Pastor Mark Driscoll's Resignation
On Tuesday, October 14, Pastor Mark Driscoll submitted his resignation as
an elder and lead pastor of Mars Hill Church. The Board of Overseers has
accepted that resignation and is moving forward with planning for pastoral
transition, recognizing the challenge of such a task in a church that has only
known one pastor since its founding. We ask for prayer for the journey ahead.
As is well known, inside and outside of Mars Hill, Pastor Mark has been on
a leave of absence for nearly two months while a group of elders investigated a
series of formal charges brought against him. This investigation had only
recently been concluded, following some 1,000 hours of research, interviewing
more than 50 people and preparing 200 pages of information. This process was
conducted in accordance with our church Bylaws and with Pastor Mark’s support
and cooperation.
While a group of seven elders plus one member of the Board of Overseers
was charged with conducting this investigation, the full Board of Overseers is
charged with reaching any conclusions and issuing any findings. In that
capacity, we believe it appropriate to publicly mention the following:
1. We concluded that Pastor Mark has, at times, been guilty of arrogance,
responding to conflict with a quick temper and harsh speech, and leading the
staff and elders in a domineering manner. While we believe Mark needs to
continue to address these areas in his life, we do not believe him to be
disqualified from pastoral ministry.
2. Pastor Mark has never been charged with any immorality, illegality or
heresy. Most of the charges involved attitudes and behaviors reflected by a
domineering style of leadership.
3. We found some of the accusations against Pastor Mark to be altogether
unfair or untrue.
4. Other charges had been previously been addressed by Pastor Mark,
privately and publicly. Indeed, he had publicly confessed and apologized for a
number of the charges against him, some of which occurred as long as 14 years
ago.
5. We commend Mark for acting upon the vision God gave him to start Mars
Hill Church and for his ministry of faithfully teaching the Word of God for the
past 18 years. We commit to pray for him, for Grace, and for their children as
they transition from ministry at Mars Hill Church.
We would ask for patience as we now make plans for the first transition of
pastoral leadership in the history of Mars Hill Church. We have asked Pastor
Dave Bruskas to serve as the primary teaching pastor while we work on long-term
plans and decisions. Our elders and board members will work closely with the
church staff to support the ongoing operations of Mars Hill in the days and
months ahead.
Finally, Mark Driscoll was not asked to resign;
indeed, we were surprised to receive his resignation letter. [emphases added] While he can speak to his decision as he
chooses, we would point to just two things from his letter. He noted that he
had concluded “it would be best for the health of our family, and for the Mars
Hill family, that we step aside from further ministry at the church.” Secondly,
he specifically wanted to convey “to the wonderful members of the Mars Hill
family, how deeply my family and I love them, thank them, and point them to
their Senior Pastor, Jesus Christ, who has always been only good to us.”
Mars Hill Board of Overseers
Michael Van Skaik
Larry Osborne
Jon Phelps
Matt Rogers
So the summation of the
resignation was that the Board of Overseers did not ask Mark Driscoll to resign
and were surprised to receive his resignation letter. Among the Board of Overseers was, as noted,
Larry Osborne.
What was shared with
Mars Hill attenders in the wake of that resignation was the following, at least
at one campus:
http://wp.production.patheos.com/blogs/warrenthrockmorton/files/2014/10/Alex-Ghioni-Announcement.m4a
starting about 3:45
The investigation of formal charges against Mark Driscoll has revealed
patterns of persistent sin in the three areas disclosed in the previous letter
by the Board of Overseers. In I Tim 5:20, it requires that an elder be rebuked
for persistent sin. Our intention was to do this while providing a plan for his
eventual restoration to leadership. The Board of Elders in agreement with the
Board of Overseers are grieved, deeply grieved, that any process like that was
lost to us when Mark Driscoll resigned in position and left the church.
[emphasis added] Now is the time to move on and consider what God is calling us
to next as a church as we participate in Jesus’ mission to make disciples in
His name. Today begins a new chapter in the history of our church which has
proceeded in one direction under one leadership for many years now, but I want
you to understand this, God is our Father. That does not change. Jesus is the
chief shepherd of the church and that has not changed.
What changed, of
course, was that Mars Hill soon dissolved. What else would seem to change was
the explanations of what, exactly, transpired that led to Mark Driscoll’s
resignation.
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