Re: Michael Van Skaik writing to MH that more than 100 staff/elders became former staff/elders from 2011 to 2013

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/warrenthrockmorton/2014/03/27/leadership-board-at-mars-hill-church/

From a letter credited to Michael Van Skaik that addressed the news that formal charges were made against Mark Driscoll.  It appears the letter was published in some fashion, possibly The City, but the precise provenance has not yet been established.  However, publication to The City seems most likely since so far Mars Hill Church has not had a history of communicating important church-wide news via snail mail.  So if Van Skaik's correspondence was published via The City there's a statement worth noting, in any event.

... On May 10, 2013, a now former elder filed formal charges against Pastor Mark Driscoll and other leaders at Mars Hill. While stating that he had not personally been sinned against by Pastor Mark, he had at least seven unnamed witnesses who would testify to the offenses and hurts he claimed, which if found to be substantiated, could result in disqualification. We requested the names of the witnesses to exercise Matthew 5:23-25, but he refused to disclose them. While the issues cited as evidence from these charges came from anonymous sources, the issues all revolved around the theme of mistreatment of fellow leaders and staff. As the governing body responsible for the accountability of Mars Hill’s senior leaders, the Board took these charges extremely seriously.

In an effort to substantiate the validity of the anonymous charges, we immediately sent out over one hundred letters to former elders and staff at Mars Hill Church from the previous two years, inviting their feedback and perspectives regarding their time on staff at the church, particularly their interactions with Pastor Mark and the Executive Elders. We received eighteen responses.

So to substantiate the validity of the anonymous charges the BOAA sent out over one hundred letters to former elders and staff at Mars Hill Church FROM THE PREVIOUS TWO YEARS!? That means that a member of the BOAA has established that AT LEAST one hundred elders and staff stopped working at Mars Hill Church in a preceeding two year period with a backward starting point somewhere in the zone of May 2013.  So that mass exodus of staff and eldership could have only started in the wake of Sutton Turner joining leadership at Mars Hill Church in any capacity at all, since Turner joined up in earlier 2011. 

This means that the Board of Advisors and Accountability has established that more than 100 elders and staff had left Mars Hill Church in the previous two years and that what catalyzed the decision to solicit their input was that a former elder of Mars Hill Church filed charges against Mark Driscoll and other elders.  This is all rather vague and that only 18 of more than 100 (we aren't told how many more than 100) even replied should be a point for concern in itself.

But that the MHC BOAA has, via Michael Van Skaik, established that more than 100 people who were once elders and staff became former elders and staff in the two years prior to May 2013.

That alone is a concern worth consideration.  Another consideration is what that contact effort by the BOAA may have looked like.  When the BOAA got in touch with former staff and elders did they inform those people that the reason they were being contacted is because formal charges had been made by a former elder of Mars Hill Church against Mark Driscoll and other leaders at Mars Hill?