The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill

Mars Hill grew dramatically in 2012, and it seemed like nothing could stop the church’s ever-widening expansion. Pastor Mark Driscoll’s book Real Marriage released that January, hit The New York Times Best Seller list, and launched a book tour and a series of television appearances that brought him into countless new homes and churches. But in the next two years, the church would experience endless controversy, turn over almost all of their staff, and discover that no efforts at PR or spin could hide the rot of a deeply dysfunctional culture of leadership.The second-to-last episode of this series is a two-and-a-half-hour look at those final two years, especially between October 2013 and October 2014, to look at exactly what brought down one of America’s fastest-growing churches, and how some of the characters whose lives we’ve followed in this series weathered the turmoil.“The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill” is a production of Christianity TodayExecutive Producer: Erik PetrikProducer, Writer, Editor, Host, and Mix Engineer: Mike CosperAdditional Editing: Resonate Recordings and Matt LinderAssociate Producer: Joy Beth SmithMusic and Sound Design: Kate SiefkerGraphic Design: Bryan ToddSocial Media: Morgan Lee and Kara BettisEditorial Consultant: Andrea Palpant DilleyEditor in Chief: Timothy DalrympleSpecial thanks to Ben VandermeerTheme song: “Sticks and Stones” by Kings KaleidoscopeClosing song: “O How the Mighty Have Fallen” by The Choir Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Contrary to Mars Hill lore, Mark Driscoll didn’t plant his church alone. Though he prized the image of a solo, entrepreneurial pastor, Driscoll found early success thanks to two co-planters, a sending church, and a network of support. And three thousand miles away in Boca Raton, Florida, the concept of the Acts 29 church network was already taking shape as an offshoot of the Spanish River Church Planting Network.Church planting requires a certain audacity, and in the early 1970’s nobody had more than David Nicholas. Founder of Spanish River Church, David’s burden for evangelism took shape in mentoring relationships with pastors starting congregations of their own. A planter himself, David empathized with those who felt lonely in that particular calling, and he sought to encourage and empower leaders by offering them community -- a network in which they could receive the care, training and accountability to do their jobs well. In this episode of The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, host Mike Cosper invites us into the room with David Nicholas and Mark Driscoll -- two church planters with widely divergent visions for what constituted successful church growth. Tracing the Acts 29 network from its beginnings, Cosper asks whether any leadership potential is worth overlooking red flags, and whether the broader church actually has what it takes to mentor young leaders with issues of character. “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill” is a production of Christianity TodayExecutive Producer: Erik PetrikProducer, Writer, Editor, and Host: Mike CosperAdditional Editing: Resonate Recordings and Matt LinderAssociate Producer: Joy Beth SmithMusic, Sound Design, and Mix Engineer: Kate SiefkerGraphic Design: Bryan ToddSocial Media: Nicole ShanksEditorial Consultant: Andrea Palpant DilleyEditor in Chief: Timothy DalrympleTheme song: “Sticks and Stones” by Kings KaleidoscopeClosing song: “Citizens” by Jon Guerra Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As success grew at Mars Hill, Mark Driscoll’s ministry dreams expanded. With the advent of the multi-site church and advances in technology, a leader could move beyond the mundanity of local place and community to spread his message far afield, fulfilling his own great commission literally to the ends of the earth. With a talented team and generous budget at his fingertips, Mark dreamed big. 50,000 church members. A New York Times bestseller. The most prominent media distribution channel on the Internet.But when you undermine the foundations of a church, you shouldn’t be surprised when the building comes tumbling down around you. When technology removes the limits to access, you shouldn’t be surprised when it also sings the alluring call of worldly success. When you call others to deep sacrifice for your own ambitions, you begin to count the bodies under the bus.In this episode of The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, host Mike Cosper explores Mars Hill’s “mission accomplished” cultural moment when Mark shifted his gaze from Seattle to cities and success benchmarks beyond. With incisive journalism and compassionate engagement, Cosper paints the picture of a wounded church—sheep dispersed and isolated by technology, expendable to the mission of a shepherd gone wayward. And he asks us to consider whether our adoption of gospel-amplifying tactics has clouded our vision of its good, true and beautiful message.“The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill” is a production of Christianity TodayExecutive Producer: Erik PetrikProducer, Writer, Editor, and Host: Mike CosperAdditional Editing: Resonate Recordings and Matt LinderAssociate Producer: Joy Beth SmithMusic, Sound Design, and Mix Engineer: Kate SiefkerGraphic Design: Bryan ToddSocial Media: Nicole ShanksEditorial Consultant: Andrea Palpant DilleyEditor in Chief: Timothy DalrympleTheme song: “Sticks and Stones” by Kings KaleidoscopeClosing song: “The Bridge” by Taylor Leonhardt Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2006, Mark Driscoll met with a group of Seattle pastors who were worried about Mars Hill’s public witness. Mark had risen to prominence with pugilistic bravado, and local leaders expressed concern that his tone and language about women and, in this particular instance, pastors’ wives hurt the perception of the church in their largely unchurched city. Despite their best efforts to connect on common ground, the meeting’s leaders counted the event a failure. Remarkable success had isolated Mark from the average person on whom his words fell. His institution had insulated him from critique. The meeting revealed clearly that power protected Mark from accountability.  Your pastor doesn’t need outsized fame and acclaim to fall prey to the seduction of power, and neither do you. In this episode of The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, host Mike Cosper looks to the world of sports to illustrate how power corrupts and how, when we abdicate our roles as gatekeepers for one another, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Step onto the basketball courts at Indiana University and behind the pulpit at Mars Hill to see how power becomes a strong drug that justifies abuse, keeps truth from speaking, and distances us from our shared humanity.“The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill” is a production of Christianity TodayExecutive Producer: Erik PetrikProducer, Writer, Editor, and Host: Mike CosperAdditional Editing: Resonate Recordings and Matt LinderAssociate Producer: Joy Beth SmithMusic, Sound Design, and Mix Engineer: Kate SiefkerGraphic Design: Bryan ToddSocial Media: Nicole ShanksEditorial Consultant: Andrea Palpant DilleyEditor in Chief: Timothy DalrympleTheme song: “Sticks and Stones” by Kings KaleidoscopeClosing song: “Anger” by Treva Blomquist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We are people built for wonder, spiritual creatures looking for spiritual footholds in a culture often devoid of belief in the supernatural. We long for miracles -- the defeat of sin and shame, displays of God’s power transforming our deepest pain. For some who attended Mars Hill, the instinct toward astonishment led them to Mark Driscoll’s charismatic deliverance ministry. In a world where belief is so often hard to come by, Mark claimed to have faith strong enough to move mountains and, literally, to cast out demons. In this episode of The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, host Mike Cosper asks the piercing question, “Where’s the line between the hand of God and a charismatic leader?” How do we know when our craving for astonishment is being manipulated? When do we accept the claims of someone speaking on God’s behalf? Using the lesser known Mars Hill “demon trials” as a backdrop, Cosper explores the Pentecostal origins of Driscoll’s deliverance ministry, examines the extra biblical rules that governed Mars Hill spiritual warfare, and considers our longing to hear from God and see him move in our midst.“The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill” is a production of Christianity TodayExecutive Producer: Erik PetrikProducer, Writer, Editor, and Host: Mike CosperAssociate Producer: Joy Beth SmithMusic, Sound Design, and Mix Engineer: Kate SiefkerGraphic Design: Bryan ToddSocial Media: Nicole ShanksEditorial Consultant: Andrea Palpant DilleyEditor in Chief: Timothy DalrympleSpecial thanks to Ben VandermeerTheme song: “Sticks and Stones” by Kings KaleidoscopeClosing song: “Time is a Lion” by Joe Henry Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There’s a profound power to storytelling. In all kinds of communities, the stories we tell about who we are and where we came from are life-shaping. At Mars Hill, one of the oft-told stories was about Mark Driscoll’s origin and calling. It began with the gift of a bible from his future wife. That was the catalyst to faith, and a walk in the woods a few months later led to an experience of hearing God’s audible voice and calling: “Marry Grace, plant Mars Hill, preach the Bible, and train men.” That story was repeated countless times at Mars Hill, lending Driscoll a sense of both authority and purpose, and inviting the church to get caught up in that mission with him. This shorter episode dives deeper into this “founding myth” of Mars Hill, and how it evolved over time. It also explores the formative, almost liturgical effect it had on the church, and raises the question of how it might have contributed to a fragile architecture at the heart of the church. The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill is a production of Christianity Today It’s executive produced by Erik Petrik It’s produced, written, and edited by Mike Cosper Joy Beth Smith is our associate producer. Music, and sound design, by Kate Siefker and Mike Cosper This episode was mixed by Mike Cosper Our theme song is “Sticks and Stones” by King’s Kaleidescope. Special thanks to Ben Vandermeer Graphic Design by Bryan Todd Social Media by Nicole Shanks Editorial consulting by Andrea Palpant Dilley CT’s Editor in Chief is Timothy Dalrymple Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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A Bonus Episode of The Rise and Fall of Mars HillLove it or hate it, if you grew up in a youth group after 1997, you probably had to reckon with Joshua Harris’s I Kissed Dating Goodbye, his treatise on dating and courtship. The book sold millions and made him, in Collin Hansen’s terms, an “evangelical boy wonder.”At 29 years old he became the lead pastor of a Maryland megachurch and a rising star in Sovereign Grace Ministries. But when that movement was torn apart by controversy, conflict, and accusations of a systemic cover-up of child abuse, he found himself reeling, unsure of his calling and convictions. He left ministry in 2015, and in 2019, announced that he no longer identified as a Christian.In this bonus episode of The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, we’ll explore Josh’s story as a contemporary of Mark Driscoll, someone who was his polar opposite in temperament, and who’s struggles in ministry led to a divergent outcome. We’ll talk about faith, doubt, and celebrity, and discuss how Christians might think about their own doubts and deconstruction, recognizing them as a normal part of the Christian life.Subscriptions to CT are one of the best ways to support this kind of journalism. If you want to help us continue doing this kind of work, consider joining today at orderct.com/marshill.“The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill” is a production of Christianity TodayExecutive Producer: Erik PetrikProducer, Writer, Editor, and Host: Mike CosperAssociate Producer: Joy Beth SmithMusic and Sound Design: Kate Siefker and Mike CosperMix Engineer: Mike CosperGraphic Design: Bryan ToddSocial Media: Nicole ShanksEditorial Consultant: Andrea Palpant DilleyEditor in Chief: Timothy DalrympleTheme song: “Sticks and Stones” by Kings KaleidoscopeClosing song: “Spirit (Keep On)” by Jeremy Casella Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Church planting isn’t for the faint of heart. It requires a tenacity few pastors can fully anticipate when they set out. Healthy planting demands not only clarity of mission and relentless work, but practical partnership, wise counsel, and responsive governance to the changing needs that come with growth. From the church’s beginning, Mars Hill leadership committed to all of these -- a vision of Jesus as senior pastor with elders serving with “one vote each.” But somewhere along the line, the vision shifted. Absolutism and a muscular, aggressive form of governance took hold, a campaign led by Mark Driscoll in the name of church growth. In this episode of The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, host Mike Cosper pulls back the curtain to expose the inner workings of church governance at Mars Hill. Guided by careful research and hundreds of hours of interviews, Cosper plots out a story of church growth corrupted by power. Discover a Mark Driscoll you may never have met -- a young church planter with a vision for Seattle and for the world. Watch what happens when the friction between accountability and speed causes church planting efforts to combust. And see how prioritizing “reaching people for Jesus” can mask spiritual abuse without the proper checks and balances.“The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill” is a production of Christianity TodayExecutive Producer: Erik PetrikProducer, Writer, Editor, and Host: Mike CosperAssociate Producer: Joy Beth SmithMusic, Sound Design, and Mix Engineer: Kate SiefkerGraphic Design: Bryan ToddSocial Media: Nicole ShanksEditorial Consultant: Andrea Palpant DilleyEditor in Chief: Timothy DalrympleTheme song: “Sticks and Stones” by Kings KaleidoscopeClosing song: "Return My Heart to My Chest" by Joe Day Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mark Driscoll rose to prominence in the early days of the Internet. Unlike his megapastor predecessors like Robert Schuller and Bill Hybels, Driscoll harnessed technology to build his brand and bypass cultural gatekeepers who might hinder or influence his success. He formed a talented media team that would expand his reach and, inadvertently, reinforce his ego through an online presence. Quickly though, his star rose too far, keeping him at arm’s length from the collaboration and counsel of those who could lend wisdom to his youthful, combustive pastoral ministry.In this episode of The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, host Mike Cosper breaks down how technology shaped the messaging and marketing of Mark Driscoll and how personal brand can isolate a leader even as it fuels a ministry’s growth. Cosper interviews broadly, from Mars Hill media team members to Collin Hansen of The Gospel Coalition, to investigate how narcissism grows, how theological movements birth new leaders, and why the church’s love affair with charisma and certainty demands we develop a better moral imagination. Rethink your admiration for celebrity pastors. Reevaluate your attraction to religious trends. And, reflect on your own willingness to stand “sola” when church becomes about something other than the Gospel.“The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill” is a production of Christianity TodayExecutive Producer: Erik PetrikProducer, Writer, Editor, and Host: Mike CosperAssociate Producer: Joy Beth SmithMusic, Sound Design, and Mix Engineer: Kate SiefkerGraphic Design: Bryan ToddSocial Media: Nicole ShanksEditorial Consultant: Andrea Palpant DilleyEditor in Chief: Timothy DalrympleTheme song: “Sticks and Stones” by Kings KaleidoscopeClosing song: “Bang” by Moda Spira Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices