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Mark Driscoll

 

On this page you’ll find all of our investigative reporting on Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill.

 

 

Mark Driscoll’s Safe Space

How the embattled pastor built a new church.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — After the dramatic implosion of Seattle’s Mars Hill Church in 2014, its co-founder and pastor — Mark Driscoll, an unapologetically confrontational preacher who resigned when church leaders accused him of abusive leadership — decamped with his family to Arizona. Cast into a ministerial wilderness, Driscoll quickly began hunting for new allies and opportunities. Driscoll had sights on starting a new church, but with his reputation mired in controversy, he would need to…

Why Some Preachers Rely on Holy Ghostwriters and Other Pulpit Helps

Ostoich, a writer from Michigan, thinks sermon ghostwriters and researchers can serve a valid role in the church, under the right circumstances. His first gig as a ghostwriter involved helping the interim pastor of a Texas church. The interim pastor had been on a church’s board of elders and was put in charge after the previous pastor resigned. He’d come out of the business world and had no formal training as a pastor.

Partially Penitent Pastors – Updates on the Seemingly Endless Driscoll and Furtick Sagas

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 1 Timothy 6:10 Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle and Pastor Steven Furtick of Elevation Church in Charlotte cannot seem to get the controversies they are embroiled in out of the headlines. Still, some of the recent news surrounding these two troubled pastors…

More Pastor Problems – Driscoll, Furtick and South Korea

“Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18 Unfortunately, dubious behavior by prominent pastors has again been in the news recently. Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle apparently went to questionable lengths to have a recent book of his make the New York Times best sellers list. World Magazine details the situation in this article. According to documents obtained by World, Driscoll spent over $200,000 to hire and…

More Publishers Investigate Mark Driscoll

At least two more Christian publishers are investigating concerns of plagiarism regarding Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. Crossway, which published Driscoll’s Death by Love, issued a statement saying, “We are in touch with Mars Hill and are conducting an internal review to ensure that our books published by Mark Driscoll have proper citation and documentation.” Crossway publicist Janni Firestone added, “As of right now, we’re not sure when the internal review…

Pastor Mark Driscoll Controversy: Plagiarism, Idolatry and the Christian Evangelical Complex

“Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently.” Galatians 6:1 Pastor Mark Driscoll is no stranger to controversy. Driscoll, who pastors Mars Hill Church in one of the country’s most secular cities, Seattle, would be controversial in his city simply for seeking to live out a biblically-based Christian life where Christians are definitively in the minority. But Driscoll has gained a national…