According to sources in Mars Hill Church, Mars Hill leaders have floated a response to the twenty former pastors who in early March sought mediation with the church leadership. Those pastors were once employed by Mars Hill Church and are now represented by Dave Kraft and Kyle Firstenberg. The group has a number of grievances with Mars Hill leaders and in a March 17 letter asked for a impartial mediator to help resolve the concerns.
If the reports are accurate, the mediator may not fit the request for an independent person. According to my sources, the Mars Hill Board of Advisors and Accountability (BOAA) have proposed to bring in a person who works for James MacDonald. MacDonald is a friend and colleague of Mark Driscoll as well as one of the members of the BOAA. In this proposal, an employee of a BOAA member would be mediating a dispute between the BOAA and people with grievances. How could such a person be considered objective and unbiased?
There must be wise and objective people who do not have relationships with the people involved. The 20 pastors asked for a neutral party but this response, if pressed, does not appear to respond to their request. It will be hard to take the Mars Hill BOAA seriously if they push forward with this proposal.