This isn’t particularly new but I don’t think I have posted it here. Mars Hill Albuquerque is now doing business as North Church. In this video, a church volunteer describes the transition from The City to Church Community Builder.
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/113849480[/vimeo]
Those interested in the church where Dave Bruskas will land can follow North Church video updates here. Apparently the name and incorporation hasn’t been changed as yet, since the church is still incorporated as Mars Hill Church.
Month: December 2014
Leadership Journal Seeks Lessons on the Demise of the Church from Former Pastors and Advisor
Subtitle: Gerry Breshears finally speaks
Ben Tertin at the Leadership Journal has a long article out today online which hopes to examine some “painful lessons” from the demise of Mars Hill Church. One aspect of the article which makes it necessary reading for Mars Hill watchers is the on the record statements from former pastors Bill Clem and Tim Gaydos. Both former pastors had much to say about the corporatization of church under Mark Driscoll, Sutton Turner, and Dave Bruskas.
I recommend reading the full article, but I will provide some snippets first. Then I want to address the comments made by Driscoll’s co-author Gerry Breshears. First from Tim Gaydos:
Centralization consolidated power and finances efficiently. And as Driscoll’s celebrity brand infiltrated the Internet, plainly put, the church expanded enormously.
Gaydos says, “Mark made it no secret that he wanted to become the biggest church in America.” Push further. Grow faster. Give more cash to fund “The Front.”
Clem has a way with words:
“The growth was uncontrollable,” Clem says. “On one Sunday in January, we launched four campuses. The problem is that this is only possible if you scale the campus pastor position way back. If being a lead pastor requires a skill set or maturity, then your pool to draw from gets smaller, and you cannot multiply fast enough.
“The only way to create scalable multiplication is to somehow dumb down that position so that a dog with a note in its mouth can do it.”
Interesting way to describe a lead pastor under the Mars Hill regime.
“It got to the point where I’d get a weekly printout that would tell me I had one minute and 40 seconds to make an announcement,” says Clem. “I’d get a memo telling me to quit standing up in front and praying with people after the service because those hurting people are already regular attenders. The visitors are out in the lobby, so you need to be out in the lobby to get Velcro on the visitor to get them to stick so they come back.
“As the campus pastor, I’m being managed on where I stand, who I talk to—and I’m going, Are you kidding me? When I was 25 years old, I had more freedom to figure out how to do ministry than this.”
Clem isolated the arrival of Sutton Turner as the turning point:
“A significant turning point came when we brought Sutton Turner on,” Clem says, referring to the April 2011 hire of Turner as the church’s General Manager, eventually stepping into oversight of Central Operations. Not that Turner was malicious or corrupt, says Clem, but his business savvy began to dominate the church’s strategy and organizational structure.
“He had an MBA from Harvard and had just worked for the Prince of Qatar’s royal family on a major real estate development where he oversaw 1,500 people. We were thinking, OK, we don’t know what we’re doing; Sutton knows what to do.
One correction: Turner does not have a MBA from Harvard. He attended a summer program for executives at Harvard but his MBA is from Southern Methodist University. Clem can be forgiven for thinking that because Mars Hill Church leaders told the congregation he did.
I was surprised to see Gerry Breshears quoted in this article. Back in December of 2013, when I asked Breshears about plagiarism in a book he authored with Driscoll, he told me Driscoll had addressed the matter and he had nothing else to say.
I don’t think I’ll say anything in these issues. Mark’s statement seems well thought out and more than adequate to address the specific issues involved. His clear admission of error and taking responsibility and action as a result seems commendable. I hope it gets as much attention and appreciation as the plagiarism charges did.
The problem with the “taking responsibility” narrative was that Driscoll didn’t exactly do that. He said “mistakes were made” and did not address all of the books with documented plagiarism. Breshears not only was a co-author with Driscoll, but he served Mars Hill Church as a theological consultant to Driscoll.
Just recently, Breshears wrote about lessons from Mars Hill and in doing so blasted unnamed bloggers who brought many aspects of the Mars Hill culture to light.
However, to the Leadership Journal, Breshears said:
A compromising church culture dominated by a celebrity leader leads to corrosive chemistry. “Every church has its own culture,” continues Breshears, “and every church culture can go toxic.”
Yes, things can get toxic, especially when bystanders enable those who are making it toxic.
Mars Hill Church Posts 2014 Annual Report; No Resolution of Global Fund
Maintaining certain fictions until the end, Mars Hill leaders posted the 2014 annual report today.
The section on Mars Hill Global and Mars Hill Go reflects what happened to Mars Hill Global after I reported on the tactics to promote missions but use Global Fund money to fund U.S. expansion.
Between 2012 and May 2014, the Global Family was called the “Mars Hill Extended Family” and Mars Hill Go was marketed as the Mars Hill Global and the Global Fund.
The annual report maintains an upbeat reframing of the church closing and includes a brief accounting of finances for the year. No word in the report about the fate of those 73 church planters in Ethiopia and India.
Institute on the Constitution Uses Spurious George Washington Quote to Mislead Followers
The Institute on the Constitution, founded by former League of the South board member Michael Peroutka, bills itself as an educational outreach of Peroutka’s law firm. I have contended for over a year that the IOTC is a theocratic enterprise which does not educate but rather misleads followers about the Constitution.
Today I note an illustration of how the IOTC subtly misinforms followers. On their Facebook page, the IOTC attributes to George Washington the following spurious quote:
It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible
According to the IOTC Facebook page, this post has been shared 66 times. That is a lot of ignorance going around.
According to Mt. Vernon website, there is no evidence that Washington ever said this. The exact quote has never been located in Washington’s works. A similar quote was first included, without citation, in an book published long after Washington’s death. There is no evidence he ever said this.
This is not the first fake Washington quote used by the IOTC to advance their agenda.
The IOTC course on the Constitution is riddled with errors and cannot be trusted as a source on the subject. In addition, the IOTC has posted material on the organization’s website defending racial and religious discrimination. Peroutka believes the wrong side won the Civil War.
The IOTC is making a strong push to establish what they call “American Clubs” in public schools. In my view, these clubs are dangerous and should be resisted by parents. It is beyond disgusting that the Liberty Counsel, affiliated with Liberty University, defends the American Clubs in school districts who attempt to resist them.
Former Executive Elders of Mars Hill Church May Face RICO Lawsuit
According to former Mars Hill deacon Rob Smith and Seattle attorney Brian Fahling, a lawsuit is being prepared with Mark Driscoll, Sutton Turner, David Bruskas, and Jamie Munson named as defendants. The suit may not be filed until later this week or early next week. Those bringing the suit have alerted Mars Hill Church leaders and hope to engage in talks which could serve to prevent the suit from going forward.
A civil RICO claim (see link for statutory basis of a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations suit) must allege an injury to the plaintiffs. In this case, plaintiffs donated funds for specific purposes based on church leaders’ representations. The funds were then diverted to other purposes. In addition, plaintiffs believe that funds from the general fund were used fraudulently to scam the New York Times best-seller list for Mark Driscoll’s self-inurement.
As has been documented here, Mars Hill leaders solicited donations for various specific purposes (e.g., Jesus Festival, international misions). However, those funds were often used for other purposes (e.g., establishing Mars Hill video locations) via Mars Hill Church. The suit will allege a pattern of activities occurring over at least four years. The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability may also be named in a separate action.
Smith, who has raised numerous concerns about Mars Hill, recorded a You Tube video to promote a legal fund for the suit. The rationale is provided on the fundraising site:
Mars Hill Church, according to Paul Tripp who recently served on their Board of Advisors and Accountability, “is without a doubt the most abusive, coercive ministry culture” he has ever been involved with.
Because of the abuse of both people and money, it is essential that the dissolution of the church be delayed until the abuse can be clearly articulated by the church leadership, and repentance and restitution be made.
At this point, only a just legal action will stop the dissolution of the church. A legal team has been hired and the delay of the dissolution will be sought so that true repentance and restitution can occur.
Please support this effort.
As this year has unfolded, we have seen the widespread abuse of people, and of money.
Mark Driscoll, who built his image calling men to take personal responsibility for their actions, rather than take responsibility himself for his part in the abusive culture, resigned and left the church. He failed to address the abuse that Paul Tripp spoke of. He failed to address the hundreds of shunned and abused members, ex-members and donors.
The remaining leadership, rather than dealing head-on with the abuse, has continued to make decisions behind closed doors and simply ignored the multiple requests of members, ex-members and donors to deal with the abuse.
Rather than be transparent about the misuse of the finances of Mars Hill and the widespread abuse of people, they have chosen to hastily dissolve the corporation, and is promising whatever cash is left over to the individual campuses of Mars Hill Church.
The lead pastors of each of these campuses, rather than raising their voices for transparency and closure for the hurting ex-members, many of whom were under their care, are saying nothing. The word in the street is that they will lose their part of the “spoils” if they rock the boat. So they appear to have no interest in bringing healing to the members that their campus has harmed, or to the hurting members and ex-members from other campuses.
These “pastors” are not even calling for the public shunning of Paul Petry to be lifted. This is continued cruelty that has lasted over 7 years. Paul Petry represents many other members and families that were wrongly disciplined or ex-communicated.
At this stage of the game, without legal action being taken, Mars Hill Church will dissolve and the assets, including money, will be distributed in back-room deals that members and donors are excluded from. The many members, ex-members and donors who feel defrauded and abused will not see a just resolution to their wounds.
It is in the interest of transparency and healing that the dissolution be stopped. It will prove to be the righteous course of action. It will allow leadership that has particpated in the shocking level of abuse to clear their consciences, speak the truth, do the right thing, and be forgiven.
It will be a wonderful testimony to all. To simply dissolve will permanently harm all who are seeking healing and closure.
Please support this fund.
From my vantage point, it would be to the advantage of Ethiopian and Indian pastors if the dissolution of the church could be stalled to allow Mars Hill more time to disclose how much money should go to them. The Global Fund brought in millions and an investigation would help clarify how much money should be funneled to those who were used to raise the funds which ultimately were used to support Mars Hill’s expansion.