Tag: Mars Hill Church

Mediation Sought by Former Mars Hill Church Members and Donors

This just in…

For IMMEDIATE Release
Mediation Sought by Former Mars Hill Church Members and Donors
SEATTLE, Dec. 22, 2014

A group of former Mars Hill Church members and donors are pursuing mediation with Mars Hill Church to accomplish a number of goals: full financial transparency, an acknowledgment of and some form of restitution for those harmed by Mars Hill, the release of the Board of Elders investigative report of the charges against the former Mars Hill pastor, Mark Driscoll, and an acknowledgment that Driscoll was found to be disqualified.

The group’s attorney, Brian Fahling, is preparing a RICO lawsuit filing based on allegations of fraud related to the solicitation of funds. Mars Hill previously indicated a desire to resolve the issues through mediation, but asked to see more details regarding the RICO filing first. Church leaders will be given a specific amount of time to review the materials and respond. The group prepared to file the lawsuit agrees mediation is preferable and are hopeful the parties can come to agreement quickly.

$40,000 in matching funds has been offered by an anonymous donor to help pay the costs of mediation, and to file and pursue the lawsuit if necessary.

The group is soliciting funds through a GoFundMe account at http://www.gofundme.com/j7wh4c.

The description of the fund includes information about an alternate way to donate.

The press release was changed to insert the word fraud instead misappropriation.

Former Elder Jon Krombein Issues Public Challenge to Current Mars Hill Pastors To Release Information

Former Mars Hill Elder Jon Krombein today released a public statement on his Facebook page:

Attention: Dave Bruskas, David Fairchild, Ed Choi, Tim Smith, Ryan Williams, Matthias Heusel, Aaron Gray, Bubba Jennings, AJ Hamilton, Matt Rogers, Jason Skelton, Scott Harris, and Seth Winterhalter

You all know more than you are saying about Mark Driscoll’s fitness for eldership, and the way that Mars Hill “cooked the books” with Result Source, MH Global, and Executive Elder pay. These things will not just disappear when Mars Hill ceases to be. Your culpability in all of them will hang over your future ministries and you’re new church “plants.”

You owe it to Jesus, the people who are continuing to trust your leadership, and the thousands who’ve left MH to come clean on everything. And if your honesty is to mean anything or carry any weight it needs to come before the end of the year. I have heard from a few of you that 1) you believe that because you weren’t in the room when decisions were being made, that you are not in any way responsible and that it is therefore not “your information” to share, and 2) that because some of you have decided to remain quiet, that you are all bound to silence together. Those are both lies, and I rebuke them.

You are the senior leaders. Your people trusted you to be informed, make decisions, and steward well. You may have not be in the room when decisions were made, but you knew the details before most and you certainly know the details now. You should have raised the flag as soon as you saw the problem. As well, there is no honor and fidelity between you that should be at a level greater than your fidelity to Jesus. To say that you won’t speak up because the others have decided not to is a cop-out. If you really think that you are fit to plant and lead a new church, your leadership starts now. Do the hard and correct thing by being honest now. If you don’t, the spectre will haunt the rest of your future ministry.

Whether or not it is true, there is much speculation that you are being silent because you fear that speaking up before 1/1/2015 could jeopardize your seed money or a building gift for your “new” church plant. If you do end up disclosing more after the first of the year, that will prove that you were acting in fear now. A man who is afraid to be honest out of fear for personal protection is man who should not be jumping in to lead a new church.

You don’t have to answer to me or anyone else on this earth, but you will have to answer to Jesus.

The challenge speaks for itself.

Vision Nationals: Another Part of Mars Hill Global Which May Lose Funding

Last week, I posted an update on Mars Hill Church’s Ethiopian connection, New Covenant Foundation. Even though Mars Hill Church raised millions by featuring their work, church leaders still have not pledged to give some of the seed money from the church dissolution to these pastors.
The other main international outreach was in India via Vision Nationals. Arjuna Chiguluri is the director of the mission and responded to my request for clarification of the current situation at Mars Hill.

Let me just start by saying that we are heartbroken over all that’s transpired, and we pray for all those affected.
As you know, Mars Hill Church has been a faithful supporter of our ministry for more than 15 years, and we are grateful for all they’ve done to help us plant churches in India. It’s been a truly generative partnership. Many have come to know Jesus as a result.
Anytime an organization loses a significant source of funding, it hurts, but we are very optimistic that God will provide. He has done so for more than 22 years, and we have no reason to believe that He will stop now.
As you think of it, Warren, please pray for India. We have more human need and more unreached people groups than any other nation on earth. Believing that Christ is the key to human flourishing, our passion is to proclaim and demonstrate the Gospel for as long as we have breath.
God bless you, brother, and thank you for reaching out to me.
In the ministry that counts,
Arjuna

As far as I can tell, these two mission groups believe in “human flourishing” as they spread the gospel and seek to improve the quality of life in the communities where they plant churches.
The latest information I have is that the seed money is designed to cover the expenses of the spin-off churches for three months. Surely, the church should donate a share of money from dissolution to these pastors and their families, many of whom live in poverty. With the wealth remaining at Mars Hill, there should be enough in a share to support these pastors for years.
Additional information: I should have added to this post the statement made by Mars Hill about Ethiopia and India:

Additionally, in 2015 we expect to make a final donation to Vision Nationals in India, and New Covenant Foundation in Ethiopia, prior to distributing net assets to the new independent churches, and some of the new local churches hope to continue the legacy of supporting these missions.

While this sounds like the missionaries will get funds, it is not clear that this pledge is for anything more than was planned if the church had remained open. However, neither group seemed to be aware of anything beyond the 2015 money already committed for the fiscal year. Mars Hill is closing in the middle of the fiscal year and it appears that they “expect” to complete their donation for until June 2015.
What I am talking about (and I believe  I wasn’t as clear as I needed to be) is a substantial distribution more akin with what came in through the Global Fund. I hope Mars Hill leaders surprise the world and publicize where the distribution is going. From the current statements of the church and the missionaries, I don’t expect anything more to be given than what was planned for the remainder of the FY.
 

Frustrated About the Mars Hill Global Fund? Help Ethiopian Pastors Directly Through New Covenant Foundation

Yesterday, Mars Hill Church posted a request for members to give money through the end of the year. The request raised the possibility that the eleven independent churches might not get off the ground if members didn’t keep giving to Mars Hill.

Without generous people like you continuing to give through the end of the year, many of these churches may not have the necessary funds to continue as new churches.

As I said yesterday, I don’t understand this threat. If the churches are so fragile that survival depends on Mars Hill giving now, I don’t understand how they will make it when the Mars Hill money runs out.
In any case, one casualty of Mars Hill’s demise may be the Ethiopian pastors supported by the church through partnership with New Covenant Foundation. New Covenant provides several ways for donors to support Ethiopian pastors. Current funding for those pastors will run out at the end of the fiscal year.
One may donate to New Covenant Foundation here. Watch:
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/113747611[/vimeo]
Mars Hill used videos of Ethiopian and Indian pastors living in poverty to raise money for the Global Fund. However, as the church admitted, most of the money went to expanding Mars Hill locations in the United States. Millions were raised with only a tiny fraction being spent on international efforts. We all learned later that this was the plan all along.
I believe that the money raised for the Global Fund should now be given to the charities which manage the resources for the Indian and Ethiopian pastors. If the actual donations are not given to them, then the dissolution pot should be divided 12 ways instead of 11 with a share given to the international pastors. This commitment was not mentioned in yesterday’s end of the year fund raising appeal.
To help address Mars Hill’s lack of clarity on this matter, I am today featuring the Ethiopian charity. In a future post, I will provide information about Vision Nationals, the charity which operates in India. Mars Hill folks have been voting with their nickels for months, they can do it again one last time.