The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill

I remember hearing about this podcast a while ago, but I didn’t think too much about it. I finally decided to listen to it, and I eventually finished the podcast. It was phenomenal! I loved the plot, and hearing about the real people affected. I laughed and cried, but had this nagging feeling. My church seemed to be ran similarly to Mars Hill. I thought about it, consulted my family and friends, and I realized it was not an ok environment. I decided to leave. For that I am forever grateful for this podcast. Thank you!

Really insightful, and prompted great discussion and deep thought about the church and culture. It was well put together and I was excited to listen each time and ponder to topics.

As a religious studies and psychology double major who has studied the intersection of high control groups and organized religion for decades, I am stunned that there isn’t a single episode featuring (or even including) insights from an expert in the field of high control groups, such as Dr. Steven Hassan and Dr. Janja Lalich. I sense in the reporting a strong reluctance—if not outright refusal—to acknowledge that Mars Hill (and other churches like it) fit the technical definition of a high control cult. While the podcast does a good job of exposing the horrors of Mars Hill, it does a disservice to not only all Mars Hills survivors but also to all those who feel trapped within the widespread misogyny, authoritarianism, and spiritual abuse of white evangelical Christianity in America today. Mars Hill was not an anomaly. Rather it was the beginning template for creating a cult of personality around a megachurch pastor. And that template has groomed white evangelical Christians to accept, and often outright endorse, the rise of authoritarianism in America because Donald Trump looks and acts no different from the pastors they have dutifully followed for years.

As a former employee of Mars Hill in 2014, this was very healing to listen to. After the gaslighting of 2014, it was so validating to finally hear the truth spoken out loud.

Mark Driscoll first came to my attention when his videos on family relations and boundaries started to come up on my social media. My initial impression of him was that I thought he was biblical, honest, and direct. I found his teachings to be extremely refreshing and relevant to the challenges my husband and I are currently facing but have been struggling to find biblical and reputable resources on. When I went to go see if Mark had a podcast I could listen to, I instead found THIS podcast. Much to my surprise, I had no idea that Mark was actually a fairly well known pastor who had helped in leading a large church. I was even more surprised to find that there was so much controversy behind Mark and his teachings. I immediately became skeptical, considering the fact that he was just some random guy who came up on my Facebook feed and I really had no idea who he was. We all know how easy it is to portray oneself as something we’re not on social media. I decided I wanted to learn more about Mark and this controversy that supposedly was “bad” enough to motivate a group of people to create a 22+ part series on the events that unfolded during the time of Marsh Hill. After listening to the podcast, I have confidently come to the conclusion that Mark Driscoll is a man of God who loves the Lord, loves the word of God, and desires to lead others to know, and love the Lord as well. Does he preach biblically founded messages? Yes and he references the Bible and passages that he’s pulling from in all of his messages. Is he direct? Absolutely. Mark’s intention is not to tell you what you want to hear or tell you things that make you “feel good.” His purpose is to share the word of God, as it is written without being tainted by the worlds notions or his own. He is exactly what we need in a pastor where most churches and leaders water down biblical truth to make everyone in a room feel more comfortable. That is not what we are called to do as believers. If you are skeptical of Mark Driscoll like I was prior to hearing this garbage podcast, I would encourage you to listen through an unbiased lens and come to your own conclusions. Listen to the audio clips of Marks teachings and ask yourself if what he is sharing is Biblically sound - regardless of how it makes you feel or whether you like it or not.