Thank you for staying on top of this story - there are a ton of Jesus followers how support your investigative efforts

Trial documents? Christ. It strange enough when established churches talk about ecclesiastical trials, but the idea of a freak show like Mars Hill having them is both laughable and a bit frightening.

Wow, they really are a cult. That is some very, very creepy stuff.

Jim Henderson,

How can I contact you? Please email me: freefrommarshill@gmail.com

Sophia

Kip's story here:

http://marshillrefuge.blogspot.com/2012/…

Is shunning a spiritual abuse tactic common in charismatic churches? Is that what the kids are used to or hoping to find when they go to Mars Hill? I ask as it's not uncommon for abused people to be attracted to centers of abuse, this church has security guards "to protect those who have been abused", and although this area is reportedly "the least churched" there are lots and lots of churches that are less socially and spiritually controlling one can go to. I don't understand the appeal, quite frankly.

As a pastor in the area there are a lot of troubling things about this church and Mark. Seattle has a long history of churches that became a cult and this is one. To those still there, there are healthy communities of faith that you can go and find healing for the abuse you have been subject to. This is not the loving faith of Jesus

Brace yourselves. The lawsuits are coming.

The Stranger should perform a public service and mirror stuff.

Weird. I had just clicked away from the Metafilter thread that was in response to the orignal Stranger article, before seeing this. Not only that but I had two debit card transactions today that were both exactly $23.00.

I'm not a religious person - I'm an agnostic atheist and suspicious of most evangelical church structures b/c of their attitudes to women and gays. But I have a huge amount of sympathy for these Mars Hills exiles. To devote such a huge part of yourself - really, what you think is the core of your identity - to a church that later rejects you, punishes you and strips all of your support from you, that is a terrible thing. I hope these folks have found healthier relationships, in or out of church.

Would a real fisherman ever order the Fisherman's Platter at a restaurant?

I am going to laugh my ass off when the inevitable Mark Driscoll Gay Sex Tape turns up.

What is an 'agnostic atheist'?

It is steps away from when Driscoll forces 'the koolaid' on his followers and we are doing a body count in one of the churches. I am saddened for those folks who are so lost that they need 'guidance' like this.

As a jew-commie-queer-loving-pinko, I can tell you that the writers of Joyful Exiles are like that in real life - they were my neighbors for several years and they were beautiful, loving, intelligent people with wonderful children. I hope that blog fully blasts open the cruelty of Mars Hill and I hope they find the peace they deserve soon. My heart aches for them.

(un)Holy crap!

That site is a fascinating treasure trove. After reading the (long, infuriating) narrative from Jonna, the "timeline" of documents is chock full of dirt (click on "Timeline" on the right, because the document list in the right sidebar is really hard to navigate). I especially liked the archives of the MH website's "ask us anything" thread where people grilled them on the issue, and their ONE HUNDRED FORTY TWO PAGE RESPONSE which is jam-packed with transparent spin (not to mention an awful lot of misspelled and/or misused words...who the fuck wrote that?).

I would be interested in hearing more from Pastor Wayne Taylor from Calvary Fellowship, who was tapped to act as a mediator but eventually withdrew.

Why the heck don't we all stop beating around the bush and call Mark Driscoll and his elders for what they really are....LET ME BE BLUNT. The new Hitler and his SS regime. Or maybe I should be kinder, how about the ANTICHRIST and his HENCHMEN. BTW lets not forget the poor members that sit under his leadership, sheep being led to the slaugher...the smoke from the gas has dulled their minds and their eyes have glassed over...

I am so sick of these pias "CHRISTIANS" leader who sit around with their self-righteous attitude refusing the call the damn snake a snake and evil as evil. folks if it walks like a damn duck, quack like a duck then guess what...it a DUCK. Mark Driscoll and his posi are thugs who are using the church (innocent people) via spiritual abuse to aquire wealth and power--this is not NEW THING!!! BTW--I'm a chrisian and I'm soooo over this "CHURCH CRAP" OR AS SOME CALL IT, ORGANIZE RELIGION

@6 when I was in middle school (early 2000s) there was a charismatic megachurch in my community that told the kids that went there that if they couldn't convince their non-churchgoing friends to go to church with them they should stop being friends with them. I saw this manifest as shunning, parents refusing to let certain kids come over to play, and outright harassment of agnostics, atheists and Jews in school (the Jewish kids got straight-up antisemitic slurs thrown against them). Later in highschool when these kids got cellphones and cars they would call other students who they roped into attending church once or twice over and over about WHY DID YOU NEVER COME BACK TO CHURCH and would even drive out to their houses to confront the non-believers in person!!!

I heard there was shunning within the church community too, it wouldn't surprise me knowing how the treated the non-believers.

@13 Someone who is agnostic because they think we can never know for certain whether or not gods exist, and is an atheist because there's currently not any good reason to think they do exist. They're not contradictory positions at all, really. Even our pope Dawkins is an agnostic atheist and says so right in The God Delusion.

@18 You scare me more than Driscoll, just sayin'.

@18: Possibly because of Godwin's Law.

@13, 20: I figured it was someone who identifies as agnostic to avoid the societal pressures of being an "atheist", but still eats babies every now and again.

I got to about page 7 of that woman's story before I stopped reading. It is too depressing for words. Her story is literally indistinguishable from stories I've read about people at Heaven's Gate, Jonestown, et al. Mars Church, like many churches, is a cult and they, like many parishioners, were bullied and brainwashed. I feel terrible for these people.

Thanks for showcasing this, Brendan. Gotta kick the darkness till it bleeds daylight and all that.

@21 - Can't escape the taste of that delicious baby flesh.

@13 - The root of agnostic deals with knowledge (gnosis), the root of atheism deals with belief (theism). I am an atheist because I don't profess belief in any gods, and I am generally agnostic because you could define god in such a way that I could not know such a being does not exist. However, for beings such as the oft-cited omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, etc Christian god, I can say with certainty that I know such a being is a logical contradiction and cannot exist.

@6: "Is shunning a spiritual abuse tactic common in charismatic churches?"

Authoritarian groups, sure.

@18: "Why the heck don't we all stop beating around the bush and call Mark Driscoll and his elders for what they really are....LET ME BE BLUNT."

Because that sort of rhetoric is unnecessary. They're not murdering people, just emotionally abusing them.

Andy, why do I care? Because some of these people are my friends and acquaintances. And others are people who indirectly impact me by making our community less welcoming, anti-woman and anti-gay. And when the whole thing implodes, the rest of us are going to have to pick up the pieces. I'd rather be prepared.

And what is an un-spun personal account, by the way?

On another note, I read the Mars Hill annual report last night and I've never seen a more self-serving, less justice-oriented piece of literature. Literally NOTHING about how many homeless housed, people fed, barriers removed. EVERYTHING about how much money raised, churches planted and new recruits. Plus, one of their charts totally conflated two pieces of data. That really irritated me.

From comment 194 of Church or Cult?

Paul Petry (the pastor who was fired) told me in front of my dad that my ex-husband never hit me and that I needed to repent and go back to my abusive (and lying) ex-husband. Paul Petry (who was fired) was spiritually abusive to me. So I hesitate to take his "witness" as face value.

So weird that in a "land of freedom and liberty" some people are attracted to this authoritarian community so they can either spiritually abuse their attendees or get spiritually abused by the leaders. Is there a "mea culpa" of this on the Joyful Exiles website?

@29, p. 11 on are Jonna's mea culpas. I don't see Paul's up there and I hope they appear sooner rather than later.

@29: Gosh, a group that demands women be submissive to men in all aspects covers up domestic violence.

They've got righteousness on their side! They could never tell false witness!

The link has no information. Just a brown background. Looks like someone hacked it..

@ 32. Still works for me... it has a brown background, but the text and links are there.

@32 &33
The link has no information for me either. It has a brown background but no texts or links?

http://joyfulexiles.com/2012/03/19/my-st…

After reading the extensive narrative about how the Petrys were wronged (and they clearly were) I wonder why there was so little written regarding their own complicity in an oppressive institution. I read pages about the Petry's efforts for reconciliation and Driscoll's abuses, but the promotion of patriarchal control, for which Mars Hill is so famous, ought to have raised red flags. From Ms. Petry's writing it appears that they were enlightened only due to their own suffering. People are amazingly silent about others' oppression until they experience similar suffering. I'd say the Petrys are blessed indeed to have had their eyes opened to dreadful wrongs often perpetrated by the religious. We, as Christians, must be very careful to not get sucked into confusing "numbers, success, popularity, and money" as signs of God's favor.
My two cents.