In hindsight, I wonder if the wise counselors are rethinking the decision to omit Mars Hill Church from The Trinity Church website. Thus far, some version of that fact has formed a hook for the Phoenix media to report about the formation of Mark Driscoll’s new church. Watch (text is here):
CBS 5 – KPHO
The absence of Mars Hill from the bios and new church website only invites more investigation on the part of the media. The failure to tie up loose ends in Seattle may continue to haunt the Phoenix effort for quite awhile. And by loose ends, I mean financial disclosures about where and how much member and tither money was made by selling off assets. How much went to severance packages is a frequent question I hear. Furthermore, why did lawyers tell Sutton Turner not to reveal specific figures about Global Fund giving?
More importantly, there are former elders and members who are waiting to hear from the guy who is “healing up.” Be nice if everybody could heal up.
Category: Mark Driscoll
Phoenix and Seattle News Media Cover Mark Driscoll’s New Venture
The absence of Mars Hill Church from the bios and announcement of Mark Driscoll and his associates made an impression on those covering the news of Mark Driscoll’s planned launch of The Trinity Church.
Yesterday, I posted Driscoll’s announcement of the formation of a church in Phoenix. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Seattle Times followed with stories.
This evening, Phoenix television station ABC15 posted this report from Nick VinZant (transcript on the ABC15 website).
Mark Driscoll Announces Launch of The Trinity Church (UPDATED)
In an email to supporters and a You Tube video, Mark and Grace Driscoll have announced the formation of The Trinity Church. I reported late last year that Driscoll had formed the legal corporation along with Jimmy Evans and Randall Taylor. At the time, I asked rhetorically if the launch would be in January. I was close.
Watch:
The website is TheTrinityChurch.com. The church is named after Grace Driscoll’s home church in the Seattle area. So far, the church is a P.O. Box (see some pics here).
In what appears to be comparable to Mars Hill Church’s Board of Advisors and Accountability, Driscoll lists four pastors as providing “wise counsel”: Larry Osbourne, Randal Taylor, Jimmy Evans, and Robert Morris. These pastors have “apostolic gifting.”
Mark and Grace Driscoll have pastors with apostolic gifting who love them, know them, and are invested in them.
We learn from, respect, honor and seek wise counsel from the following leaders, their families, churches and ministries. We also appreciate those ministry leaders praying for and supporting our church plant.
Josh McDowell and Wayne Grudem are on the prayer team. UPDATE: Without note, Wayne Grudem’s name has been removed from the list of prayer supporters.
Andy Girton and Brandon Andersen are listed as associate pastors.
Apparently, it is forbidden to mention Mars Hill Church.
Although the incorporation papers say the church won’t have members, The Trinity Church website says the following about membership:
Once the church is established, a class and process for spiritual church membership will be offered.
Sounds similar to Mars Hill in that spiritual members didn’t vote. Legally, they weren’t members for the purpose of being involved in the business of the church.
The board of directors from the Arizona state corporation website is below:
Click the following links for the posts covering The Trinity Church, Mars Hill Church, and Mark Driscoll.
UPDATE: After the post was published, I noticed another video on Driscoll’s You Tube page, published today. Watch:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWI06YsSa3s[/youtube]
Here he describes the church plant again, but dressed in different clothing. I think the first video about the church plant was shot back in early December based on the clothing and scenery in this December 7 video.
Becky Garrison: Mark Driscoll's New Church in a P.O. Box
Recently, writer Becky Garrison spent some time in Phoenix, AZ and looked for Mark Driscoll’s new project, The Trinity Church. In this report, Garrison summarizes Driscoll’s recent moves complete with photos of his church in a P.O. box.
Mark Driscoll’s Ministry Resurfaces in Phoenix
By Becky Garrison
After Mark Driscoll resigned as founder and leader of the multi-campus Seattle based Mars Hill Church, he registered the name Learning for Living before relocating the Driscoll family to Phoenix.
As reported by Warren Throckmorton on the Patheos blog, Mark Driscoll registered Mark Driscoll Ministries and the Trinity Church. Both are located at 21001 North Tatum Blvd., Phoenix, AZ 85050. Marks Driscoll’s Ministries is listed as Ste. 1630-527 while the Trinity Church’s address is recorded as Ste. 1630-434.
As noted by the photographs below, these ministries are housed inside a UPS Store situated inside Desert Ridge Marketplace, a sprawling mall locate in Phoenix billed as an interactive shopping, dining and entertainment experience in a vibrant, high-energy outdoor setting. According to Lindsay Struck, Business Partnerships & Partnerships, for the charity watchdog organization Guidestar, “It is not uncommon for charities to have a P.O. box (or UPS mailbox) designated specifically for donations. This set-up is often because the charity’s donation processing is managed off-premise.”
However, one does have to wonder why a minister needs an online ministry established to disseminating his podcasts, sermons and other media, as well as a church especially as according to the articles of incorporation, Trinity Church won’t have any members. Mark Driscoll, Randall Taylor and Jimmy Evans are listed as directors of this church with Steven Goosdspeed, a lawyer with the Church Law Group, who handled the incorporation of these two Phoenix ministries. (Note: Goodspeed also handled the registration of Driscoll’s Learning for Living and the sale of Mars Hill Church’s Resurgence LLC assets to Driscoll. Church. Emails to Mark Driscoll Ministries and Evan’s church, Trinity Fellowship in Texas, inquiring about attending this “church” have yet to be returned. However, Driscoll preached preached on January 3, 2016 at North Valley Community Church which is located in the same vicinity as Driscoll’s “church.”
Also, Driscoll was of the keynote preachers at Trinity Fellowship’s Zion 2016 event held from January 3-6, 2016. When Jimmy Witcher, pastor with Trinity Fellowship, introduced Driscoll, he spun the downfall of Mars Hill as the result of “some internal things that were going on there” which were misreported by the media who only “get about the third of the information right.” Then he elevated Driscoll as “an amazing man of God” citing his appearance at the Texas based Gateway Conference in October 2014 as a sign this New Calvinist preacher could be finding a new audience among the followers within the more Pentecostal and charismatic influenced New Apostolic Reformation.
Moving north to Driscoll’s former stomping ground, according to the Washington Secretary of State’s website, two of Driscoll’s personal LLCs OMCRU Investments and On Mission LLC expired on December 31, 2015 but Driscoll’s MGD Legacy incorporated in Colorado remains in good standing. Even though Mars Hill Church formally dissolved on January 1, 2015, the documents for this church didn’t expired until December 31, 2015. However, the documents for Mars Hill Foundation for Planting Churches remain active until October 31, 2016 with Driscoll and Mars Hill Church executive elder Dave Bruskas listed as officers.
So what is the future for Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill Church’s assets? God only knows.
Regarding Mars Hill’s assets, the only people who know aren’t talking. Kerry Dodd is the most recent president but has not answered emails or other requests for information. Dave Bruskas is listed as an officer but he tells me he has had no communication with anyone on Mars Hill matters since he left. Apparently, the documents online haven’t been updated.
As promised, here is Driscoll’s new church in a box.
The UPS store at 21001 North Tatum Blvd:
The P.O. box:
Used by permission of Becky Garrison
Mars Hill Church's Demise Referred to as "Some Internal Things" in Mark Driscoll's Intro at Zion 2016
Earlier tonight (1/5/16), Mark Driscoll spoke at the Zion 2016 conference at Jimmy Evans Trinity Fellowship Church. He was introduced by Jimmy Witcher, a pastor at the church who is slated to become Senior Pastor at Evans’ Church, possibly tomorrow night at the conference.
In any case, those who have followed Driscoll’s career will be impressed with Witcher’s ability to spin the past 14 months in this intro.
Transcript: Jimmy Witcher, Trinity Fellowship – January 5, 2016 – Zion 2016 Conference, Amarillo, TX
Well tonight is a very special night. We’re very excited to have Pastor Mark Driscoll here with us.
And, and many of you may have tracked with Pastor Mark over the last several years. You know he is an amazing pastor to the Body of Christ. And I had a chance to meet Pastor Mark at a Gateway pastor’s conference just a little over a year ago, it was in October a little over a year ago, about 14 months ago, and, it was right at the end of his run at Mars Hill. In fact, he had actually just resigned as Senior Pastor at Mars Hill, a church that he had planted and started, and grown to over 15,000 people, uh, attending each and every weekend. And not, not just an ability to grow a church, but he was really impacting the nation. And was doing a tremendous job, and through some internal things that were going on there, it became necessary for him to resign.
And you know, many of us go through hard times in our life, but not all of us have to do it very publicly. And Pastor Mark had to go through a very difficult, kind of almost a public trial, uh, with the media on his front lawn, helicopters flying overhead, his every move being discussed in blogs and on social media. And you know, as often is the case, you know, with the media, and I know they, they sometimes try, uh, but they get about a third of the information right, you know. And so he and his family were living in this, in this difficult time of making this decision, and he had resigned.
And it was literally just within days, probably a couple of weeks later that I got to meet him at a pastor’s conference. And Pastor Mark had known it was time for him to step down, and he knew that God was calling him to move on and go into another season, but he knew that he needed to get some things “in his quiver,” if you will. He needed to, to learn some things, and develop some characteristics, and some things in himself that he hadn’t had before. And one of the things that he knew he needed, is he needed some spiritual fathers. He needed folks that would come in and speak fatherhood to him.
And I — just quite by chance — happened to be sitting right next to him at the conference. And Pastor Jimmy, our beloved Pastor Jimmy Evans was the speaker that night. And Pastor Jimmy and Mark, I don’t-maybe not, just barely shook hands, I know they hadn’t spent any time together. And Pastor Jimmy got up and delivered a powerful Prophetic Word to Pastor Mark. And the Prophetic Word was this,
“You’ve been a brother to many. And you have led many as a brother, but the next season that you’re gonna move into, is you’re gonna transition from a brother to a father. And the next season is going to be greater than the latter season.”
And it was an amazing Prophetic Word. And you guys know Pastor Jimmy, he doesn’t just “dole out” prophetic words without knowing that it’s coming from God.
And so at that moment, Pastor Mark began to grow and develop, and he has developed an incredible relationship with Pastor Jimmy, and Pastor Jimmy now, is acting in, in a way, as one of many, not the sole, but a spiritual father for Pastor Mark, as he’s walking in to this next season of his life that we’re so excited to be a part of. And I’ve just been, been following them through Pastor Jimmy, and been so excited for the few times I’ve gotten to meet Pastor Mark. He’s an amazing man of God. And this is what I, I love about God. Our God is a redemptive God, is he not? He’s a redeeming, redemptive God. And he takes, you know, and I love Chuck Pierce’s word that he had, right, he’s going to take everything from our past, and he’s going to bring it forward into our future. That’s what happening in 2016.
And I believe that for, for Pastor Mark. This is a year of him transitioning, and the things of the past coming forward and multiplication in the things of the future. And this is what I love. Pastor Mark is not here because he was the Senior Pastor, he’s not here because of who he was, he’s here because of who his is. And so here’s what I want us to do, would you guys please welcome Pastor Mark as our friend and our brother.
It has been fascinating to see Driscoll move from the Gospel Coalition tribe season to the New Apostolic Reformation tribe season.
So pull up a chair, according to Evans, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Consult Wenatchee the Hatchet for six narratives of Driscoll’s resignation. Witcher mixes and matches bits and pieces in his intro. One would never know that Mars Hill Church doesn’t meet anymore.