Month: March 2014

The Seeds of Trouble: Mars Hill Church, Mark Driscoll and the 2007 Purge

Update: For Facebook group information, read to the bottom

Over the past several months, I have talked with quite a few former Mars Hill Church members and ministers. A common theme is that the current difficulties being experienced at the church have at least some of their roots in a change of governance in 2007.  At that time, Paul Petry and Bent Meyer were fired as elders which set off a firestorm of discontent among certain members. The discord even reached the Seattle Times with an article by Janet Tu titled, Firing of pastors roils Mars Hill Church.

The article mentioned the fired elders and noted that changes in the by-laws seemed to spark the discord. According to then pastor Jamie Munson, the object of the changes was to share power, not hoard it. The 2007 changes were resisted by Petry, Meyer, Lief Moi and others and were followed up by the current 2011 by-laws which further consolidates power in the hands of the board of elders (see this post for the by-laws). The 2011 by-laws move even further away from the original model of governance.
Judging from conversations I am having with former Mars Hill members and staff, as well as their various Facebook postings, some of the current distress and discord can be traced back to the difficulties in 2007. After the by-laws were approved, MHC required members to rejoin under the new scheme. About 1,000 members declined to rejoin.

Some of the more infamous video clips of Mark Driscoll come from that period (Some of those sermons have been removed from the MHC website). In one sermon, Driscoll describes how to keep elders in line

As noted, once one gets past the important concerns of plagiarism, and using Result Source to get on best seller lists, much of the concerns I hear relate to authoritarian leaders, hurt feelings and disrupted relationships from that turbulent period of the church’s history. The additional changes in the church by-laws and increasingly corporatization of Mars Hill into a brand (some recall and describe the “I am the brand” speech) have led to significant reaction on the part of current and former staff.

At least that is how it appears to me.

A detailed history of the situation is beyond my time constraints now, but I did want to raise this observation in the midst of covering the other controversies. There are other blogs and sources which help tell the story; some are first person accounts from those involved. Here are some of those accounts and resources.

My Story by Jonna Petry (wife of Paul Petry) at Joyful Exiles. This is a good initial reading of the timeline in the firing of Paul Petry from his wife’s perspective

Mars Hill Timeline from Joyful Exiles. – There is a wealth of information here.

Bent Meyer Breaks His Silence at Wartburg Watch.

Wenatchee the Hatchet – A former Mars Hill member provides a wide range of information about the history of MHC. Use the search engine to track down posts.

Repeal the By-Laws – Exonerate Pastors Paul Petry and Bent Meyer – A Facebook group started by Rob Smith to promote the exoneration of the fired elders Paul Petry and Bent Meyer.

See all posts on Mars Hill Church and Mark Driscoll

Amended and Restated By-Laws of Mars Hill Church (UPDATED)

UPDATE: When I first secured a copy of the Mars Hill by-laws, I thought I had the most recent copy of them. However, I did not. The by-laws were amended again twice, most recently in May of 2012. Here is a copy of the May, 2012 revision.  It is possible that the by-laws have been amended since then because the Board of Advisors and Accountability has the power to amend them at any time. However, my sources believe these are the most recent by-laws. I am adding the 2012 by-laws to this post so that interested readers can compare the two versions. One major change is the name of the ruling board, from Board of Elders to Board of Advisors and Accountability. Otherwise, not that much changed as far as I can tell.
……….. (beginning of original post)
Friday, Mars Hill Church issued a statement of defense and clarification of several matters of public interest. The full statement is on their website and with brief commentary here.  In the statement, the MHC Board of Advisors and Accountability referred to a change in governance. Some of these changes have led to discord at the church and public criticism. The following paragraph addresses the governance matter:

CHANGES TO GOVERNANCE

For many years Mars Hill Church was led by a board of Elders, most of whom were in a vocational relationship with the church and thus not able to provide optimal objectivity. To eliminate conflicts of interest and set the church’s future on the best possible model of governance, a Board of Advisors and Accountability (BOAA) was established to set compensation, conduct performance reviews, approve the annual budget, and hold the newly formed Executive Elders accountable in all areas of local church leadership. This model is consistent with the best practices for governance established in the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability standards. Mars Hill Church joined and has been a member in good standing with the ECFA since September of 2012.

I have reviewed the MHC by-laws (click here to review a pdf of the by-laws) and I must admit that I am confused by this recent statement. If anything, it seems to me that these by-laws create more conflicts of interest and less oversight for the decision makers at MHC.  The executive elders (Mark Driscoll, Sutton Turner, Dave Bruskas) are a part of the seven member board which appears to be the main decision making body and according to the statement above, “hold the newly formed Executive Elders accountable.” This board sets compensation, appoints elders, handles legal matters, etc. The preaching and teaching elder (Driscoll) has special enumerated powers that the other elders do not have.
I have contacted the ECFA to ask for their standards so I can compare these by-laws with those standards.
Below are some sections of interest from the by-laws:

At Mars Hill, members do not vote.

The entire elder council includes all those appointed as elders and the three members of the executive elder team (Driscoll, Turner, Bruskas). Elders may be removed by the executive elders.

The full council votes on doctrinal changes and on a slate of elders by the current board of elders (see below for the composition of that board).

This appears to be the Board of Advisors and Accountability which consists of the three executive elders (Driscoll, Bruskas, & Turner) and the non-paid outsiders (Tripp, Osborne, Skaik, & Phelps). This board is self-perpetuating and appears to be the final authority at MHC.

The Board of Elders set the salary for the executive team, which means that the executive team plus one other member can set salaries.


Mark Driscoll is president with a pretty strong position.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A Former Mars Hill Pastor Speaks Out and Why Others Are Afraid: The Mars Hill Church Non-Disclosure Agreement

On Tuesday, Warren Cole Smith posted a brief note at World Magazine about the policy of Mars Hill Church to require staff to sign non-disclosure agreements in order to maintain their severance pay and health insurance. And then on Friday, Smith posted a copy of an agreement given to him by a former Mars Hill staffer.

I also have a copy of an agreement given to me by former pastor Kyle F.  Kyle F. was executive pastor at Mars Hill Orange County until about a year and a half ago. You can read more about the situation in Orange County at Wenatchee the Hatchet’s blog.

Kyle also provided me with a letter he wrote to Mars Hill regarding his experience as a pastor in Orange County. Given what he is saying in his letter, I can understand why Mars Hill leaders want departing staff to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Often non-disclosure agreements are signed in the business/tech world to protect proprietary information from leaking out. In this case, the main reason appears to be to keep departing staff from candidly describing their bad experiences.

Reading the NDA, it appears to me that MHC leaders hope to use fear of legal action and loss of severance pay to keep former staff quiet. Some who have been watching the Mars Hill saga unfold have asked me privately why few have been aware of the incredible tensions, discord and significant staff turnover at MHC. Furthermore, I have been amazed at how fearful staffers have been to discuss their experiences. I think both of these observations relate to the fear that the massive engine that MHC is will come down on individuals who have relatively few resources to defend themselves.

According to the statement from the Board of Advisors and Accountability, numerous staff transitions have been acrimonious and they have made changes to “detrimental management patterns.” According to Kyle, no sustained effort has been made to address his concerns. And according to Dave Kraft, the statement involving him is inaccurate and ignores the totality of his claims and concerns. The BOAA statement also defends the use of the non-disclosure agreement which really causes me to wonder if the “detrimental management patterns” have truly been addressed.
I asked Kyle for his reactions to the BOAA statement. He began by questioning whether or not Mark Driscoll and other executive elders have really faced the implications of the massive staff discord and turnover over the last 2-3 years. Kyle: “How have they “owned” their part?” According to Kyle, “There has been no response or repentance from those leaders, in fact no response at all from this accountability group to the very elders that they have sinned against. How is that owning their part?”

Regarding the effort to address concerns of staff, Kyle asked, “Why was Pastor Dave the only pastor that supposedly received a response from the BOAA? What about the other pastors who wrote in. I know of at least two others including myself who never heard anything back.”

Finally, Kyle pointed to the BOAA’s defense of the executive elders (“We deeply appreciate their endurance through false accusation, their submission to authority, and their humility where regrettable decisions from the past have come to light.”) and asked,  “What has been owned” by this statement?

As an observer, I am puzzled by the way MHC is governed. If the BOAA is a governing body, then it seems like a conflict of interest to have all three of the executive elders (Driscoll, Turner and Bruskas) as members. This seems especially relevant since numerous former staff are leveling serious and significant charges and the decision making board investigating those charges include those who are being charged. Given the reactions of former MHC pastors (Kyle told me that nearly all of the branch executive pastors who were in place two years are now gone), it seems that the BOAA has not come close to addressing the depth of the matter.

Read all posts on Mars Hill and Mark Driscoll here.

Former Mars Hill Pastor Dave Kraft Speaks Out About His Relationship with the Church

UPDATE: Another former Mars Hill leader, Jeff Bettger, speaks out publicly in support of Dave Kraft.

Dave Kraft is a former pastor at Mars Hill Church in Seattle. He left Mars Hill under difficult circumstances and is now speaking out about his experience there. This morning Kraft responds to the Mars Hill Board of Advisors and Accountability statement made on Friday regarding his relationship with MHC.

A taste:

Now, in response to the article posted by the BOAA on Friday, March 7, let me say this:

I am doing much more than “disagreeing with policy.”
This is an understatement to end all understatements. I am taking issue with attitudes and actions that I believe are in clear violation of I Timothy 3, Titus 1 and I Peter 5 and may be grounds for church discipline or outright removal.

What I addressed in my “Formal Charges” on May 10, 2013 is very serious and was taken seriously by the BOAA. I was told by the chairman of the BOAA that although (in the BOAA’s mind) the charges were not serious enough for immediate removal from leadership for Mark, they could be depending on how he responded to the charges and what he did going forward.

Over the next week, I will have more from former Mars Hill staff in response to the BOAA statement. I have never seen anything quite like what is going on now with many former staff coming forward with stories of truly disappointing experiencing at the church.

UPDATE: Another former Mars Hill leader, Jeff Bettger, speaks out publicly in support of Dave Kraft.

Mars Hill Church Quickly Changes Message on Strategy to Place Mark Driscoll's Real Marriage on Best Seller Lists

On Wednesday, when Warren Cole Smith disclosed the arrangement between Mars Hill Church and ResultSource to place Mark Driscoll’s book Real Marriage on the New York Times list of best selling books, Mars Hill defended the scheme. Then, Justin Dean, MHC communication director said:

Mars Hill has made marketing investments for book releases and sermon series, along with album releases, events, and church plants, much like many other churches, authors, and publishers who want to reach a large audience. We will explore any opportunity that helps us to get that message out, while striving to remain above reproach in the process. Whether we’re talking about technology, music, marketing, or whatever, we want to tell lots of people about Jesus by every means available. That’s what we’re all about and have been since 1996.

On Wednesday, the ResultSource scheme was a “marketing investment,” and “an opportunity that helps us get that message out.” At that time, it was a means “to tell lots of people about Jesus.” That would make it a good thing, right?
By Friday, however, representatives of the church had a change of message:

In 2011, outside counsel advised our marketing team to use Result Source to market the Real Marriage book and attain placement on the New York Times Bestseller list. While not uncommon or illegal, this unwise strategy is not one we had used before or since, and not one we will use again. The true cost of this endeavor was much less than what has been reported, and to be clear, all of the books purchased through this campaign have been given away or sold through normal channels. All monies from the sale of Pastor Mark’s books at Mars Hill bookstores have always gone to the church and Pastor Mark did not profit from the Real Marriage books sold either at the church or through the Result Source marketing campaign.

By Friday, the use of ResultSource had become an “unwise strategy” instead of an “opportunity.” Instead of something consistent with what Mars Hill has been about “since 1996,” ResultSource was an approach which was not “used before or since” and a strategy suggested by outsiders and never to be used again. Quite a change from March 5 to March 7.
Perhaps Mars Hill’s leadership believes they have been transparent with their statement, but at least on this point, they have increased the confusion and left important questions unanswered. The contract I posted on Thursday gives specific financial parameters which add up to over 200k in costs and yet in this statement the leadership says the true cost was much less. Without a more detailed account, questions will remain about those “true costs.”
Furthermore, I would like to know what happened between Wednesday and late afternoon Friday to change the message. While I doubt they will speak about the matter, I think this is a significant problem for MHC to address going forward. If there really was a change of mind between Wednesday and Friday, how did it come about?
Related Post:
Mars Hill Church Removes Reference to Real Marriage as NYT Best Seller from Mark Driscoll’s Bio
 
For all posts on this topic, click here.
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