So Mark Driscoll is back. The former leader of Seattle megachurch Mars Hill, who resigned in 2014 amid accusations of bullying, plagiarism and manipulation, will launch his new church on Easter Sunday – a somewhat theatrical bit of timing that attaches extra significance to his own personal resurrection. Driscoll is now the Senior and Founding Pastor of The Trinity Church, Scottsdale, Arizona, and while the first service won't immediately lead to regular weekly meetings, these should follow soon afterwards. Mark Driscoll will be Pastor Mark again, returned from the wilderness to rebuild his ministry and his reputation.
If you're thinking this all sounds a little too soon, you're not alone. Barely 18 months have passed since Driscoll stepped down as pastor of Mars Hill, after years of controversy and public criticism escalated into formal complaints from former staff and congregants. Acts 29 – the church-planting network he founded – removed him from ministry and asked him to resign; he stepped down from his role at Mars Hill in October 2014; his church dissolved itself at the end of that year.
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