Former Mars Hill Pastor Mark Driscoll Launches New Website
Mark Driscoll, who resigned as the lead pastor of a Seattle-based megachurch in October due to a controversy surrounding his leadership style, has launched MarkDriscoll.org, which looks similar to the website of Mars Hill Church that is going to dissolve at the start of the new year.
The new website offers "free exclusive resources directly from Pastor Mark Driscoll," who is described as "a Jesus-following, mission-leading, church-serving, people-loving, Bible-preaching pastor."
Driscoll is also described on the website as being "grateful to be a nobody trying to tell everybody about Somebody."
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The website also seeks to raise money through "tax-deductible donation" to help "continue hosting and distributing Pastor Mark's Bible teachings and resources."
The donations would apparently go to Learning for Living, which is described as "an application-pending registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization."
"With a skillful mix of bold presentation, accessible teaching, and unrelenting compassion for those who are hurting the most—particularly women who are victims of sexual and physical abuse and assault—Pastor Mark has taken biblical Christianity into cultural corners rarely explored by evangelicals," the website says.
The website also notes that "in 2010, Preaching magazine named him one of the 25 most influential pastors of the past 25 years" and that "he is the co-founder of the Acts 29 Network, which has planted over 400 churches in the US and 13 other nations."
Driscoll resigned from Mars Hill in October due to his admitted "divisive" leadership style. Members of the Acts 29 church planting network, which Driscoll helped found, had advised that he take time off to get help, and rescinded Driscoll and all Mars Hill Church campuses' membership from the network.
The megachurch is selling or transferring all property. The Mars Hill name and brand will also be completely dissolved by the end of the year.
"Everything is closing down at the end of the year, including our central offices," Mars Hill communications director Justin Dean told The Christian Post earlier. "Mars Hill will cease to exist after Dec. 31, 2014."
Dean said that after selling or transferring all property and assets that belong to the church, it will use the money to satisfy its remaining debt and take care of the remaining staff that will be laid off at the end of the year.
The remaining locations that are not being sold will be under new leadership and will no longer be affiliated with the Mars Hill brand.
In his resignation letter, Driscoll admitted that "aspects of my personality and leadership style, have proven to be divisive within the Mars Hill context" and that he was resigning because he did not want "to be the source of anything that might detract from our church's mission to lead people to a personal and growing relationship with Jesus Christ."
The Mars Hill Board of Overseers' statement on his resignation affirmed that although "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," they did not find cause for him "to be disqualified from pastoral ministry."
