Image courtesy of Mars Hill Church (http://bit.ly/1woCMpR)
All nine signatories of a letter calling for senior pastor Mark Driscoll to step down from church leadership are no longer on the Mars Hill payroll, Warren Throckmorton has confirmed.
It was announced on Sunday that James Rose, previously pastor and volunteer elder over community groups at Mars Hill Ballard in Seattle, is no longer in the role.
Rose’s departure marks him as the eighth signatory to either resign or be removed from ministry by the church. The ninth – Cliff Ellis – is still an unpaid lay elder at Mars Hill’s West Seattle campus, but no longer holds the title of Director of Biblical Living or Pastor.
“The nine pastors are now nine former pastors,” wrote Patheos blogger Throckmorton, who has been deeply critical of Mars Hill.
“All nine have lost or experienced changes in their positions since they took a stand.”
The original letter, written in August and posted in full here, continually reaffirmed love and respect for Driscoll, but following a long line of controversies within Mars Hill, the pastors insisted they felt “compelled to speak up”.
“We are seriously concerned about the state of our church, especially the state our leadership at the highest levels and our continued lack of transparency in general,” the letter read.
“We have become masters of spin in how we communicate the transition of a high volume of people off staff. We have taken refuge behind official statements that might not technically be lies on the surface, but in truth are deeply misleading.”
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SOURCE: Christian Today
Carey Lodge
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