Author: Warren Throckmorton

Seattle Weekly on The Reckoning of Mars Hill Church

Nina Shapiro, writing for Seattle Weekly, has penned an intriguing article filled with interviews of former Mars Hill members.  Shapiro was invited to a Wednesday night meeting where many ex-Mars Hill members and attenders gather to find community.
Here is a taste:

For those here tonight, the downfall has been long coming. Many left years ago, some voluntarily, others after being ousted. And yet the scars seem fresh, the effect lasting.

“Some of us were abused and ostracized,” Thoen continues. “So for some of us, it’s not safe to walk into a building with ‘church’ on the front door.” Thoen himself isn’t one of them. Warily, after leaving Mars Hill two years ago, he and his wife soon joined a new church. Yet his reference to these weekly gatherings as analogous to “church” hints at an unwillingness to devote himself wholly again to a religious organization—an attitude shared by Dwayne Forehand, owner of this backyard.

“I think it’s hard for me to trust the church I’m at, and I’ve been there for five years,” Forehand says. He attempts to explain: “Mars Hill was one of the only places in my whole life where I was . . . ” Forehand casts about for words.

“Vulnerable?” asks Rob Smith, a generation older than many of these men and the instigating force behind these gatherings.

“Yeah, extremely vulnerable,” Forehand says. “Since then, I haven’t been that vulnerable with anyone.”

Go read much more at the Seattle Weekly.

Lots of Similar Retweets on the Mars Hill Letter to the Editor

A letter to the editor was published in the Seattle Times in defense of Mars Hill today. My point now is not to discuss or debate the contents of the letter; regular readers should be able to see the factual problems. I am glad the Times prints letter with a variety of opinions. Discuss it if you want in the comments.
What seems odd is what was happening on Twitter with the link. Many of the accounts don’t appear to be legit or at least they seem suspicious. Note the repetitive nature of them in this screen cap. TwitterLetterEditor Take this one for instance: twitterbedjy The account follows no one, only has 16 followers but 103k tweets.  A search for witch hunt and mars hill finds a lot of accounts like this. I don’t know what to make of it, but like a lot of issues surrounding this story, it is interesting, and you never know where something will lead. Does anyone have any ideas? Can retweets be purchased? And if so, what good would it do?

Rob Asghar at Forbes on Mars Hill Church: The Enron of American Churches

Forbes’ contributor Rob Asghar takes no prisoners in his articles today on Mars Hill Church.
The first titled, “Mars Hill: Cautionary Tales From The Enron Of American Churches” analyzes the situation from the perspective of toxic leadership, and the second titled, “How Toxic Followers Enable Toxic Leaders” takes a hard look at the precursors to the recent decline at Mars Hill Church and wonders why so many missed the signs.
While hindsight has a distinct advantage over prophecy, Asghar pulls out some of Driscoll’s statements that have repeatedly been raised by ex-members. For instance:

In his investigation, Welch cited a public boast by Driscoll that should have been an adequate preview of unattractions to come. “There is a pile of dead bodies behind the Mars Hill bus, and by God’s grace, it’ll be a mountain by the time we’re done,” Driscoll said. “You either get on the bus or you get run over by the bus.”

There are several links to this blog as well as the Seattle Times Sunday article by Craig Welch.
All in all, if you are following this saga, the article is a must read. Asghar ends with a guarded prognosis:

Mars Hill’s story is far from finished. It need not end up being another Enron. But it does face enormous challenges to recover any sense of health and stability.