2001 – 2006
MARS HILL – Core Values, What We Believe
MARS HILL – Who We Are FAQs
MARS HILL Membership Covenant
BYLAWS prior to 11-01-2007
FEBRUARY 2003
AUGUST 2007
ELDERS’ Wives Meeting Teaching Notes re: The Testing of Our Faith - Jonna
SEPTEMBER 6, 2007
ELDERS’ Wives Invitation to Prayer 09-06-2007 – Jonna
SEPTEMBER 26, 2007
COVER LETTER to Pastor Jamie Munson re: recommended edits
to proposed BYLAWS – Paul
Suggested Edits to proposed MH Bylaws - Paul
SEPTEMBER 30, 2007
EMAIL from Jamie Munson re: after hours “mandatory meeting”
AUDIO LINK to full final Nehemiah sermon, “Fathers & Fighting,” preached by Mark Driscoll that night.
AUDIO LINK to shortened clip with highlights of the “Fathers & Fighting” sermon. Immediately after preaching the sermon, Mark Driscoll walked off the stage and entered the secret “mandatory” meeting where Bent Meyer and Paul were fired and threatened.
OCTOBER 1, 2007
EMAIL to the Executive Elders after the firing - Paul
EMAIL to the MH Elders after firing - Paul
YOUR ACCUSERS – Insider email received from an Elder “friend”
EMAIL REPLY to Paul’s plea from the EXECUTIVE ELDERS/SCOTT THOMAS re: so-called request for trial & heading up “Elder Investigation Taskforce (EIT)”
(Scott Thomas was one of the executive elders in the room when Mark Driscoll fired & threatened Bent Meyer & Paul. In this email, Scott stated that he is the “Lead Mediator” and he is heading up the “Elder Investigation TaskForce” and, “This process is not a witch-hunt, but rather an exercise in the gospel…”)
OFFICIAL Termination letter from Jamie Munson
AUDIO LINK (MARK DRISCOLL bragging to Acts29 pastors and church planters that “there is a pile of dead bodies behind the Mars Hill bus” and that he fired two elders the night before – “the first time in the history of Mars Hill.”)
OCTOBER 2, 2007
IMPORTANT Message from the Lead Pastor
(Letter announcing firings of Paul & Bent posted to MH Members website)
OCTOBER 10, 2007
EMAIL from SCOTT THOMAS to Paul Petry: “your presence will not be necessary” at your TRIAL
OCTOBER 11, 2007
EMAIL from SCOTT THOMAS in response to a Member’s questions regarding the firings of Elders
(Scott Thomas assured the Member that, “A team of elders just concluded a conciliatory process with these two men.”)
OCTOBER 14, 2007
STATEMENT for 10-15-2007 TRIAL - Paul
OCTOBER 16, 2007
STATEMENT from the Elders posted on MH Members’ website
(re: outcome of Paul’s “trial”)
OCTOBER 16, 2007
EMAIL from Zach Hubert restoring Paul to “full membership”
OCTOBER 25, 2007
UPDATED Member Communication (Posted to MH Members website in an effort to quell the uproar)
MY CONFESSION and REQUEST for REDRESS of Grievances - Paul
OCTOBER 31, 2007 – November 2, 2007
REPLY email to Brad House
EMAIL EXCHANGE between Brad House and Paul
NOVEMBER 2, 2007
EMAIL Resigning MHC Membership - Paul
RESPONSE email from Mark to email resigning Membership
RESPONSE email from Jamie to email resigning Membership
NOVEMBER 4, 2007
MH MEMBERS’ Questions posted on MHC Website in response to “Ask the Elders Anything” (Members were allowed to ask questions during a 72-hour window of time – then the website was permanently shut down.)
NOVEMBER 9, 2007
ELDERS’ 142-Page Document in Response to Members’ Questions
(includes a four-page cover letter by Mark Driscoll)
NOVEMBER 18, 2007
The Seattle Times, Janet Tu, Firing of Pastors Roils Mars Hill Church
DECEMBER 5, 2007
MH Church website forum – Jamie Munson “Update on Paul Petry”
(Post to members re: Paul’s “discipline” = shunning)
JANUARY 11, 2008
BENT MEYER’S Letter to the MH Elders, Correcting Exaggerated Communication
JANUARY 26, 2008
APPEAL letter to Mark for retraction of Shunning & for Reconciliation
APPEAL letter to Jamie for retraction of Shunning & for Reconciliation
JANUARY 29, 2008
Jamie’s first response to Paul’s appeal
JANUARY 30, 2008
Jamie’s second response to Paul’s appeal
FEBRUARY 4, 2008
LAST LETTER to Mark, Jamie, and the MH Elders - Paul
JANUARY 6, 2009
The New York Times, Molly Worthen, Who Would Jesus Smack Down?
MAY 15, 2009
JOHN PIPER Addresses Mark Driscoll/MacArthur Issue at Basics Conference, by Joel Taylor
MAY 6, 2010
Justin Taylor, An Interview with Mark Driscoll on “Doctrine”
(Mark Driscoll: “We canceled out the membership of everyone in our church…”)
JULY 14, 2011
Christianity Today, Bobby Ross, Jr., Sex, Money…Pride? Why Pastors Are Stepping Down
JANUARY 1, 2012
CURRENT MHC Membership Covenant
JANUARY 23, 2012
JANUARY 24, 2012
JANUARY 26, 2012
Matthew Paul Turner, Spiritual Abuse Must Stop
JANUARY 29, 2012
BENT MEYER – Online Post – Fired Mars Hill Elder Breaks His Silence
FEBRUARY 2, 2012
Slate, Ruth Graham, A Shunning In Seattle
FEBRUARY 12, 2012
Theology for Women, Andy & Wendy Alsup, Our Review of Real Marriage by Mark and Grace Driscoll
(“I haven’t mentioned Mark Driscoll or Mars Hill on this blog in the 4 years since I stepped back from leading women’s ministry there…In light of this, silence on these issues no longer seems the righteous choice.”)
FEBRUARY 17, 2012
Christianity Today, Ted Olson, Mars Hill Says It Released Leaders Over Church Discipline Cases
MARCH 7, 2012
World Net Daily, David Kupelian, The Church of Sex
MARCH 28, 2012
MARK DRISCOLL Steps Down from Gospel Coalition Council
MARK DRISCOLL Steps Down as Acts29 President (but remains as Director on three-member board)
MARK DRISCOLL: What is Next for Me
JUNE 18, 2012
AUDIO clip (posted by a former MH member, re: Mark Driscoll talking to a group of Acts 29 pastors and church planters on 10/01/2007, the day after Bent and Paul were fired.)
SEPTEMBER 27, 2012
RADIO Program Audio clip (Program host urges Mark Driscoll to repent.)
DECEMBER 10, 2012
UPDATE on Lief Moi (Newspaper article on Lief Moi “Coming Full Circle”)
JANUARY 9, 2013
New MHC location in historic old downtown church building announced (SEATTLE – Pastor Tim Gaydos recently shepherded his congregation into its new downtown location…)
JANUARY 12, 2013
The Seattle Times – Mars Hill’s Grand Opening Downtown: “Thank God for TiVo” (Celebrating the grand opening of its new location in the historic First United Methodist Church building in downtown Seattle…Mars Hill posted on a Facebook page created for the event, “Thank God for TiVo and DVR.”)
JANUARY 14, 2013
Official PRESS RELEASE by Justin Dean, MHC Marketing & PR Director, announcing new MHC downtown location with Tim Gaydos as “lead pastor” (“This is an incredible opportunity to be a ministry hub for downtown Seattle as it will allow us to better serve the business men and women in our city, as well as the homeless and marginalized, as we’re closer to one of our ministry partners, Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission,” says Tim Gaydos, lead pastor of the Downtown Seattle church.)
JANUARY 15, 2013
KOMO-TV News Video (Controversy erupts with MHC grand opening of new downtown location)
MARCH 14, 2013
TIM GAYDOS QUITS (Newspaper article: Pastor Unexpectedly Quits Mars Hill Church)
RESOURCES
“One Anothering Verses” by Robert W. Kellemen, Ph.D
Joyful Exiles: Life in Christ on the Dangerous Edge of Things by James Houston
Chrysalis:The Hidden Journey in the Transformation of Faith by Alan Jamieson
The Leadership Paradox: A Challenge to Servant Leadership in a Power Hungry World by Denny Gunderson
Leading with Love by Alexander Strauch
Biblical Eldership, by Alexander Strauch
Agape Leadership: Lessons in Spiritual Leadership from the Life of R.C. Chapman by Robert L. Peterson & Alexander Strauch
“Authoritarianism in the Church” by Steve Martin
Recovering from Church Abuse by Len Hjalmarson
Broken Hearts-Shattered Trust, by Dr. John K. Setser
Barb Orlowski, D.Min., Church Exiters, Ministering Restoration
Spiritual Abuse Recovery by Barb Orlowski, D.Min.
Pure Provender – Spiritual Abuse Recovery Resources
What is Spiritual Abuse? by Dr.Larry Crabb
Counselors in Seattle area who deal with issues of spiritual abuse:
Northwest Family Life
Sarah Groen-Colyn, Psychologist, Ph.D
Denny Gunderson, MA, LMHC
Paradigm Counseling of Puget Sound
