The Crucible of Mars Hill: Investigating Pastor Mark Driscoll
By Joel Connelly
Driscoll announced Aug. 25 that he was taking “a break for processing, healing and growth for a minimum of six weeks,” while a board of elders would investigate accounts of abusive, duplicitous conduct toward staff and pastors at the Seattle-based mega-church. The redoubtable Warren Throckmorton, a Pennsylvania-based professor who writes for the Patheos website, has exposed a myriad of internal secrets at Mars Hill. He has been on the Driscoll watch as one of two nationally watched investigations into clerical error. The other is a Vatican probe of whether Bishop Robert Finn is fit to continue leading the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese. Finn pleaded guilty to shielding a priest accused in a sexual misconduct case. Of the Driscoll investigation, there is apparently contradictory news. Throckmorton talked to both former elders and witnesses. What he found, backed up by persons who have talked to SeattlePI.com, is: – “After a slow start, the formal charges presented by the former elders are being investigated. … Generally, they (former elders) said the interviews were being conducted by the Board of Elders. Some interviews have yet to be scheduled but the pace of discussions has quickened in recent days.” – “On the other hand, the letter written by nine then-current pastors has not been acted upon. In that letter, various allegations were lodged against Driscoll and other members of the executive elders and the (church) Board of Advisors and Accountability (BOAA).” Eight of the nine men who signed the letter, a private expression of anguish that became public, have resigned or been laid off. Mars Hill has been forced to cut staff and is closing three of its 15 campuses. The nine signers were church insiders, ministering and directing worship at its major campuses, not alienated former members who had gone public.
But they quoted just-departed BOAA member Paul Tripp describing Mars Hill as “the most abusive, coercive ministry culture I’ve ever been involved with.” “We are seriously concerned about the state of our church, especially the state (of) our leadership at the highest levels and our continued lack of transparency in general,” they wrote. The church said officially that charges by the nine would be “thoroughly examined and a report issued when the review is complete.” The Mars Hill flock were told the letter would be taken “very seriously” and the concerns “addressed,” with leaders “taking the appropriate actions to honor Jesus.” Despite the promise, Throckmorton reported Friday, “no further action, serious or otherwise, has been taken.” “According to former pastors I spoke with, none of the concerns or allegations have been investigated or addressed,” he added. “They have not been contacted about the letter since their last days in the church.” Driscoll is being investigated within a church that he co-founded, and has long dominated, and by persons with whom he has been closely associated. In 2008, by contrast, when treatment of staff became at issue at Seattle’s St. Mark’s Cathedral, a retired Episcopal bishop was brought in from across the country to conduct interviews and evaluate the “Holy Box.” The bishop delivered a critical report and the cathedral’s dean, Robert Taylor, soon resigned. Mars Hill is showing severe stresses from months of controversy. Expenses in August exceeded donations by more than $647,000. Giving in September was reportedly down as well. The church has acknowledged that weekly attendance has fallen by about a third. Driscoll, the church’s galvanizing attraction, is off reflecting while being investigated. Churches have followed the path of other organizations hit by misconduct allegations. When exposed, cover-ups of scandal have proven far more damaging than the initial scandal. Pews emptied in the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston after the devastating disclosure of how known “problem” priests had been transferred from parish to parish, while continuing to abuse children. New England has now passed the Northwest as the least “churched” corner of America. Beyond Driscoll’s conduct, Mars Hill faces serious questions about use of money collected in a program called Mars Hill Global. Internal memos have shown a church leadership bent on publicizing good works in Ethiopia and India, in order to attract “global” money for use largely on “planting” churches at home. One memo, in manipulative tones, stated: “For a relatively low cost (e.g. 10k/month), supporting a few missionaries and benevolent projects would serve to deflect criticism, increase goodwill, and create opportunities to influence and learn from other ministries. “Many small churches who may consider joining Mars Hill hesitate because they do not believe we support missions. While we continue to challenge the assumptions underlying a claim. the Global Fund would serve as a simple, easy way to deflate such criticism and help lead change in these congregations.” In short, Mars Hill elders not only have an investigation of Mark Driscoll to complete, but a lot of answering and explaining to do. They will need to walk humbly before the Lord, and talk candidly and honestly with their own flock. If they don’t, history signals the possible outcome — implosion at what was one of the country’s fastest-growing churches. A church spokesman told Throckmorton that the review of allegations against Driscoll “will take a number of weeks to complete” and no comment will be made until the job is done, adding: “We want to be sensitive to the process and allow the board and the Holy Spirit to work.” Concluded Throckmorton: “Thus I doubt we will see Mark Driscoll in church on Sunday.”
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