Sutton Turner – Page 6 – Warren Throckmorton

Mark Driscoll's Leadership Coaching: Taking Up Where He Left Off

driscoll leadership 2011 heading Today, Mark Driscoll offered several former coaching videos on his website. These are videos he developed in 2011 with the offer of leadership coaching materials through The Resurgence website. This 2011 email gives the details.
Above is an image of the email heading. The content is below:

From Pastor Mark Driscoll:
Being a leader is wonderfully complicated. Whether it’s leading in family, business, or ministry, leaders face particular challenges that make simultaneous joy and fruitfulness difficult.
By the grace of God, I would like to help if I can. So, I’m starting something new called “Leadership Coaching with Pastor Mark.” It is a free ongoing subscription service we are providing to anyone who signs up. We will ask for a bit of personal data so that we can know who subscribes, which will enable me to get the most helpful content to you. For example, if we have a lot of church planters, student ministry leaders, preachers, business leaders, small group leaders, or worship leaders, I can target my coaching content to help those people most effectively. We will not sell or share your personal information and will not continually bombard you with requests or promotions.
Who Can Sign Up
1. Any Christian leader — This can be parents leading their kids, business leaders leading their employees, unpaid ministry leaders leading others to Jesus, and paid ministry leaders leading other leaders. Also, students in high school, Bible college, university, seminary, and so on, are welcome to sign up.
2. Any Christian — Bible-believing, Jesus-loving leaders from any church, denomination, or theological tribe are welcome to sign up. You don’t have to agree with me on everything to sign up. I love you and if I can serve you, I’d be honored to.
3. Any gender — Females and males alike are welcome.
4. Any nation — Wherever you are, we welcome you.
What You Will Get
1. A weekly short video of me—shot informally on my laptop—with one big idea for leaders. At times, I will also interview other Christian leaders as I travel. For those who do not have access to high-speed Internet and find video files difficult to download, we are also expecting to transcribe each post into text to make it easier for you to access.
2. Content you cannot get anywhere else. This content will be restricted, exclusive, and not posted anywhere else on the Internet by me. I expect to cover such topics as how to get and stay organized for effectiveness, how to stay connected to your family and friends, how to deal with your critics, how to watch your overall health, how to deal with despair and depression, how to study Scripture most efficiently, how to lead an organization, how to evaluate people’s giftedness to help them find the best way to serve God, how to navigate culture as a missionary, and more. As you can see, the content will be very practical.
3. Chances to win free gifts, such as books, that we will give away to winners from the subscription list.
4. Research briefs prepared by academics. I am blessed with a team of professors/researchers spanning multiple disciplines that I contract for work in areas such as demographics and sociology. Examples include work on giving trends, sexuality, marriage and divorce, and the spiritual lives of younger people. I will give away for free some of these studies and summaries to help function as a research assistant to those on the subscription list.
5. First access to and discounts on some conferences and events, books, and other products.

Also today, Sutton Turner said this about the decision to hire ResultSource as a means to elevate Mark Driscoll’s book Real Marriage up the New York Times Best Seller list:

I do know that it [the decision to hire ResultSource] showed that the process of making big decisions was broken and it needed to be fixed.

Both of these events — leadership coaching, and the Result Source decision — took place in 2011.

Sutton Turner Talks About His Part in Mark Driscoll's New York TImes Best Seller Plan

Former executive elder of Mars Hill Church Sutton Turner wrote today about his part in the ResultSource scheme to get Mark Driscoll’s book Real Marriage on to the New York Times Best Seller list. The bottom line is that he is now saying he didn’t agree with it.
In addition to reflecting on the use of the consulting group ResultSource, Turner also addresses some of the same ground as he did in 2012 the executive elder memo I posted last year.
Turner also confirms the essential contents of this memo from a Mars Hill staffer who had significant concerns about the ethics of the scheme. In his post, he relates the concerns (I am not saying Turner is referring to the same staffer) in a similar manner as presented in that memo.
Specifically, he said he then wrote his supervisor (which I believe would have been Jamie Munson) with the following concerns:

I wrote a memo on August 26, 2011 to my supervisor saying the following:

The plan was poor stewardship.

If the plan were to be revealed, it would look poorly on the stewardship of Mars Hill Church.

If the plan were to be revealed, it would look poorly on Pastor Mark Driscoll.

Turner’s post is the first of at least one more which will outline more of his reflections on leadership at Mars Hill. He closed today’s post by saying he would not sign the ResultSource again:

Shortly after the decision to execute the ResultSource marketing plan was made, my supervisor resigned. After him, I was the highest-ranking employee in administration. The decision had been made but the contract hadn’t yet been signed. On October 13, 2011, I signed the ResultSource contract as General Manager a full month before being installed as an Executive Elder. After signing the contract, I emailed an elder, stating my frustration with having to be the one to sign the contract when I had voiced my disagreement with it. But few in the organization (or in the media since then) knew of my disagreement. When you stay in an organization and you do not agree with a decision, you have to own that decision as your own. Unfortunately, I will always be linked to ResultSource since my name was on the contract even though I thought it was a bad idea. If given the same opportunity again, I would not sign the ResultSource contract, but honestly, my missing signature would not have stopped it. Someone else would have signed it anyway since the decision had already been made.
I knew if I left Mars Hill, the likelihood of decisions like ResultSource would only continue. Through prayer and confidence that Jesus had called my family and me to Mars Hill Church, I decided to stay and change the decision-making process so that decisions like ResultSource would not be made again.

For those wanting to understand the Mars Hill story, this is a significant post.
It is ironic that this post comes on the same day that Mark Driscoll has added leadership coaching videos to his website.

Mark Driscoll on Mars Hill Global: The Global Mission Effort of Jesus Christ

Recently a couple of commenters have questioned whether or not communications from Mars Hill Church left the impression that Mars Hill Global was the international missions ministry arm of Mars Hill Church. The following video was made by Mark Driscoll to describe the changing brand of Mars Hill Global. Sutton Turner hoped to appeal to both Mars Hill members and people outside the church by recasting Mars Hill Global as the way the church participated in the world wide mission. Rather than actually put the millions raised into missions, however, the plan was to feature some projects and then funnel the preponderance of the funds into Mars Hill Church’s general fund.
This video is one of the Mars Hill Global videos that was removed from YouTube by the church. When I put clips of the removed video back on You Tube, the church challenged the Fair Use of the videos but backed down when I challenged their claim.

The messaging of Mars Hill Global after 2012 was ambiguous at times. However, Driscoll here and Sutton Turner in a video that can still be seen on the Mars Hill website made the message very clear that international work was the primary focus of Mars Hill Global. Turner said with an Ethiopian church in the background:

Mars Hill Global is the arm of Mars Hill Church that makes disciples and plant churches all over the world.

After touting their translation work, Turner solicited money from both Mars Hill members and people outside the church.

So whether you’re a member of one of our Mars Hill Church locations in the United States or you’re one of 100,000 podcasters every single week, We encourage you to pray about giving above and beyond your tithe to Mars Hill Global.

Even though Turner later in 2014 tried to reframe Mars Hill Global into only people outside the church, the new message was at odds with what was proclaimed before sermons throughout 2013 and early 2014.
Donor intent is signaled by the choices that donors make when they give. Up until May 2014, donors had the ability to select the Global Fund or the Mars Hill general fund for their donations. See again this video demonstration:
[youtube]http://youtu.be/a4EFX3-RXyg[/youtube]
Global Fund
According to recent communications from Justin Dean, Mars Hill spokesman, the Global Fund wasn’t a fund. Even though it was labeled as a fund as distinct from the general fund and had its own accounting code, church leaders have crafted a story that considers the Global Fund a restricted fund before 2012 but not a restricted after 2012. However, they didn’t tell donors that the fund was not restricted in the minds of church leaders until I started writing about the Global Fund in 2014.
I have recently obtained some accounting information which demonstrates again that donors designated money to the Global Fund. This particular donor (name redacted) gave to both the general fund from a campus location and to the Global Fund (GLO).

“History” above refers to the location of information about that donation in a prior accounting software package used in early 2012. I have redacted many donations between February and October. The donations in October were made on behalf of U-District (10/21/12) and the Global Fund (10/23, 10/9). Apparently those funds were designated for those accounts but it can’t be determined from this document if they were spent for those purposes.
Time is running out for current Mars Hill leaders and those involved with them (Soma leaders) to do the right thing and disclose the actual giving to missions. From what Mars Hill leaders have already said, we know that missions did not get funding commensurate with the amount of branding and attention Ethiopian and Indian pastors received in Mars Hill media solicitations throughout 2012 to 2014. Now as the church dissolves, shouldn’t those pastors get some of those funds? Even if they don’t get the money raised through the Global Fund, shouldn’t what is left upon dissolution (possibly in the neighborhood of $20 million) be divided 12 ways, with a portion for the Indian and Ethiopian pastors?
Former and current Mars Hill members and interested parties, can I get a witness?
While you’re thinking about it, please re-read the Global Fund memo which outlined the plan to use mission projects to raise money.

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.

Why Did ResultSource Need David Jeremiah's Ministry to Help Get Mark Driscoll on the New York Times Best Seller List?

In June 2011, Kevin Small wrote to then Mars Hill Church executive elder Jamie Munson to provide details about how ResultSource could get Mark Driscoll on the New York Times best-seller list. He gave him the details of what later was reduced to writing in the contract signed by Sutton Turner on behalf of Mars Hill Church. However, there was a detail or two not included in the contract which brings another evangelical figure — David Jeremiah — into the spotlight. Small told Munson:

Although I mentioned this memo last week, I didn’t understand at the time the role Paul Joiner plays at David Jeremiah’s ministry, Turning Point. According to Turning Point’s most recent 990 form, Paul Joiner is the higher paid member listed on Jeremiah’s staff, with the title Director of Creative Services. Joiner is often lauded by Jeremiah in his books, including his most recent book, Agents of the Apocalypse, now sitting at the top of the New York Times best-seller list in the Religious, Spirituality and Faith category. In the Acknowledgments section of the new book, Jeremiah wrote:

Why did Kevin Small pitch David Jeremiah’s Director of Creative Services to help Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill Church scam the NYT best-seller list? To address that question, I asked Mr. Joiner via his Twitter account to contact me regarding Result Source. He did not reply. It is certainly possible that Joiner played no role in Driscoll’s campaign, but it is intriguing that Small felt he could drop Joiner’s name to pitch the best-seller campaign to Mars Hill’s executive elders.
Driscoll took much heat for using writing and research assistance, as well as using ResultSource to propel one book to the top of the NYT best-seller list. However, it now appears that Driscoll was a light weight compared to David Jeremiah’s nearly $40 million per year media empire. Over the years, Jeremiah has used various writers (e.g., Beau Sager, Rob Suggs) to help turn his sermons into books. He then has used Kevin Small and Paul Joiner to turn several of those books into best-sellers.

Jeremiah’s media empire is vast enough that he may not now require Kevin Small’s help. He could probably put out a book of pictures of his family pets and it would go to the top of the charts given the number of people on his mailing list who will commit to purchase his materials pre-launch. However, was the way paved by the same methods that caused Driscoll so much trouble? For now, no one at Turning Point is talking, and it is unclear if anyone in the Christian media will investigate.
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See my article today at the Daily Beast on this topic for an overview of the work from the past week.