including several pastors who had expressed public disagreement with church leaders. The members from these locations have been urged to go to the location in Ballard, WA.
The Daily Beat Reports that the closings arose because of controversy over Mark Driscoll, the leader of the Church. “Driscoll is one of the best-known figures in the evangelical Christian movement in the United States. He is a long-winded preacher with a hard edge who has been accused by former Mars Hill Church pastors of being domineering and intrusive, including unwelcome comments about the sex lives of pastors and their wives. He is also accused of using the pulpit to
“If you’re a woman, you’d better make sure you keep your husband fed and serviced.” Mark Driscoll
further a cult of personality surrounding himself. As the Daily Beast wrote about him back in 2012: “He’s developed a reputation as a testosterone-oozing Calvinist bruiser who shouts down his congregation, swears from the pulpit and sometimes seems to think that if you’re not cut out for the locker room, you’re not cut out for heaven. If you’re a woman, you’d better make sure you keep your husband fed and serviced.”
“On Aug. 21, twenty-one former Mars Hill Church pastors and twenty-one other anonymous witnesses lodged a broad range of charges against Driscoll. The detailed letter also outlined concerns surrounding a contract with a consulting group to use church funds to rig the sales of Driscoll’s book with his wife, Grace, Real Marriage: The Truth About Sex, Friendship, and Life Together, in order to secure a spot on The New York Times bestseller list.
The focus of the former pastors was accusations of workplace bullying, and the creation of a culture of fear among church workers and ministers. One former member of the Mars Hill Church governing board, Paul David Tripp, called Mars Hill Church, “the most abusive, coercive ministry culture I’ve ever been involved with.” ” READMORE