Pastor Mark Driscoll, the author of numerous Christian books and the former senior pastor of Mars Hill Church, has submitted a resignation letter to his Board of Overseers on Tuesday.
“By God’s grace I have pastored Mars Hill Church for 18 years. Today, also by God’s grace, and with the full support of my wife Grace, I resign my position as a pastor and elder or Mars Hill. I do so with profound sadness, but also with complete peace,” he wrote in his letter. He said that “for the health of [his] family, and for the Mars Hill family,” his resignation was the best course of action.
Driscoll had been swept up in a storm of controversy in recent months due to various allegations of misconduct. He announced to his church in late August that he had decided to take a minimum six weeks’ leave to seek God while his church Board of Overseers investigated the charges that had been made against him. According to Driscoll, the board spent more than 1,000 hours in investigation.
“I readily acknowledge that I am an imperfect messenger of the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are many things I have confessed and repented of, privately and publicly, as you are well aware,” Driscoll wrote. “Specifically, I have confessed to past pride, anger, and a domineering spirit. As I shared with our church in August, ‘God has broken me many times in recent years by showing me where I have fallen short, and while my journey, at age 43, is far from over, I believe He has brought me a long way from some days I am not very proud of, and is making me more like Him every day.”
Driscoll has “never been charged with any immorality, illegality, or heresy,” the board wrote in their letter on the church website. “Most of the charges involved attitudes and behaviors reflected by a domineering style of leadership.” The board also wrote that they found some “of the accusations against Pastor Mark to be altogether unfair or untrue.”
And though the church has not asked Driscoll to resign, he said that he did “not want to be the source of anything that might detract from [the] church’s mission to lead people to a personal and growing relationship with Jesus Christ,” he wrote.
“We were surprised to receive his resignation letter,” the board said. The board asked for prayers from their church as they go through this season of transition.
