Did you know there was trouble in paradise? Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church was accused of plagiarism in his new book, as well cheating a spot on the New York Times bestseller list. As Driscoll reportedly hired the firm RealSource, Inc. to disguise purchases of the books bought by Mars Hill Church to make it appear it was hot seller. As with any CEO this was taken to committee but nothing has been done and former pastors are requesting that current church leaders begin a mediation program for repentance regarding Mark Driscoll’s recent wrongdoing. The group of 20 former pastors addressed the Mars Hill Board of Advisers and Board of Accountability with their concerns. Driscoll remains a member of both boards. One former pastor said “I would, as would countless former leaders from Mars Hill Church like to see pastor Mark Driscoll publicly acknowledge that he has seen the charges, that they are true and that he will take whatever time and attention is needed to intentionally deal with the charges, which may entail a short sabbatical from work to focus on this.” The pastors agree that the church should hire experts in conflict resolution to offer guidance in the mediation process. Call me old fashion but why not have Mark Driscoll repent publicly and step down for a season? This is a part of an open letter to his mega Church in Seattle, Washington: 1) Driscoll is voluntarily retracting his claims to No. 1 New York Times bestseller status, because he now sees the marketing campaign used for Real Marriage as manipulating a book sales reporting system, which is wrong. 2) Driscoll regrets how the recent significant turnover of key staff members was handled. I am deeply grieved and even depressed by the pain we have caused, he writes, and expresses hope for reconciliation with former staff who have recently chosen to air their concerns online. 3) Driscoll says his angry-young-prophet days are over. He plans to reset my life, starting with quitting social media for the rest of 2014 (and maybe longer). The distractions it can cause for my family and our church family are not fruitful or helpful at this time, he writes. 4) Driscoll will likewise do much less less traveling, speaking, and writing in order to focus on being a local pastor. I dont see how I can be both a celebrity and a pastor, he writes, and so I am happy to give up the former so that I can focus on the latter.
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 01:09:34 +0000
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