Mark Driscoll facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Mark Driscoll
Driscoll preaching at The Trinity Church
Born	(1970-10-11) October 11, 1970 (age 54) in Grand Forks, North Dakota, US
Church	Mars Hill Church (1996–2014) The Trinity Church (since 2016)
Education	Washington State University (BA) Western Seminary (MA)
Spouse	Grace Driscoll (née Martin)

Mark A. Driscoll (born 1970) is an American evangelical pastor and author. He is the founder and primary contributor of RealFaith ministries. He is also the senior and founding pastor of Trinity Church in Scottsdale, Arizona, which was founded in 2016.

In 1996, Driscoll co-founded Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington. In March 2014, Mars Hill Church had 14,000 members in five states and fifteen locations. He also founded The Resurgence (a theological cooperative) and co-founded other parachurch organizations, such as Acts 29 Network, Churches Helping Churches, and The Gospel Coalition. He has written for the "Faith and Values" section of The Seattle Times, OnFaith, and the Fox News website. Driscoll has also authored a number of popular Christian books, including A Call to Resurgence.

Driscoll has been described as "an evangelical bad boy, a gifted orator and [a] charismatic leader" who is "hip yet hard-line". A conservative evangelical, he favors "vintage" aesthetics and a "down to earth", "aggressive" preaching style. Controversy has surrounded his teachings on gender roles, his alleged plagiarism, and the culture of fear and abuse that allegedly existed during his tenure at Mars Hill.

In the summer of 2014, Driscoll faced public criticism and formal complaints from Mars Hill staff members and congregants due to alleged abusive behavior. In August 2014, the board of Acts 29 Network removed him from its membership and urged him to step down from ministry. On October 14, 2014, Driscoll resigned from Mars Hill Church. Within three months of Driscoll's resignation, Mars Hill Church was dissolved leaving each church campus to either close or become autonomous.

In 2021, Mark Driscoll was the subject of a popular podcast called The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill.

Early life

Driscoll was born on October 11, 1970, in Grand Forks, North Dakota. He was raised Roman Catholic in the Riverton Heights area of SeaTac, Washington. He is the oldest of five children and the son of a union drywaller.

In high school, he met his future wife, Grace Martin, daughter of Gib Martin, an evangelical pastor. In 1989, he graduated from Highline High School in Burien, Washington, where he served as student body president, captain of the baseball team, editor of the school newspaper, and the "most likely to succeed" in his graduating class. At age 19, as a college freshman, Driscoll converted to evangelical Christianity. The same year, according to Driscoll, "God spoke to me ... He told me to marry Grace, preach the Bible, train men, and plant churches ... I began preparing to devote my life to obey [God's] call for me." He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication from Washington State University with a minor in philosophy and holds a Master of Arts degree in exegetical theology from Western Seminary.

Career at Mars Hill Church

After graduation, Mark and Grace relocated to Seattle, where they attended Antioch Bible Church and worked with that church's college ministry as volunteers. Mark was hired as an intern a few months later. Through his internship, Mark met Mike Gunn, who worked for an Athletes in Action ministry at the University of Washington, and Lief Moi, a radio show host. The three men began to discuss planting an "urban, postmodern" church in Seattle. Greg Kappas, the pastor responsible for Antioch Bible Church's new church planting ministry, mentored the three and helped them develop their plans.

Founding Mars Hill Church

Driscoll, Lief Moi, and Mike Gunn founded Mars Hill Church in spring 1995 and officially launched it in fall 1996. The church first met in the Driscolls' home. By spring 1997, the church had relocated and expanded to two services. Driscoll later reflected that he was "not ready" when he planted Mars Hill at age 25.

Mars Hill Church's main campus in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood

Later in 1997, he was invited to speak at a Leadership Network pastors' conference in California. The speech he made inspired many within the nascent emerging church movement and, according to Driscoll, shifted the movement's focus from reaching Generation X to reaching the postmodern world. As a result, Mars Hill Church and Driscoll were thrust into the national spotlight: he was interviewed on National Public Radio and Mother Jones magazine published a feature on the church. Mars Hill Church grew from 160 members in 1996 to 350 in 1999.

Founding the Acts 29 Network

In 1998, Driscoll and David Nicholas founded the Acts 29 Network ("Acts 29"), a church planting network, in response to people approaching Driscoll for advice on planting churches. The goal of this parachurch organization was to plant 1000 new churches around the world "through recruiting, assessing, training, funding, and coaching." Acts 29 started slowly under Driscoll's tenure, with 11 churches at its inception and 17 by 2003. At that point, it began to grow rapidly, reaching 50 churches by 2006 and 410 churches by 2011. The majority are still located in the U.S., with 38 churches in 16 other countries.

According to Salon, Driscoll structured Acts 29 to match his own "strict orthodoxy and views" on theology and politics, while allowing latitude in cultural specifics. Among other specifics, prospective Acts 29 church planters must be led by men.

Mars Hill Church reorganization (2006–2007)

Rationale

Driscoll, Mars Hill's first paid pastor, had been its main preaching pastor and public face since its inception. As the church grew, he began to train other elders and deacons, moving himself into a more executive role in setting vision and continuing to preach. By 2006, the church counted 4000–5000 weekly attendees at three campuses in the Seattle region. In that year, Driscoll claimed that he had reached a personal crisis due to his "overwhelming workload"—at this time he was the principal authority in Mars Hill, president of Acts 29, president of The Resurgence, an author, and an international traveler with speaking engagements. He was, by his own account, sleeping only two to three hours per night and began to fear that he would die early from a heart attack. Ultimately, in 2006–2007, he began to restructure the church and claimed he was going to divest power. Within Mars Hill, he publicly stated that he resigned as "legal president", president of the elder board, and chief of staff, while retaining his roles as public face and preaching pastor.

Prior to the reorganization, Mars Hill was governed by a full council of two dozen church elders (including Driscoll) who had equal voting authority and voted on major decisions, and a five-member council of "executive elders" (also including Driscoll) who handled daily operations but deferred to the full council for major decisions. According to then-Mars Hill pastor Paul Petry, in summer 2007, Driscoll "replaced the [executive council] with yes-men" and began to make major decisions — such as purchasing a $4 million new building — without consulting the full council.

Proposed bylaw changes

Driscoll proposed changes to the bylaws that would grant indefinite terms of office to the "executive elders". Driscoll and proponents of the changes argued that the church had outgrown its original governing structure, while opponents contended that the changes consolidated power with Driscoll and his trusted lieutenants. Paul Petry and another pastor, Bent Meyer, both dissented from the changes. In response, Driscoll fired both from their jobs. A Mars Hill forum posting reported—without naming the pastors—that one was fired for "displaying an unhealthy distrust in the senior leadership" and the other for "disregarding the accepted elder protocol for the bylaw deliberation period" and "verbally attacking the lead pastor [Driscoll]."

The morning after Petry and Meyer were fired, Driscoll said to his pastors and other church leaders at a conference: "Yesterday we fired two elders for the first time in the history of Mars Hill. ... They were off mission, so now they're unemployed. This will be the defining issue as to whether or not you succeed or fail. I've read enough of the New Testament to know that occasionally Paul puts somebody in the wood chipper."

In addition to the loss of their jobs, both were put on ecclesiastical trials to review their church membership. Petry was charged by Driscoll and the other elders with "lack of trust and respect for spiritual authority" and "improper use of confidential information", the latter charge because Petry had discussed the bylaw changes with church deacon Rob Smith, who was not part of the council of elders but had been asked to join. Petry was permitted to respond to the charges, but was not allowed to attend his full trial. The elders came to a unanimous conclusion that Petry was no longer qualified to be a church elder. Driscoll urged his congregation to shun Petry's family.

Meyer was given a "gentler" ecclesiastical trial but chose to resign. Rob Smith had written an email to the elders calling for a fair trial for Petry and Meyer; Smith said that in response, Driscoll told his congregants to stop giving to Agathos, an independent economic development charity that Smith also ran, causing donations to drop by 80 percent.

Repercussions

In 2014, Petry, Smith, and Moi all joined—and, in some cases, organized—online protests against Driscoll. Commentators linked the summer 2014 "unrest" at Mars Hill to the structural changes of 2007, along with other developments in Driscoll's career.

ABC Nightline special (2009)

In March 2009, Driscoll was involved in an ABC Nightline debate entitled, "Does Satan Exist?" Driscoll and Annie Lobert, founder of the Hookers for Jesus Christian ministry, argued for the existence of the devil against the philosopher Deepak Chopra and Carlton Pearson, a former fundamentalist minister and author of The Gospel of Inclusion. A commentator described the debate as "contentious", with all participants taking "uncompromising" positions. Driscoll argued that a belief in both Satan and God was an essential tenet of Christianity. Driscoll has also been featured on the program discussing other topics including the Ten Commandments.

Haiti relief (2010)

After the catastrophic 2010 Haiti earthquake, Driscoll and James MacDonald founded Churches Helping Churches to help churches rebuild after catastrophic natural disasters. They helped to rebuild dozens of churches in Haiti and Japan. Driscoll first flew to Haiti shortly after the earthquake, and set up a partnership between his church and Jean F. E. St. Cyr, a Haitian pastor. Mars Hill Church donated $1.7 million in medical supplies.

Resignation from Acts 29 and The Gospel Coalition (2012)

On March 29, 2012, Driscoll resigned as President of Acts 29 and from the Council of The Gospel Coalition, turning his responsibilities over to Matt Chandler. Commenting on the transition, Chandler said, "[the Acts 29 board was] running a network of 422 churches on six continents the same way when it was 80 to 100 churches on one continent." Chandler also planned to disentangle Acts 29 from Mars Hill Church; prior to Driscoll's departure, Acts 29 was primarily funded by Mars Hill. By mid-2014, Driscoll was no longer on the board of Acts 29.

Driscoll was a founding member of The Gospel Coalition, a fellowship of reformed evangelical churches. On his departure, he wrote he had no "relational conflict with anyone and no disagreement theologically"; rather, he explained that he was reorganizing his priorities and could not keep up with all of his commitments. Driscoll indicated that he intended to devote more of his efforts to Mars Hill Church, more time to his family, and less time to travel.

Formal charges filed by former elder Dave Kraft (2013)

In May 2013, former Mars Hill elder Dave Kraft filed formal charges (under Mars Hill Church bylaws) of "mistreatment" against Mark Driscoll and other leaders at Mars Hill. He specifically accused Driscoll of being "domineering, verbally violent, arrogant, and quick-tempered." Kraft further argued that this "established pattern of ... behavior" disqualified Driscoll from church leadership. Mars Hill Church's Board of Advisors and Accountability responded, saying that they sent one hundred letters to former elders and staff in an effort to substantiate Kraft's charges. They received eighteen responses, which they reviewed, and determined them to be "non-disqualifying" with respect to Driscoll's leadership position. However, the board did initiate a "reconciliation process" to address "many offenses and hurts that are still unresolved." Dave Kraft worked at Mars Hill from 2005 to 2013 and was Driscoll's personal "coach" during that time.

Former leaders and members protest Driscoll (2014)

Michael Paulson, writing for The New York Times, wrote that while Driscoll has endured criticism from the American political left and liberal Christianity for many years, recent years leading up to and including 2014 saw the rise of criticism from conservative Christians, including Driscoll's former "allies and supporters." According to The Seattle Times, accusations of plagiarism by talk radio host Janet Mefferd were a "crucial turning point" that drew outside interest into Mars Hill's internal affairs, and prompted inquiries from new critics about the church and how it handled its finances. After hearing of Mefferd's plagiarism accusations, evangelical Christian and Grove City College psychology professor Warren Throckmorton took interest and became a critic of Driscoll and Mars Hill, documenting other examples of perceived plagiarism, abuse reported by former Mars Hill members, and questionable uses of church finances.

"Repentant Pastors"

On March 29, 2014, four former Mars Hill elders (Kyle Firstenberg, Dave Kraft, Scott Mitchell, and co-founder Lief Moi) created a blog titled "Repentant Pastor" and posted online "confessions ... and apologies" related to their leadership roles in Mars Hill. In a joint statement, they wrote, "we recognize and confess that Mars Hill has hurt many people within the Mars Hill community, as well as those outside the community". Salon summarized the statements, writing that the former leaders emphasized their failures to "rein Driscoll in" and their complicity with Driscoll's "autocratic" management style. Firstenberg's concerns included that while the church appeared to flourish, employees lived in constant stress, and "success was to be attained regardless of human and moral cost."

Driscoll addresses former members' complaints

In a recorded message shown to church members on July 27, 2014, Driscoll discussed the various controversies of 2014. He said that he could "not address some members' discontent ... because the complaints were anonymous." According to Rob Smith, former program director at the church, the anonymity assertion "really touched a nerve" with former members. In response, dissenters organized a Facebook group called "Dear Pastor Mark & Mars Hill: We Are Not Anonymous."

Public demonstration at Mars Hill Church

The following Sunday, "dozens of demonstrators" organized and picketed the Mars Hill Church Bellevue campus (where Driscoll preaches live), calling for Driscoll's resignation. Demonstrators carried placards reading "We Are Not Anonymous" and "Question Mark", and accused Driscoll of bullying, misogyny, inadequate transparency in church finances, and harsh discipline of members. Driscoll was away for his annual summer vacation. A church elder, Anthony Iannicielo, responded that the criticism of Driscoll and Mars Hill "goes with the territory" of running a large church with a long history. In a pre-recorded message, Driscoll said that he had been deliberately "rather silent" during the criticism, that he found it "a little overwhelming and a bit confusing", and indicated that he had no intention of resigning.

Removal from Acts 29 Network

On August 8, 2014, the board of Acts 29 removed both Driscoll and Mars Hill Church from membership. Chairman Matt Chandler wrote, "it is our conviction that the nature of the accusations against Mark, most of which have been confirmed by him, make it untenable and unhelpful to keep Mark [Driscoll] and Mars Hill [Church] in our network." The board of directors of Acts 29 expressed gratitude for Driscoll's work with the Network as co-founder and former President, but declared his recent actions "ungodly and disqualifying behavior." To Driscoll, they wrote, "our board and network have been the recipients of ... dozens of fires directly linked to you ... we are naturally associated with you and feel that this association discredits the network and is a major distraction." They further advised him to "step down from ministry for an extended time and seek help."

Acts 29 had attempted to "lean on" the Mars Hill's Board of Advisors and Accountability (BOAA) to discipline Driscoll, but lost confidence in the board. The BOAA had been set up by Driscoll as his accountability board, rather than the elders of the church. (Members of the BOAA were for the most part professional clergy and businessmen who were not members of the church and hand picked by Driscoll.) The previous month, evangelical leaders and Acts 29 associates Paul Tripp and James MacDonald resigned from the BOAA. Religion correspondent Sarah Pulliam Bailey described Acts 29's decision as "unusual" since "ministries usually leave matters of church discipline up to local churches."

BOAA Chairman Michael Van Skaik responded, "Men, I told the lead pastors ... that we are making real progress in addressing the serious reconciliation and unhealthy culture issues that have been part of Mars Hill Church for way too long. And we are." He further added that Acts 29 leaders did not contact Mars Hill before acting, and that Driscoll had "changed his ways", and described Acts 29's actions as "divisive". Van Skaik also addressed the formal charges brought against Driscoll under the Mars Hill bylaws, writing "the formal charges that were filed were serious, were taken seriously, and were not dismissed by the board lightly."

Hiatus from ministry

On August 24, 2014, Driscoll announced he would take a six-week "extended focus break" from his pastorship while charges against him were investigated. Later that week, a letter signed by nine current Mars Hill pastors which severely criticized Driscoll was leaked to the public. The letter, written days before Driscoll stepped down, urged him to step down from all aspects of ministry. It included a quote from "internationally recognized" author, pastor and former BOAA member Paul Tripp saying, "This is without a doubt, the most abusive, coercive ministry culture I've ever been involved with." One of the pastors who signed the letter was fired five days later for "rebellion against the church." By September 9, eight of the nine pastors who signed the letter had resigned or been terminated, including worship director Dustin Kensrue. The last of the nine pastors was demoted from pastor to lay elder.

Mars Hill Church's downtown Seattle campus, one of the first locations to close prior to Driscoll's resignation. The building is the historic Daniels Recital Hall, a former Methodist Episcopal church.

Other repercussions

LifeWay Christian Resources, a Christian bookseller and publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, announced on August 10, 2014 that they suspended sales of Driscoll's books. Marty King, communications director for LifeWay, said, "[we] are not selling Mark Driscoll's books while we assess the situation regarding his ministry." King identified Acts 29's call for Driscoll to step down as "certainly a part" of their decision, along with the "cumulative effect" of other allegations against Driscoll.

Driscoll was removed from the speaker roster of several planned Act Like Men conferences, which includes other Acts 29 speakers and past Driscoll associates, including James MacDonald and Matt Chandler. He was also removed as closing speaker at the Gateway Church Conference, an annual gathering of thousands of evangelical pastors. Mars Hill Church also cancelled their own Resurgence 2014 conference, planned for October 2014, since several planned speakers had cut ties with Driscoll.

Resignation from Mars Hill Church

In the fall of 2014, a group of elders released a report on an investigation into accusations of bullying and intimidating behavior by Driscoll made by 21 former church elders. The investigation involved "some 1,000 hours of research, interviewing more than 50 people and preparing 200 pages of information." The report concluded that Driscoll had never been charged with "immorality, illegality or heresy," and considered "some of the accusations against Pastor Mark to be altogether unfair or untrue." Additionally, the report found that many of the "other charges had previously been addressed by Pastor Mark, privately and publicly. Indeed, he had publicly confessed and apologized for a number of the charges against him, some of which occurred as long as 14 years ago." However, elders did find "bullying" and "patterns of persistent sinful behavior" by Driscoll. The board also concluded that Driscoll had "been guilty of arrogance, responding to conflict with a quick temper and harsh speech, and leading the staff and elders in a domineering manner", but was not charged with anything immoral or illegal. Driscoll maintained that he had not disqualified himself from ministry.

Church leadership crafted a "restoration" plan to help Driscoll and save the church. Instead, Driscoll declined the restoration plan and resigned on October 14, 2014, citing concerns for his health and safety. His resignation came as a "surprise" to the church's Board of Overseers, who said in a statement that they had not asked Driscoll for his resignation.

The journalist Ruth Graham wrote that "there was no single disgrace or crime that brought Driscoll down. Instead, it was a series of accusations: of plagiarism, crudeness, a bullying management style, unseemly consolidation of power, and squishy book-promotion ethics, to name a few." Theology professor Anthony Bradley remarked that while denominational churches have continuity after the departure of prominent leaders, Mars Hill Church was nondenominational and largely built on Driscoll's personal charisma.

On October 20, 2014, Driscoll publicly stated that prior to his resignation, he and his family were harassed and he had received death threats.

The Trinity Church in Scottsdale, Arizona

On July 27, 2015, Driscoll announced that his new ministry had purchased the mailing list and assets of The Resurgence from Mars Hill Church and that he and his family had moved to the Phoenix area. On February 1, 2016, Driscoll announced the opening of his new church: The Trinity Church in Scottsdale, Arizona. As of February 2016, the staff roster included two former Mars Hill employees. Texas megachurch pastors Robert Morris and Jimmy Evans were on the church's board. In July 2021, a letter surfaced from 41 elders who served alongside Mark in the Mars Hill years, calling for him to resign from the Trinity Church and step away from ministry completely. In the letter, they detailed concerns that the abuse and behavioral concerns had continued at the Trinity Church, and that Mark had proven himself unfit to lead in a ministry setting.

Beliefs

Mark-Driscoll-Philip-Casey-Photography-085

Jesus Saves cross outside The Trinity Church

Driscoll is an evangelical Christian. Within that broad movement, he is theologically and socially conservative. On the Bible, he is a literalist and inerrantist. Driscoll's theology draws inspiration from historical theologians, including Augustine of Hippo, John Calvin, and Martin Luther, along with the Puritans, Jonathan Edwards, and Charles Spurgeon. He also respects evangelical leaders such as Billy Graham, J. I. Packer, Francis Schaeffer, and John Stott. His contemporary influences include Lesslie Newbigin and the group he terms the "Missional Reformed Evangelicals": Don Carson and John Piper for theology, and Tim Keller and Ed Stetzer for missiology. Driscoll's combination of theological conservatism and his "missional" embrace of contemporary culture contribute to controversies. In his younger years, Molly Worthen wrote: "Conservatives call Driscoll 'the cussing pastor' and wish that he'd trade in his fashionably distressed jeans and taste for indie rock for a suit and tie and placid choral arrangements. Liberals wince at his hellfire theology and insistence that women submit to their husbands."

Regarding spiritual gifts, Driscoll is a continuationist. Regarding creation, he is a "Historic Creationist". In his book Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe, Driscoll expressed his respect for John Sailhamer's book Genesis Unbound; Driscoll is skeptical of evolution as a part of creationism. Driscoll believes that homosexual behavior is sinful and that marriage is between one man and one woman. Regarding ecclesiastical polity, Driscoll favors an elder-led approach.

Calvinism

Driscoll formerly adhered to four point Calvinist theology called Amyraldism, although he characterized his position specifically as new Calvinism to differentiate himself from the more cessationist and non-missional aspects associated historically with Calvinism.

Driscoll denies the orthodox Calvinist view of limited atonement and believes instead that Jesus died for all people in some sense, and for some people (the elect) in another sense. He thinks this position was what John Calvin believed, saying in a humorous tone: "Calvinism came after Calvin ... I will argue that the Calvinists are not very Calvin. I will argue against Calvinism with Calvin ... What kind of Calvinist are you? I'm a Calvin, not a Calvinist, that came later". Driscoll also believes that this position (or slight variations thereof) was held by men like Charles Spurgeon, John Bunyan, Martin Luther, and Richard Baxter.

Driscoll distinguished between double and single predestination, and said that unlike John Calvin, he believes only in single predestination.

Driscoll has since labelled the "five points" of Calvinism as "garbage."

Emerging church

Driscoll was associated with the emerging church movement.

Gender roles

On gender roles, Driscoll is a complementarian, believing that men and women have equal worth, but have different roles within the family and the church. He endorses male headship of the home and church. According to a Mother Jones profile on Driscoll in 1998, he may have held egalitarian views at one time. He offered church courses in "evangelical feminism" and is quoted as saying "the Bible is clear that men and women are both created by God in His image and likeness and totally equal in every way." In 2003, Driscoll said that he wished he could change the parts of the Bible that he believes restrict women from being pastors.

Male leadership of the church is crucial, according to Driscoll, who believes that God called him specifically to "train men." He traces many modern spiritual and social problems to the acceptance of female leadership. Driscoll describes Eve's temptation by the serpent in the Garden of Eden as "the first invitation to an independent feminism." For Eve to eat the forbidden fruit was, according to Driscoll, "the first exercising of a woman's role in leadership in the home and in the church in the history of the world. It does not go well."

Driscoll believes that Christianity has been "feminized". In a 2006 interview with Desiring God, he said, "The problem with the church today, it's just a bunch of nice, soft, tender, 'chickified' [sic] church boys. Sixty percent of Christians are chicks, and the forty percent that are dudes are still sort of chicks. ... The whole architecture and the whole aesthetic [of church buildings and services] is really feminine." In contrast, Driscoll emphasizes what he perceives as macho behavior in the actions of biblical protagonists: he describes Jesus, Paul the Apostle, and King David saying: "... these guys were dudes. Heterosexual, win-a-fight, punch-you-in-the-nose, dudes." He believes that in order to be innovative, the church needs to get entrepreneurial young men involved, who will "make the culture of the future."

Driscoll interprets the Apostle Paul as writing that women are encouraged to be an active part of life and ministry in the church, but that only men can teach other men or become "elder-pastors" (the terms being synonymous). Since Paul's prohibition of female elder-pastors appeals to the Genesis creation story (Timothy%202:14;&version=KJV; 1 Timothy 2:14) for its rationale, Driscoll argues that the restriction is permanent and cannot be adjusted for changing culture.

When the Episcopal Church elected Katharine Jefferts Schori as its first female Presiding Bishop, Driscoll wrote on his blog that "if Christian males do not man up soon, the Episcopalians may vote a fluffy baby bunny rabbit as their next bishop to lead God's men."

Works

Documentaries

Hellbound? (2012), appears as self